HENDERSON, Nev. – Top-seeded UC Irvine knocked down 11 three-pointers to lift the Anteaters to a 75-51 victory over CSU Bakersfield in a quarterfinal game of the Hercules Tires Big West Championships presented by The Hawaiian Islands at the Dollar Loan Center. 
 
UCI shot 11-19 from beyond the arc (0.579), including 7-12 (0.583) in the first half to dominate early.
 
Overall, the Anteaters shot 45 percent from the field (27-60) and 10-14 from the line (0.714). UCI also controlled the glass with a 41-34 advantage. 
 
Redshirt senior JC Butler led UC Irvine with 13 points, hitting 5-7 from the floor, including 3-3 from three-point distance. 
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Forward Devin Tillis had 10 points and matched Dean Keeler for the team lead in rebounds with seven
>The Anteaters had balanced scoring, adding seven from guard Dawson Baker and center Bent Leuchten, six from guards Pierre Crockrell II and Andre Henry and forward Ofure Ujadughele, five from guard Justin Hohn, four from forward Emilis Butkus and two from forward Hayden Welling
>Hohn had a career high three blocks
>UCI had 21 points off of 13 Roadrunner turnovers
>CSUB's Travis Henson and Antavio Collum each had a game-best 14 points
>The Roadrunners went 1-11 in three-point attempts

PRESS CONFERENCE
To view the postgame press conference with head coach Russell Turner, JC Butler, and Devin Tillis, click here.

FIRST HALF
>UCI jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead using a three-pointer by Bent Leuchten (19:30) followed by one from DJ Davis (18:55) then a driving layup by Pierre Crockrell II (18:07)
>UCI went on a 7-0 run on three-pointers by JC Butler (13:57) and Justin Hohn (12:17), holding CSUB without a field goal for five minutes until a jumper at 11:58, 19-8
>Neither team had scored in two minutes until a steal by Devin Tillis ended with a Tillis three-pointer at the other end on a pass from Davis, 24-10
>Tillis stopped and popped from beyond the arc at 6:36 (27-12)
>Another 7-0 run saw Butler drain his second from long range (4:27) before Henry pulled up at the free throw line for a jumper (3:38) and Butler spun toward the basket at 2:41 to increase the lead to 34-16
>UCI would hold a 36-18 lead at the half
>The Anteaters shot 52 percent from the floor, including 7-12 (58.3) from three-point range. In contrast, CSUB went 0-6 from beyond the arc

SECOND  HALF
>Tillis had a pump fake basket from a Crockrell II inbound pass under the hoop to start the half, 38-18 (19:10)
>Davis caught fire with back-to-back three-pointers, 44-22 (17:45)
>Teams would trade baskets until Baker had a floater (15:39) and then the defense left Hohn all alone, making them pay with a jumper (14:54), 50-26
>Butler continued his hot-shooting with another three-pointer for UCI's seventh consecutive point at 13:39, 53-26
>Ujadughele hit the first free throw but missed the second that was cleaned up by Butler who dropped it back in the basket, 56-28 (11:05)
>A layup by Tillis extended the lead to 30 points (58-28) at 10:09
>The Roadrunners would score seven straight to close with 58-35 at 7:23
>Another five unanswered by CSUB was responded to by a three-pointer by Baker, 63-40 (6:09)
>The starting five would get a rest just under the five minute mark allowing Hayden Welling to record a layup (2:09) and Emilis Butkus with two layups, the last as time ran out, 75-51  

NOTES
>UC Irvine now holds a 10-2 record in the opening round of Big West postseason play under head coach Russell Turner
>UCI improves to 10-3 all-time over CSU Bakersfield and earned the first neutral site victory in the series history
>The Anteaters held their opponent without a three-pointer for 68 minutes stretching over two games
>No one on the UCI roster took more than seven shots in the contest
>Baker is now 19 points away from reaching the 1,000-career point milestone and 1 away from 500-season tallies
>Davis sits 12^th all-time in UC Irvine history with 141 career made three-pointers. He needs one more makes to catch Scott Brooks (1985-87) and Travis Souza (2011-15) for 11^th with 142 triples.
>Butler tied his career best three made triples that was first set against Cal Poly on Jan. 23, 2021 where he went 3-5 from long distance
>UC Irvine improves to 11-0 when holding opponents to under 60 points in a game
>UCI outnumbered their opponent in all five statistical categories
>The 24-point margin marked the fifth 20+ UCI win of the season, third over a Division I program
 
UP NEXT
No. 1 seeded UC Irvine will play No. 4 Cal State Fullerton in the Big West Semifinals on Friday (Mar. 10) inside the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT.