IRVINE, Calif. – Guard Pierre Crockrell II took over in the second half to lead UC Irvine to an 82-61 Black & Blue Rivalry win over Long Beach State in front of a sold-out crowd at the Bren Events Center.

Crockrell II went 5-8 (0.625) from the floor and had seven assists in the second half, ending the night with his fourth double-double of the season, recording 12 points and 11 dimes.

The Anteaters, the Big West's best defensive team, held the league's top scoring team to 61 points for the second time this season.  The Beach struggled from long distance, shooting just 3-18 (0.167) from three-point range, the lowest mark by an opponent this year.

Guard Justin Hohn paced UCI with 13 points, hitting three three-pointers. Hohn also had four rebounds and an assist.

UCI improves to 22-8 overall and 15-3 in the Big West. The Anteaters are 12-0 playing at the Bren. UCI is in first place in the Big West standings heading into the final week of action and has clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the Big West Championship in Henderson, Nevada.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Forwards Devin Tillis and Dean Keeler each added nine points, both going 4-5 (0.800) from the field and pulled down five rebounds
> Derin Saran had a team-high eight rebounds to go with four points, three assists and three steals
> Guard Dylan Thoerner had two three-pointers and ended with eight points
> Thoerner totaled three boards, two assists, and a steal
> Carter Welling went 4-4 from the line and 2-5 from the floor for eight points
> Guard Andre Henry and center Bent Leuchten tallied seven points and four rebounds apiece in the win
> The teams both had 43 rebounds, but UCI held a 20-12 assist advantage
> UCI ended the game shooting 31-64 (0.484) from the floor, including seven three-pointers and 13-18 (0.722) from the line
> Long Beach State (18-12, 10-8) was 20-65 (0.308) from the field and 18-28 (0.643) from the line
> LBSU's Marcus Tsohonis had a game-high 19 points, while Lassina Traore had a game-high 16 rebounds

FIRST HALF
> In between LBSU baskets, Justin Hohn knocked down a three on the right side (19:04) before Andre Henry drained one from the left side (18:17). Devin Tillis followed with a trailing layup to put UCI up 8-4 (17:58)
> UCI had seven in a row on layups from Ofure Ujadughele and Dean Keeler, a coast-to-coast drive by Derin Saran, and then Keeler had a jumper, to give the Anteaters a 17-10 advantage at 12:12
> Henry's long jumper from right side was followed by two free throws from Dylan Thoerner courtesy of a Long Beach technical, 23-16 (8:48)
> Pierre Crockrell II hit a jumper just inside the free throw line before Tillis dove to floor for a steal that led to a Hohn high arcing jumper at 7:33. Crockrell II then dished behind his back to Tillis on the baseline for a jumper, 29-18
> Long Beach State's Jadon Jones was the Beach's offense scoring LBSU's last seven points, the last a three at 4:48, which would be the final Beach field goal of the half, 33-25
> UCI out-scored LBSU 8-2 on a Saran free throw, Keeler 11-foot jumper, C. Welling free throws, and a Thoerner three from the right side, 41-27 (3:08)
> The Beach had just six free throws the rest of the way as UCI led 43-31 at the half
> UCI shot 50 percent from the floor (15-30), while The Beach was 9-33 (0.273), but used 11-14 from the line to stay in the game

SECOND HALF
> Tillis started off the second half scoring with his three-pointer, 46-31
> The Beach went on a 7-0 run to close within 50-41 at 16:21
> C. Welling's rebound put-back stopped the Beach run at 14:54, 52-41
> Keeler disrupted a LBSU pass with the ball ending up in the hands of Crockrell II who fired a no-look pass to C. Welling sliding baseline for a slam dunk, igniting the Bren Center crowd at 13:01 and forcing The Beach to burn a timeout, 54-44
> Unselfish passing led to a Leuchten layup underneath before Hohn intercepted a LBSU pass that resulted in a Crockrell II pull up jumper at 7:27, 67-53
> After a LBSU basket, Tillis fed Hohn in the left corner for a three-pointer in front of the Anteater student section, 72-58 (6:10)
> UCI recorded the final six points of the game, in part of a 13-3 run, holding The Beach to just a free throw in the final five minutes, 82-61

NOTES
> UCI has won the last four at home against LBSU
> It's the 11^th time Crockrell posted double-figure scoring
> UCI's bench dominated once again, outscoring LBSU 34-4
> The Anteaters have held nine league foes to 65 points or fewer
> UC Irvine goes to 15-6 on the year when Crockrell II dishes out five or more assists in a game
> Crockrell II moved into seventh place in program history with 367 career assists. The fifth year is now 45 assists away from catching Jerry Green (1998-02) for sixth (412)
> Crockrell II sits in fourth place in the all-time season assists leader board with his 189 assists in 2023-24. He is one dimes away from tying Aaron Fitzgerald (2005-06) for third (190) and 41 off from catching Raimond Miglinieks' (1995-96) 230 that is good for second place
> Hohn sits 19th in the career three-pointers leader board and is six away from tying assistant coach Alex Young (2012-16) for 18th
> Thoerner has hit 25 of his last 26 free throws

UP NEXT
UCI will host Cal Poly on Thursday (Mar. 7) in the home finale and senior night. Tip is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.