NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – UC Irvine held a 13-point lead four minutes into the game and never looked back in an 89-64 victory over CSUN at the Premier America Credit Union Arena.

The Anteaters, who had 12 players score, jumped out to the 17-4 lead at 15:58 and would hold the 47-26 lead at the half, the largest at the break over a Big West opponent this season.

UCI dominated down low, scoring 43 points by post players led by Bent Leuchten's 16. The center went 6-9 (0.667) from the floor and 3-4 (0.750) from the line with one three-pointer. Defensively, he had six rebounds, two steals and a block.

Forward Devin Tillis posted 11 points and seven rebounds, while freshman Carter Welling added 10 points and six rebounds.

Forward Dean Keeler grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to go with six points and a block.

The Anteaters improve to 21-8 overall and are in first place with a 14-3 league record. With the win, UCI clinches one of the top two spots in the Big West and advance to the Big West Championship semifinal on Mar. 15 at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Guard Pierre Crockrell II dished 11 assists, the fourth double-digit assist performance of the season
> Crockrell II totaled eight points and three steals  
> Guards Dylan Thoerner and Justin Hohn each had eight points with Thoerner knocking down two three-pointers
> Guard Derin Saran pulled down five rebounds with five points
> Ofure Ugadughele and Hayden Welling each pitched in two points to round out the scoring
> UCI out-rebounded CSUN 45-36
> The Anteaters shot 30-62 (48.4) from the field and 22-28 (78.6) from the line
> UCI knocked down seven threes while the Matadors were 3-17 from long distance
> CSUN was led by Dionte Bostick's game-high 20 points

FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"We were ready. There is no question about that. All of our guys recognize the opportunity that we have and have belief in this team you can see that in the way we competed. I think we also competed at this level at Hawai'i and at Long Beach State. We have had some other road games that have been all the way live. Our defense bothered them like I expected it would. They missed a bunch of free throws that helped us to gain momentum. I thought we did a really good job going inside. I give credit to Bent [Leuchten] for being the biggest man on the floor and playing like it. We had a lot of great performances tonight. I thought Pierre [Crockrell II] was really sharp and really good."

"In college basketball you have to have a great point guard to have a great team. Pierre gives us that in so many different kind of ways. His spirit sort of defines this team. I am impressed by how hard he has worked to be good and how much it means to him right now. I think the other guys feed off of that. Everybody feeds off his passing. I am excited to be lining up with him every night and excited for what is still in front of us."

FROM PIERRE CROCKRELL II
"Coming off a loss, you want to bounce back. We wanted to play a full 40-minute game. It is hard to come into CSUN and play. We wanted to generate our own energy and that started for us on the defensive end."

"The way I play is to get my teammates going first and I thought that tonight Bent really established himself in the paint and had some quick easy buckets that we knew they couldn't foul him. It makes the game a lot easier when he can do that."

FIRST HALF
> Pierre Crockrell II dished the ball on seven straight points, a layup by Devin Tillis, then a layup and three-pointer up top by Bent Leuchten
> Andre Henry had a reverse layup and was fouled to push the run to nine in a row and give UCI an 11-3 lead (17:40)
> Crockrell II passed it up high over the defense to Leuchten for another layup at 17:10 before Tillis pulled up for a three and Leuchten scored again with a free throw make at 15:58, 17-4
> At the first media timeout, UCI had only missed one shot 7-8 (0.875) 
> Derin Saran knocked down a three-pointer from the right side and Langston Redfield logged a pair of free throws, 22-6 (13:09)
> The offense cooled off until Tillis went up high for a rebound and put it back in with 11:00 to go in the half, 24-7
> Dylan Thoerner was left all alone for a three-pointer (10:07) on the far side, 27-9
> Justin Hohn would catch and shoot a three from the left side of the arc to go up by 20, 33-13 (6:47)
> A 7-0 spurt was sparked by a layup and free throw by Carter Welling and ended with two free throws and a streaking layup by Langston Redfield on the left side at 3:11, 44-20
> UCI went into the break leading 47-26

SECOND HALF
> Hohn hit a jumper off the inbound that was followed by a Henry three-pointer, 60-32 (15:08)
> Thoerner drained another three, this time from deep, at 12:53, 66-39
> The Matadors had back-to-back threes in an 8-0 run, 65-47 (10:07)
> Crockrell stole an inbound pass at half court to go up for an acrobatic hanging layup to go up 69-47 (9:04)
> Nine unanswered on a Henry jumper, Hohn free throw, Leuchten powering layup and two free throws and a Crockrell II jumper extended the lead to 78-49 at 7:01
> Following a pair of Saran free throws, Hayden Welling drained a long jumper before CSUN had the final four points as the clock ran out, 89-64

NOTES
> UC Irvine notches its sixth straight win against CSUN
> UCI improves are 2-3 all-time on Leap Day with all five results decided by double figures
> The Anteaters have held eight league foes to 65 points or fewer
> UC Irvine goes to 14-6 on the year when Crockrell II dishes out five or more assists in a game
> UCI dominated off the bench outscoring the Matadors 39-6
> Crockrell II moved into seventh place in program history with 356 career assists. The fifth year is now 56 assists away from catching Jerry Green (1998-02) for sixth (412)
> Crockrell II tied his fourth place finish in the all-time season assists leaderboard with his 178 assists in 2022-23. He is 12 dimes away from tying Aaron Fitzgerald (2005-06) for third (190)
> Hohn is now one three-pointers away from tying Eyassu Worku (2016-20) for 19th in the career three-pointers leader board
> Thoerner has hit 23 of his last 24 free throws

UP NEXT
UCI will host Black & Blue Rival Long Beach State on Homecoming Saturday (Mar. 2) at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.