Men's Basketball 2024 Season Review

BACK-TO-BACK BIG WEST REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS

After defeating Cal State Fullerton on Saturday (Mar. 9) evening, UC Irvine held onto the first-place spot with a 17-3 Big West record and claimed their seventh Big West regular season title under head coach Russell Turner in a 10-year span, ninth in program history. It is the fourth time that the Anteaters have done this is back-to-back years.

Despite the format changes to the postseason, UC Irvine clinched their eighth postseason appearance in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) with an at-large bid. UCI made their second consecutive appearance in the postseason invitational for the second time in program history where the last back-to-back trips were in 2001 and 2002.

CONQUERED THE TROJANS

Redshirt senior Justin Hohn wreaked havoc on the nationally ranked Trojans defense in his career night to lead UC Irvine to victory over No. 16/20 USC, 70-60. Hohn poured in 25 points on 10-16 shooting from the floor and 3-6 from three-point distance.

The Anteaters earned their first ranked win over USC in program history and first overall win against the Trojans since the 61-54 effort on Dec. 20, 2012 in Los Angeles.

Head coach Russell Turner notched his third career ranked win, the second over a Pac-12 team in the month of November.

After their win on Tuesday night (Nov. 14) at No. 16/20 USC, UC Irvine saw themselves trending in the United States on X (formerly Twitter) and received recognition from prominent accounts in Dick Vitale, Jon Rothstein, John Fanta, Field of 68, NCAA March Madness, SportsCenter, College Insider, College Basketball Report, Mid Major Madness, and CBS Sports College Basketball. 

In back-to-back seasons, UC Irvine has knocked off two Pac-12 opponents on the road by double figures in the month of November. Last year, the Anteaters traveled up to then No. 21/21 Oregon and defeated the Ducks inside Matthew Knight Arena, 69-56.

A WEEK AT THE BALL DAWGS CLASSIC

In their trip to Henderson, UC Irvine walked away with three wins against quality opponents in Pepperdine, Toledo, and Rice. The Anteaters were one of three teams who went undefeated in the MTE (Indiana State and New Mexico). 

In a classic west coast battle, freshman guard Derin Saran powered the Anteater offense in the 76-60 victory over Pepperdine in the first game of the Ball Dawgs Classic at The Dollar Loan Center. Saran poured in a career-best 16 points on 7-9 (.778) shooting from the floor with eight grabs off the glass.

In game two, UC Irvine went down to the wire with Toledo and were able to prevail, 77-71, late Wednesday evening. Forward Devin Tillis strung together an incredible night with 24 points, a new career high, on perfect 8-8 shooting from the floor and 4-4 from three-point range. Saran poured in 15 points for his fourth double figure scoring effort of the season in the victory while Hohn rounded out the double figure scoring with his 11 points.

A second half offensive surge from the Anteaters pushed them ahead of Rice, 83-68, in the final game of the Ball Dawgs Classic. Redshirt senior Hohn led the scoring for UC Irvine with his 18 points on 6-11 shooting from the floor, five makes from the free throw line, and a career best nine rebounds.

THRILLER AT VIEJAS ARENA, AGAIN

For the second straight year, UC Irvine took No. 25/RV San Diego State down to the wire, but the Aztecs escaped again with a 63-62 victory over UC Irvine at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena Saturday night.

SDSU scored the final six points of the game in the last minute of action, including a go-ahead layup by Micah Parrish with 11 seconds remaining.

Justin Hohn led all players with 16 points, going 6-13 from the floor, including a career best four makes from three-point distance. Freshman Derin Saran exploded in the second half, recording five buckets on seven shots in 10 minutes. Saran shot at a 0.600 clip (6-10) in the contest while also adding six rebounds and career high four steals.

20-WIN SEASON

Finishing with a 24-10 record, UC Irvine has earned its 14th 20-win season in program history and ninth under head coach Russell Turner. This marks the second consecutive season with 20 or more wins as the 2022-23 squad finished the year 23-12. The Anteaters were the first Big West team to reach this milestone in the 2023-24 season. 

