SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – UC Irvine improved to 11-1 in the Big West with a 76-61 victory over UC Santa Barbara at the Thunderdome on Thursday evening.

The Anteaters, who won their fifth in a row, put on another impressive offensive performance, shooting at a 0.532 clip from the field (33-62), including a 0.636 (21-33) showing in the second half.

UCI took advantage of 11 UCSB turnovers, scoring 16 points and recorded 14 second chance points. The Anteaters outscored the Gauchos, 44-24 in the paint.

UC Irvine had four players in double-figure points, paced by guard Pierre Crockrell II with a team-high 14 points, including 10 in the first half. He went 7-13 (0.538) from the floor and dished seven assists.

Forward Devin Tillis totaled 13 points on 6-9 (0.667) shooting from the floor, while guard Derin Saran came off the bench to go 5-8 (0.625) from the field, including a three-pointer for 11 points. Both players grabbed three rebounds.

Guard Andre Henry rounded out the double-digit performers with 10 points on 5-10 (0.500) shooting from the field.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Forward Carter Welling had a team and career high eight rebounds to go with seven points
> C. Welling went 2-3 from the floor and 3-4 from the line
> Guard Justin Hohn had seven points and three rebounds
> Forward Dean Keeler pulled down six rebounds
> Guard Dylan Thoerner went a perfect 2-2 from three-point distance for six points
> Center Bent Leuchten tied his season high three blocks, all done within the first four minutes of the game
> UCI held a 6-2 block advantage
> The Anteaters went 5-14 from three-point distance, while UCSB was 4-13
> UC Santa Barbara was led by Ajay Mitchell with 17 points followed by Cole Anderson with 16
>The Anteaters showed why they are a top-25 team nationally in bench points per game, outscoring the Gaucho's 27-4

FIRST HALF
> UCI went 2-10 from the field to start the game with Devin Tillis scoring the first five Anteaters points as UCSB jumped out to a 13-5 lead at 14:19
> Carter Welling had a pair of free throws before Derin Saran hit a three-pointer at 13:09 to close within three points, 13-10
> Four consecutive Pierre Crockrell II jumpers, the last a turnaround off the glass at 9:16, gave UCI a 21-16 advantage
> A Justin Hohn three-pointer from the right side kept the Anteater streak going, 24-16 (8:33) before a Ajay Mitchell stopped the run with a jumper at 7:48, the Gauchos' first field goal since the 14:19 mark, 24-18
> Dylan Thoerner handed UCI a 10-point lead (30-20) with a at 2:32 to go in the half
> UCI took a 33-24 lead into the break

SECOND HALF
> An Andre Henry jumper and  Devin Tillis layup started the half, 37-24 (18:59)
> A Hohn jumper and C. Welling dunk started a 10-2 run that gave UCI a 20-point lead, 52-32 with 13:48 remaining
> Saran peeled off six in a row to increase the lead to 56-36 at 11:11
> Tillis followed with a jumper to give the Anteaters their largest lead at 9:49, 60-36
> UC Santa Barbara scored seven in a row to close to 70-57 before a Henry layup stopped the momentum at 3:07, 72-57
> UCSB would get no closer than the final margin of 15 as UC Irvine took the 76-61 win

NOTES
> UC Irvine remains atop the Big West in scoring defense (1st, 0.654) and scoring margin (1st, 10.7)
> UCI improves to 6-6 in road games this season after winning their third straight away from Irvine
> The Anteaters have now posted 40 or more points in the paint in three straight games
> 61 points are the fewest UC Santa Barbara has scored this season which has now been done three times
> Crockrell II is now eighth in program history with 326 career assists. The fifth year is now 16 assists away from tying Aaron Fitzgerald (2004-06) for seventh
> C. Welling, Leuchten, and Keeler are ranked fifth, sixth, and seventh in the league all with 1.2 blocks per game

UP NEXT
The Anteaters remain on the road facing UC Riverside (Feb. 10) for a 5 p.m. start to close out the week.