HONOLULU – Balanced offense from UC Irvine in addition to playing stout defense against Hawai'i helped the Anteaters to a 60-50 victory inside the Stan Sheriff Center on Thursday evening.

Pierre Crockrell II controlled the offense for UCI with his season best 16 points on 8-15 (0.533) shooting from the floor while dishing out a game high three assists.

UCI improves to 5-0 in the Big West and 12-5 overall to hold the longest win streak in the league.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Guard Justin Hohn was the first two reach double figures with 12 points including a three-pointer
> Forward Carter Welling was efficient with 12 points in 9:45 minutes on the court
> C. Welling went a perfect 5-5 from the field, 1-1 from three-point range, and 1-1 at the charity stripe
> Guard Andre Henry pulled down a team best eight rebounds, a season high, while contributing nine points
> Center Bent Leuchten was excellent on defense with five rebounds and two blocks
> Forward Devin Tillis grabbed six defensive boards
> UCI held the top three-point making team in the conference to 3-17 (0.176) shooting from long range
> Hawaii was led by Bernardo da Silva who recorded a double double with 17 points and 14 rebounds

FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"I am just really impressed with my guys competitive level especially on the defensive end. We didn't rebound well, but when Hawaii got offensive rebounds we made it really hard for them to score. We did an incredible job on their back court. Our group really took this game personally to play an incredible defensive game on the perimeter. I thought our guys fought hard for the win on the road in hard place to play at."

"Andre Henry has just become a tenacious defender against a bunch of different type of guys. I thought he set the tone on (Noel) Coleman and let him know he was going to have a hard night. I thought just as important was the defense we played on Jovon McClanahan and Pierre Crockrell II really dominated in that match up."

FROM CARTER WELLING
"I was just waiting for my time to come and I was waiting for the shot clock to wind down to hit the three-pointer like Coach Turner always says. It was great to get the win tonight in Hawai'i. I am just really grateful to have teammates that look out for me and our guards Pierre Crockrell II, Justin Hohn, and Langston Redfield for always finding the open man."

FIRST HALF
> Justin Hohn fueled the offense for UC Irvine in the first three plays for the Anteaters. He dished to Andre Henry for the floater to start the game (18:39), received the kick out from Bent Leuchten for a triple (16:48), and then threaded the needle to Pierre Crockrell II who pulled up for a jump shot (15:33), 7-6
> Freshman Carter Welling received a pass from Langston Redfield for the two-handed jam at 13:44 and on the next offensive possession the forward knocked down his first career three-pointer and converted the four-point play to keep UCI in front 13-10 (12:57)
> After falling behind by two-points, Henry got his own miss for the second chance put-in which started a 9-0 run for the 'Eaters that was capped by Devin Tillis's trey at 7:25, 22-15
> Bernardo da Silva from Hawai'i initially stopped the scoring stretch from UCI with his shot in the paint (6:18) but the Anteaters responded with nine more unanswered points to extend the lead 31-17 at 3:39
> Dean Keeler set a screen that was able to allow Crockrell II to get around to score in the paint, 33-18 (3:02)
>The Rainbow Warriors were able to answer with 52 seconds left in the half to cut the deficit down to 13 as the Anteaters were able to walk into the locker room with their largest halftime lead over a Big West opponent, 33-20 

SECOND HALF
> Each team exchanged blows to open up the second stanza. Henry picked up five quick points in the first two minutes of the half where he forced his way to the basket (19:17) before he banged in a triple (18:05)
> Hohn flew to the basket at 15:14 to extend the Anteater lead to 13, 42-29
> Continuing to respond to each other's scores, Crockrell II sandwiched a score by Hawai'i with his tear drop (11:21) and mid-range jumpshot (10:11), 48-40
> The Rainbow Warriors came within three points after Juan Munoz arched his three-point shot for the make as the backboard lit up, 48-45
> C. Welling juked out the defender for the up and over shot and went for the two-handed flush on the next offensive possession after UH missed the one-and-one free throw. Continuing, Hohn was incredible to get the block on one end of the floor and took the ball the length of the court to get fouled and convert on the free throws, 54-45 (6:09)
> Crockrell II scored the last six points for the Anteaters in the game to keep UCI ahead as they walked off with the 60-50 win

NOTES
> UCI controls the Big West standings as they remain undefeated and are the first team to reach five league wins
> UC Irvine earned their first win in Honolulu since the 2021 season where they split with the Rainbow Warriors in the two-game stretch
> 50 points is the lowest scored against the Anteaters this season
> Hawaii has now lost four straight on their home court, a first since the 2010 season

UP NEXT
After a week off, UC Irvine will resume Big West play at home versus UC San Diego on Thursday Jan. 18 for a 7 p.m. start.