CONTINUED CONFERENCE PLAY SUCCESS

UC Irvine stands as just one of nine teams to have finished the season with a winning record in conference play in each of the past 12 seasons. Kansas, Oregon, and Virginia stand as the only power five conference teams on the list. Representing the mid-major schools are the Anteaters, Belmont, Gonzaga, Norfolk State, Vermont, and Yale. UCI is the only California school on the list and one of three West Coast representatives. Additionally, the Anteaters are one of six teams (Belmont, Gonzaga, Norfolk State, Vermont, and Virginia) that have finished at least four games above 0.500 in conference play in each of the past 12 years.

HOME COOKING: PERFECTION

UC Irvine closed out their home slate with their 82-68 victory over Cal Poly (Mar. 7) resulting in a perfect 13-0 record for the Anteaters inside the Bren Events Center. This is the first time in program history that UCI has gone undefeated on their home court.

DEFEND THE BREN

In the Turner era of Anteater basketball, UC Irvine holds a 155-46 (0.771) record inside the Bren Events Center. In similar fashion to their overall conference domination over the last five years, the ‘Eaters have gone 82-14 (0.854) in Big West play on their home court.

TAKING THE FLOOR FOR THE 100TH TIME

Five players made their 100th career appearance on the court this season, four did it in an Anteater uniform. Ofure Ujadughele was the first to register this feat back on Dec. 31 at Cal State Bakersfield. Justin Hohn and Dylan Thoerner joined Ujadughele with this accomplishment on at Long Beach State (Jan. 25). On the road at UC Riverside, Dean Keeler hit the mark while Andre Henry rounded out the players to hit the milestone this season on Feb. 24 at UC San Diego.

SENIOR SALUTE

Dylan Thoerner appeared in 34 games as an Anteater. In the 2023-24 season, Thoerner notched his 1,000th career point in the Anteaters upset victory at No. 16 USC. The graduate student knocked down a season best four triples to go along with his Anteater best 14 points against South Dakota. Thoerner leaves Irvine as a regular season champion and 24 wins with 17 Big West victories.

Pierre Crockrell II played in 69 games as an Anteater. In his first year at UC Irvine, Crockrell II helped the Anteaters to their sixth regular season title and first NIT appearance since 2017 while also writing his name in the record with fourth most assists in a season. The guard continued to etch his name into the record book, standing at seventh in all-time career assists and surpassing his season assist finish from last season. Additionally, Crockrell II departs Irvine with 47 wins and 32 Big West victories.

Dean Keeler was entered in 109 games as an Anteater. Keeler had his best season yet as he led the team with 33 blocks and was second with 165 rebounds. In his five years as an Anteater, Keeler has been a consistent leader on and off the court which has resulted in three regular season titles. The forward completed his career with 101 wins and 64 Big West victories.

DISHIN’ DIMES

Pierre Crockrell II has led the Anteaters in 29 contests this season in assists with 217 total. The fifth-year guard averaged 6.4 assists per game and earned his 700th career dime against Long Beach State on Mar. 15. Crockrell II recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 assists against Long Beach State (Mar. 2). The Anteaters went 16-8 when Crockrell II dishes out five or more dimes in a game and were 15-3 in 2022-23 when he hit the same mark. 

Crockrell II added his name to the Anteater record book with a top-10 finish in career assists with 395, good for seventh place all-time. Additionally, the guard sits third place in the all-time season assists leaderboard with 217 dimes in 2023-24. The Tacoma, Wash. native joined rare company with Raimonds Miglinieks (1994-96) as the second ever Anteater to hit or surpass the 200-assist threshold in a season. 

Crockrell II nationally ranks both thirteenth in total assists (217) and assists per game (6.4), and 23rd in assist-turnover ratio (3.0). He also has 58 more assists on the season than the next best person in the conference. The fifth-year senior completed his career sitting eighth in the all-time active career assist leader board with his 706 assists in 150 games played as well as sixth in assist-turnover ratio (2.65).

Lastly, Crockrell II was honored as an All-Big West First Team member after being listed as an All-Big West Honorable Mention in 2022-23.

THIS JUST-IN!

Justin Hohn led the UC Irvine squad with 429 total points and 12.6 points per game. Hohn had his first career 20-point game at No. 16/20 USC with a 25-point outing, his second at Utah State with 21 points, and tallied his third against CSUN on Jan. 27 with 22 points. The redshirt senior has 40 double figure scoring games in his career, the most of any player on the Anteater squad, and went on a 13-game double figure scoring stretch (Nov. 22-Jan.18). Hohn reached 900 career points in his 19-point performance on March 15th versus Long Beach State and is just 83 points away from becoming the 33rd Anteater to join the 1,000-point club.

