IRVINE, Calif. – All five of UC Irvine's starters scored in double-figures as the Anteaters cruised to a 101-71 victory over Cal Poly at the Bren Events Center Saturday evening.
The Anteaters improve to 17-2 overall and remain undefeated in Big West action at 7-0. UCI joins Auburn as the only two schools in the country with 17 wins.
UCI extends its home win streak to 20 in a row, a new school record. The Anteaters are 6-0 this season at the Bren Center with the streak beginning back on Mar. 4, 2023.
The high-energy, fast-paced game saw the Anteaters score a season-high 101 points, including 56 in the second half. UCI shot 53.1 percent (34-64) from the floor and made 24-26 (0.923) from the free throw line. Additionally, the 'Eaters shot 47.4 percent (9-19) from three-point range, their sixth game this season over a 40 percent mark from long-range.
UCI scored 46 of their points in the paint, capitalizing on Mustang turnovers for 23 points.
Forward
Devin Tillis had a game-high 21 points, going 7-9 from the floor, including two three-pointers, and 5-6 from the line. He pulled down seven rebounds, had three assists, and a steal in 23 minutes of action.
FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"It is meaningful to the players to be a part of something they can point to, and I think that is awesome especially for these veterans. Building this community and this university's reputation is a big part of what we understand that we are expected to do. It is fun to get the support that we are right now from our students, and I hope that we can continue to grow that. Cal Poly came out with an incredible level of intensity to start this game which you can expect, and they made an interesting adjustment with their five-man. It confused us and effected our transition matchups. We wore they down and we have a lot of guys who are willing defenders. We were more solid this game after giving up 89 points at their place and only let them have 71 tonight. I thought everybody tonight had a great contribution. We are going to need that because we are going to get everyone's best effort based on the success we created."
FROM DEVIN TILLIS
"Throughout this year I have seen so many post coverages and coach Turner puts me in positions in practice to deal with that. We have five different guys in the starting lineup that can all score, so it is a lot easier to get a bucket when they have to focus on all of us. When we lock in defensively, we can beat anyone in the country. The culture we have slowly built here with these 20-straight home wins is a credit to our fan base. We need to continue the support and it helps us during the game."
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Center
Bent Leuchten led the team in rebounds with eight to go with 15 points
> Leuchten was 9-10 from the line and 3-5 from the field
> Guard
Jurian Dixon was 5-9 from the floor and 4-4 at the line to match Leuchten with 15 points
> Dixon pulled down a career-high seven rebounds and recorded four steals
> Guard
Justin Hohn added 11 points and three assists, while guard
Myles Che totaled 10 points and a game-high six assists
> Freshman
Berk Can Akin had a career-high with 10 points, knocking down two threes and going 4-8 from the floor
> Cal Poly drained 12 three-pointers (12-34, 0.353), going 22-61 (0.361) from the floor overall
>The Mustangs (6-14, 0-8) were led by Cayden Ward and Peter Bandelj with 15 points each
FIRST HALF
>
Myles Che flicked the ball behind his head for a no look pass to
Bent Leuchten for two before
Jurian Dixon tossed it to Leuchten for a floater in the paint, 4-3 (18:03)
> Cal Poly knocked down three consecutive three-pointers to take a 12-4 lead at 16:45
> Leuchten (15:40) continued to be the Anteater offense hitting a pair from the free throw line, 12-6
> Following a
Torian Lee triple from the right corner (12:30),
Devin Tillis took over, scoring seven in a row on a hook (11:05), pair of free throws, and a three-pointer at the top of the arc (10:03), to give UCI their first lead of the game 24-21
> Two more Leuchten free throws (8:06) were followed by a trey from Dixon up top at 7:35, 29-23
> The Anteater offense was ignited when Che intercepted a pass, drove down the court dishing to
Justin Hohn (5:48) for a three-pointer and added an extra point at the stripe as he was fouled in the act of shooting. On the next offensive set, Che found Tillis all alone underneath for a basket at 5:18 and after getting raked across the face, Tillis put away a free throw (4:52), 36-29
> Back-to-back three's kept Cal Poly close, 36-32 (3:10)
> Che pulled up for a soft 10-footer and then slithered between defenders for a layup while getting fouled at 1:06, 43-33
> A Leuchten drop in the basket, ended the scoring with 24 seconds left, 45-35
SECOND HALF
> UCI started the half on fire with two free throws from Leuchten (19:33), consecutive three-pointers from Tillis (19:04) and Che (18:32), and a layup from Tillis (17:54) to build a 20-point lead, 55-35
> The crowd exploded when Che corralled the rebound, taking the ball down the court, and fired a behind the back pass to
Berk Can Akin for a layup at 15:27, 64-42
> Tillis found
Kyle Evans underneath the hoop to stop a five-point Cal Poly run, 75-55 (10:18)
> UCI went on a 10-0 run that included two three-pointers and a rebound tip-back by Akin, 85-60 at 7:49
> The Anteaters would continue to lead handily with
Ofure Ujadughele putting UCI over the century mark with a mid-range floater with 33 seconds to go, 101-71
NOTES
> UC Irvine moves to 7-0 in the Big West, the program's best start since they went 8-0 to open conference play in the 2005-06 season
>
Justin Hohn sits seventh in the career steals leader board with 126, needing 18 more to pass Evan Leonard (143, 2016-20) for sixth
> Hohn is the 26th all-time scorer in the program (1,146 points) now just three points away from moving in front of Tommy Rutherford (1,148—2016-20) for 25
th
>
Bent Leuchten is now seven rebounds away from becoming the second Anteater this season to reach the 500-career rebounds milestone
>
Devin Tillis now sits 22nd in the all-time rebounding list with 547, just six behind Eric Wise (553, 2008-11) for 21st
>
Myles Che recorded his seventh straight double figure scoring game, the longest of any Anteater this season
UP NEXT
RV UC Irvine heads back on the road for a Thursday Jan. 23 matchup with UC Riverside to close out the season series.
