IRVINE, Calif. – Four Anteaters scored in double-figures in UC Irvine's 82-52 season opening victory over Chapman at the Bren Events Center on Monday evening.
 
UCI out-scored Chapman 50-22 in the second half, holding the Panthers to a 26.7 (8-30) shooting percentage over the last 20 minutes. The Anteaters scored the final 25 points of the game, holding their opponent scoreless for the final eight minutes.

Center Bent Leuchten led the Anteaters with 19 points, 14 coming in the second half. He was 6-8 from the field and 7-9 free throw line. He matched forward Devin Tillis for the team lead in rebounding with seven.
 
Guard Justin Hohn had 15 points, hitting 4-9 from the floor with a three-pointer and was 6-7 from the line. The graduate student recorded a career-high five steals to go with three assists and three rebounds in the win.
 
Tillis led the team with seven rebounds, while scoring 13 points on 5-6 shooting from the floor and 2-2 from the line.
 
Guard Jurian Dixon rounded out the double-digit performers with 13. He went 5-8 from the field and 3-3 from the free throw line in his Anteater debut.

FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"First of all, credit to Chapman. Those guys came in here and competed at a level that was different than ours. They have a new coach and belief over there that I admire. I have a lot of respect for them coming into our house and out-rebounding us which leads me to have a bit of concern about ourselves. For Bent (Leuchten) to assert himself in the way that he did is what I expect him to do. Devin (Tillis) did the same. I said that to the group when I addressed them after the game. It is what I would like from the beginning because those guys know that's what it takes. I believe this team can be good based off the veteran experience that we have, but we have to be better than we were and take the lessons from this game."

FROM DEVIN TILLIS
"It is on the veteran's, like me, to instill toughness in the guys. If we are not playing hard, it isn't good for the team. I take that as my thing to work on and take pride in being the toughest guy on the team. Coach Turner counts on me to rebound, so I will work on that in practice this week, and take that into the next game. We regrouped at halftime, we played better as a team and I found my moments to score. For myself, I need to be a leader from the start, keeping the high energy and not let it slip."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Forward Kyle Evans swatted away three shots and pulled down five boards
> Guards Andre Henry and Myles Che added six and five points, respectively
> UCI was 26-56 (0.464) from the floor, 22-29 (0.759) from the line, and 4-13 (0.308) beyond the arc
> Chapman held a slight 38-37 rebounding advantage and hit seven three-pointers
> UCI scored 27 points off 22 turnovers by the Panthers
> The Anteaters flexed their dominance in the paint as they out-scored Chapman in the category, 42-24
> Chapman was led by Jake Heberle's 14 points and Christian Bood's six rebounds

FIRST HALF
> Bent Leuchten (19:37, 19:03) converted three of his first four shots from the line to kick off the scoring, 3-0
> At 17:10, Justin Hohn drove down the lane where he drew the foul call and converted his shot from the stripe and at 16:23, Myles Che fired from long-range knocking down the three. On the other end of the floor, Kyle Evans rose up for a massive swat that led to Hohn lobbing the ball down the floor for an easy lay-in for Jurian Dixon, 11-2 (15:49)
> Freshman Torian Lee (13:17) joined in on the action when he launched the three-ball from deep, 14-4
> Chapman scored five unanswered and was stopped by Dixon's drive for two at 11:02, 18-11
> The Panthers went on a 7-2 run on a three-pointer, pair of free throws and a layup to tie the score at 20-20 (8:59)
> The 'Eaters responded with a spin move off the post from Leuchten (7:20) and an Andre Henry steal (7:03) for a flying lay-up and made free throw, 25-20
> Chapman caught up to UCI at 25-all before Hohn went up to the hoop (5:46) then pulled up for a triple at the top of the key to give the Anteaters a 30-25 advantage at 4:45
> UCI was out-scored 5-2 to end the half, able to hold on to the slight 32-30 lead at the break

SECOND HALF
> Leuchten helped lift the offense in the first four minutes of the second stanza, finding Devin Tillis behind the arc for a three-pointer (19:41) and put away the remaining seven points by 16:53, 42-37
> Chapman closed within two just 20 seconds later as they hit their second triple of the half. UCI used a Hohn (16:23) layup, a Henry (16:03) shot from the line, and a three-point play from Tillis (14:16) off the rebound put-back and extra shot to separate, 48-40
> The Panthers remained hot from long-range, as back-to-back triples (12:35, 11:58) brought the visitors within one, 49-48
> Fired up, Tillis went into overdrive as he received the threaded pass down the lane from Hohn for a layup under the hoop (11:04), stole the ball on the defensive end and found Henry (10:11) streaking down the paint before putting the Chapman defense through the spin cycle at 9:47 and elevating to the hoop, 57-50
> Chapman recorded their final points of the contest with a floater at the stripe at the 8:04 mark as the Anteaters ran away with the remaining 25 which included ten scored in a two-minute span. Leuchten contributed seven and Dixon adding the other three after stripping a Panther under the basket going coast-to-coast for a layup and added the extra point from the charity stripe
> Elijah Chol was the last to score, tallying a free throw with 14 seconds left to give UCI an 82-52 victory
 
NOTES
> Under head coach Russell Turner, UCI is 11-4 in season openers at home
> Anteaters have won the last six meeting with Champman
> Seven players made their official UC Irvine debut

UP NEXT
UCI starts their first road stint of the season with a short trip up to LMU on Friday Nov. 8 for a 7 p.m. tip.