OGDEN, Utah – Center Bent Leuchten poured in 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in UC Irvine's 93-87 victory over Weber State on Friday evening at the Dee Events Center.
 
The free throw line was important as UCI went 22-27 (0.815) for the game, including 8-9 in the final minute, while Weber State was 13-25 (0.520).
 
In a closely contested game, UCI went on a 12-0 run in a three-minute spurt late in the game to help secure the victory.
 
Leuchten went 9-18 from the floor and 10-14 from the line for his season-high 29 points. He shared the team lead in rebounds, pulling down 11, for his second career double-double, and had three blocks.
 
Guard Justin Hohn recorded a season-best 21 points, shooting 6-13 from the field, including 4-6 three-pointers with 5-5 from the free throw line. The graduate student had six assists, four rebounds and two steals.
 
Forward Devin Tillis was a perfect 6-6 from the floor and 2-2 from the line for 15 points to go with a season-tying 11 rebounds, his second double-double of the season.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Forward Kyle Evans matched his season high 10 points on 3-3 shooting from the floor and 4-4 from the stripe
> Evans also grabbed three rebounds and had a block
> Langston Redfield dished out a season best four assists
> Guard Torian Lee recorded a career high three steals in the win
> UC Irvine shot 50.8 percent (31-61) from the field, their second-best percentage of the season
> The Anteaters controlled the glass, out-rebounding the Wildcats 41-31
> 44 of UCI's points were scored in the paint
> Weber State was led by Blaise Threatt's 22 points, six assists and three steals
>The Wildcats shot 31-63 (0.492) from the floor, including 13-25 (0.520) from beyond the arc

FIRST HALF
> UC Irvine controlled the opening tip and jumped out to an early 12-0 lead at 16:26 when Bent Leuchten (19:34) went off the glass, Justin Hohn (18:51) knocked down a three-pointer, Andre Henry (18:09) hit his signature free throw line jumper, and Leuchten (16:26) corralling the offensive board for the second chance shot
> Weber State crept within four points, 16-12, before the under-12 media timeout after sinking a deep corner two (12:20)
> After making it a two-point game, the Anteaters responded with a long pass from Langston Redfield down to Kyle Evans (9:59) who was all alone under the basket and a free throw from Jurian Dixon (9:45) to keep UCI ahead, 19-14
> A pair of free throws and a three-pointers by the Wildcats knotted the score at 21-21 at 5:07
> UCI battled at the free throw line to push out to 26-21 as Evans hit four free throws and Leuchten made his first of two (3:41)
> Weber State took their first lead of the game, 30-29 with 55 seconds left, off three triples
> Leuchten sunk his top of the arc in response, but three Wildcat free throw's put WSU back in front 33-32 (0:27)
> Devin Tillis went for the wide-open layup with four seconds left then the UCI defense caused a travel to get the ball back
> Head coach Russell Turner called a timeout and drew up an out-of-bounds play that saw Redfield find Hohn running around the arc for a three-pointer at the buzzer, 37-33
 
SECOND HALF
> UCI started the half quickly with a Leuchten free throw and Hohn threading the ball through the defense for a Tillis layup, 40-33 (19:13)
> Weber State rattled off five points to draw within two, 40-38, before Tillis (17:48) drained a deep three-pointer and Leuchten (17:09) added to the effort with two more free throws to keep the Anteaters ahead, 45-38
> UC Irvine scored seven points in a row which was started by Hohn stealing the ball going coast-to-coast where he scored and drew contact on the play to convert the and-one shot and capped with his pass over to Leuchten for the lay-in, 52-40 (15:22)
> WSU's offense lit up for a 12-3 run to pull within 59-58 at 11:18
> Hohn scrambled for a ball and found Torian Lee (10:47) for a three-pointer to break the streak at, 62-60
> Weber State tied the game 69-all exploded for a 12-point lead, 81-69, using a Leuchten three-point play (5:15) and drive through the lane (2:03), a Tillis pair of free throws (3:45) and clean-up on the missed layup (3:20), and triple from Hohn (2:47)
> The Wildcats would not go away, hitting three triples in the final 1:11 of the game, but the 'Eaters made 8-9 from the line to maintain the 93-87 lead for the win
 
NOTES
> This is UC Irvine's first win over Weber State in program history
> UCI is the first Big West team to reach five wins
> Leuchten's 29 points are the most by an Anteater player this season
> Hohn is now 15 shy of 1,000 career-points
> Tillis tops the league with a 0.784 shooting clip

UP NEXT
UC Irvine heads to Lethbridge, Alberta for the Western Slam MTE (Nov. 28-30) for three games.