SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The UC Irvine trio of Devin Tillis, Bent Leuchten and Myles Che scored a combined 71 points in the Anteaters' 96-89 overtime victory against Cal Poly at Mott Athletic Center Thursday.

For the first time since 2011, three UC Irvine players scored 20 or more points led by Tillis' game-high 25 points, going 9-17 from the floor and 5-5 from the line. The forward had a double-double with 10 rebounds.

Leuchten followed Tillis with 24 points and a game-high 11 boards, his fifth double-double of the year. The senior was 6-12 from the field and 12-14 from the line and swatted three blocks. The center scored nine of the team's 18 points in the overtime period.

Guard Myles Che rounded out the trio, pouring in 22 points, hitting 9-16 from the floor and 3-4 from the line. He had five rebounds, three steals, and two assists. 

Once again, UCI made an impact at the line, going 28-31 from the stripe (90.3%). UCI got 42 points in the paint and had nine blocks. The Anteaters notched 10 steals for the game, scoring 22 points off 18 Mustang miscues.

The Anteaters improve to 12-2 overall and 2-0 in the Big West, while Cal Poly goes to 6-9 on the year and 0-3 in the Big West. UCI, the nation's leader in road wins, picked up their sixth away from home this season. 
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Guard Justin Hohn added 10 points, draining three baskets and 4-4 from the line with five rebounds
> Hohn also recorded five steals in the win matching his career-high set back on Nov. 4
> Guard Jurian Dixon had two blocks, four points and four rebounds 
> Forward Kyle Evans contributed four rebounds, two points, two assists, and two blocks
> Torian Lee buried one of UCI's four three-pointers in the game
> UCI held a 50-45 advantage in rebounds
> Cal Poly drained 13 three-pointers and shot 41 percent from the floor (34-83)
> Cal Poly's Aaron Price Jr. had a team-best 16 points, hitting eight field goals, and pulled down right boards

FIRST HALF
> High low action from Devin Tillis down to Bent Leuchten helped Leuchten get to the line, making both his shots to start the scoring 2-0 in the first 17 seconds (19:43)
> The Anteaters responded to a Cal Poly three with six straight points on another free throw tally for Leuchten (18:16), a hesitation three-pointer from Tillis (17:26), and two shots at the charity stripe from Jurian Dixon (17:07), 13-8
> The Mustangs got back into the game on a five-point play where they were fouled on the triple, missed the free throw, but followed up to get the tip-in, 15-13 at 14:50
> A defensive stop led to Ben Egbo (12:43) euro-stepping into the layup, 24-15
> UC Irvine went on an eight-point scoring run while keeping Cal Poly off the board for five minutes of action before their drought stopped on an up and under shot, 34-20 (7:26)
> The Anteaters answered with a long jumper up top by Myles Che and a layup by Kyle Evans from a Tillis bullet pass, 38-23 (5:51)
> A give and go layup by Tillis plus two free throws by Elijah Chol made it 47-34 with just under a minute to play
> The teams would trade baskets to give UCI a 49-38 lead at the half
> All 11 Anteaters scored in the first 20 minutes of action
 
SECOND HALF
> Both teams were aggressive offensively out of the break. Tillis had seven of UCI's nine points in the first three minutes, the last a triple at the top of the arc (16:43) to put the Anteaters up 58-46
> Cal Poly closed to seven on a three-pointer before series of Mustang fumbles allowed Justin Hohn to collect the loose ball to bring it down the court for a layup at 13:47 (60-51)
> Che hesitated before shooting his pull-up jumper then took hard contact as he elevated into the lay-in which knocked off the glass and in, 66-55 (10:35)
> A 7-0 scoring stint by Cal Poly brought the lead down to three, 68-65, at 8:38
> Leuchten record his first field goal of the night off the glass at 8:14 then made the first of two free throws to build the lead back up to 71-65 (7:38)
> CP's Isaac Jessup would drain a pair of three-pointers to tie the score at 73-all with 4:42 left in the game
> Following a Leuchten layup, the Mustangs would score the next four to move in front 77-75 (2:32)
> Che inbound passed the ball to Leuchten for a layup and was fouled, making the extra to push UCI back in front 78-77 with 1:49 to play 
> Both teams missed opportunities with Hohn pulling down the defensive board and passing it up to Che who was fouled with 19.9 on the clock. Che made both from the line to pull UCI ahead by three, 80-77, only to watch Jessup's three-pointer hit a dead spot on the rim to bounce in for Cal Poly with 10 seconds to go, 80-80
> The Anteaters last shot would not fall sending the game into extra time
 
OVERTIME
> Tillis and Leuchten were connected early in the extra frame as the forward Tillis dumped the ball over to the center Leuchten twice, the second basket turned into a three-point play as Leuchten was fouled when he went up and made the shot from the line, 85-82 (3:26)
> After the media break, Tillis powered in a layup and was fouled at 2:52, extending the lead to 88-82
> Che hit a floating hook as the Anteaters continued to the build the lead with 2:15 to go 90-82  
> The Mustangs weren't done, scoring the next four (90-86) before Hohn knocked down four free throws and Leuchten making two, 96-86 (0:27)
> A Cal Poly triple with 15 seconds left ended the scoring, 96-89  
 
NOTES
> For the second time this season, an opponent has reset the program record in three-pointers in a contest as Cal Poly attempted 44. The previous standard was set at Belmont (Dec. 19) with 38
> Devin Tillis continues his rise up the all-time rebounding list and is now two rebounds away from surpassing Chris McNealy (518, 2010-14) for 24th and three from catching Bill Moore (519, 1969-72) for 23rd
> Justin Hohn cracks the top 10 in the all-time career steals leader board with 118, moving in front of Eyassu Worku (117, 2016-20) and is just three away from surpassing Mike Hess (120, 1985-88)
> Bent Leuchten is averaging 22 points a game this week
> Both Leuchten and Tillis posted double-doubles in the win, the second time this season where two players have done it a game

UP NEXT
UC Irvine returns to the Bren Events Center for the first time in 29 days as they take on UC Riverside on Jan. 4 with a 7 p.m. start.