With 132 made three-pointers in his career, Hohn is tied for 16th in the career made three-pointers leader board with Rod Palmer (1988-90) and is just two off from reaching 15th with Nic Campbell (2003-07).

Hohn was named to the All-Big West Second Team at the end of the season for his first career postseason award.

THE ANDRE SPECIAL

Andre Henry has helped the Anteaters get it done on both ends of the court this season. From three-point range, Henry shot the team’s best percentages 48-114 (0.421) and was a prolific shooter at the free throw line with his 61 makes (61-78, 0.782). The senior has stolen the ball from opponents 27 times and is one of four players with 125+ rebounds on the year.

Henry earned Big West Best Defensive Player honors, the first Anteater to do so since Brad Greene in 2020, for his efforts on some of the league’s best scorers. Additionally, the senior was listed as a Big West Honorable Mention. Both designations are the first career postseason awards for Henry.

SEEING DOUBLE

Devin Tillis notched the Anteaters first double-double of the season on Saturday night (Nov. 11) with an 18 point and 10 rebound showing. In the victory over UC Riverside on Dec. 28, Tillis posted his second double-double of the season behind 10 points and 10 rebounds. The redshirt sophomore closed out the regular season with his third double-double of the season with a 13 point and 10 rebound effort at Cal State Fullerton (Mar. 11). Tillis recorded three double-double efforts last season and earned the program’s first since Mar. 15, 2023. The forward has recorded double-figure scoring in 13 games and double figure rebounding in five games played this season to lead UCI with 201 rebounds, 6.1 per game. 

TURKISH DELIGHT

Derin Saran completed his rookie campaign third on the team in scoring with 10.1 points per game over 31 games played and had one of the best shooting percentages on the Anteater squad (0.502, 123-245). Saran went on an eight-game double figure scoring streak ranging from Nov. 17-Dec. 16 which helped to result in 17 double digit efforts in 2023-24. The guard notched his 300th career point (313) in the final game of the season at Utah (Mar. 19) where he posted 16 points, just one shy of tying his career high tying 17. Saran also recorded 105 rebounds, 51 assists, and 29 steals in his first year as an Anteater.

THREE-HEADED BEAST IN THE CENTER

The big men down low of Bent Leuchten, Dean Keeler, and Carter Welling posed a threat both in the defensive and offensive paint. The three headed monster combined to average 21.9 points, 13.1 boards and 3.4 blocks per game.

Bent Leuchten dominated at the post whether it is scoring baskets or grabbing the ball off the glass. The center returned to action for the Anteaters on Dec. 16 and was one of the team’s leaders off the glass, averaging 4.6 rebounds a game in 28 contests played. Leuchten posted 12 double-figure scoring games in his junior year, including a 13-point performance at Utah (Mar. 19) to close out the year on a three-game double digit scoring streak. 

Fifth year senior Dean Keeler was an impact off the bench for UCI. On the defensive side, Keeler finished second on the team with 165 total rebounds on the year (4.9 per game) and the squad’s leader in blocks (33). Playing offense, the forward posted five double figure scoring efforts on the season including a career high 22 points on 9-11 shooting against South Dakota. Keeler notched his first double-double of the season and his career against CSUN (Jan. 27) with 12 points and a career best 14 rebounds.

Freshman Carter Welling made his Anteater debut versus Pepperdine on Nov. 21 and started in ten contests. After averaging 13.8 minutes a game, the center grabbed 3.6 rebounds per game, blocked 31 shots, and put up 7.0 points a game. In the two meetings with Hawai’i this season, C. Welling knocked down a career high 14-point performance on Feb. 3 and was efficient in his 10 minutes on the floor on Jan. 11 going a perfect 5-5 from the floor and drew the and-1 call on his first career made three-pointer. The center tallied eight double figure scoring performances on the season and has made 102 trips to the charity stripe, a team high (78-102, 0.765). Lastly, C. Welling recorded his 200th career point against Cal Poly (Mar. 7) and ended his rookie year with 211 total.