LONG BEACH, Calif. – Forward Devin Tillis scored eight points in overtime to lead UC Irvine to an 80-75 victory at the Walter Pyramid Thursday.
 
UCI trailed The Beach by 10, 64-54, with 5:46 to play and held LBSU scoreless for almost four minutes. The 'Eaters went on a 14-4 run, including the final seven points, to tie the game and send it into overtime.
 
Tillis took over in the extra frame, hitting 3-3 from the floor, including two three-pointers in the final five minutes. The Beach cut the lead to three on a long-range shot before fouling Justin Hohn off the rebound. Hohn would record the final two free throws with one second left to end the game.
 
The Anteaters were a perfect 13-13 from the free throw line, while LBSU went 6-10 from the stripe. It is the second time this season where UCI has not missed a shot at the line.
 
UC Irvine improves to 9-1 in the Big West, 19-3 overall, hanging on to the top spot in the conference halfway through the league schedule. The Anteaters are just one of five teams in the nation to hit 19 wins.

FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"We didn't just have a rough start; we had a rough second half. We gave up 12 points; I think we were up two at halftime and then went down by ten. I didn't think we dictated the game very well and I give credit to Long Beach State for that. They were more physical and aggressive. At times they played harder to loose balls and rebounds than we did. But this team has belief. Despite being down late, we made enough plays to claw our way back to tie the game in regulation. Then we controlled the overtime and made big rebound plays that we didn't make in the second half. You got to feel good about a team that can win without playing at their best level, but I am disappointed in the level we played at. Now that we have played ten league games, and we have ten more. We are capable of winning in this league and every team that we play is also capable of beating us."

"Our guys were clutch at the free throw line tonight. They have been able to do that multiple times this year. That wasn't the case when we lost to UC Riverside. So that can go both ways; we know it. You have to have belief in those moments that you can knock them down. Bent Leuchten had two big ones. Long Beach State called timeout between those which is a philosophy a lot of coaches use. He was clutch and made them; multiple guys did. If they didn't, we wouldn't have been able to come all the way back so there is belief that every guy can knock them down."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Tillis finished the evening with 18 total points at a 0.500 clip, matching his career-best in made three-pointers (4)
> Guard Myles Che posted his third 20-point effort of the season, going 50 percent from long-range and a perfect 4-4 from the line
> Guard Justin Hohn ended the evening with 13 points, knocking down three triples (3-5, 0.600)
> Hohn dished out a team-high six assists
> Center Bent Leuchten recorded his tenth double-double of the year behind 12 points and 10 rebounds
> Leuchten also added two assists and two blocks
> Guard Jurian Dixon rounded out the double figure scoring with 10 points and pulled down three rebounds
> Kyle Evans came off the bench, contributing four points, two rebounds, and a block
> UCI shot a hot 55 percent (11-20) from three-point range for their seventh game hitting over 40 percent from beyond the arc
> LBSU edged out the Anteaters off the glass, 39-36
> Both teams saw all five of their starters have double digit scoring nights
> Long Beach State was led by Devin Askew's 18 points, eight assists, and five rebounds
 
FIRST HALF
> Long Beach State opened the game with three straight three-pointers with the Anteaters responding with a basket every time, seeing contributions from Jurian Dixon on a floater (18:53), a hook shot in the paint from Bent Leuchten (17:48), and a drive to the hoop from Devin Tillis (17:14) to stay within three, 9-6
> Tillis dished over to Justin Hohn in the corner for a catch-and-shoot triple to equalize 11-11 at 15:38 before a pair of Kyle Evans free throws knotted the score again, 15-15 (13:18)
> UC Irvine moved in front at 12:27 as Evans took the ball down the wide-open lane, drawing the defense into the paint, then passing out to the Torian Lee who was waiting to knock down the trey, 18-17
> After falling behind by three, back-to-back three-pointers from Tillis and Che forced LBSU to call a timeout at 6:47 with UCI leading, 28-25
> Che pulled up from just outside the paint on the left side then Tillis went underneath for a layup to cap a 10-0 run and increase the advantage to 32-25 at 4:27
> The Anteaters held the Beach off the scoreboard for four and a half minutes before LBSU tipped back a rebound at 3:53,  32-27
> After Kyle Evans denied an attempt at the rim for the Beach, LBSU scored the final five points of the half to close to 34-32
 
SECOND HALF
> The duo of Hohn and Leuchten worked well on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. Leuchten backed down the defense before kicking out to Hohn (17:44) who was behind the arc, Leuchten stuffed the LBSU attempt at the rim with Hohn corralling the rebound, which led to Hohn feeding Leuchten in the wide-open lane for the layup and extra shot at the line, 40-36 (16:42)
> Long Beach State drained a trey to push ahead only to have Hohn drop another three-pointer to keep the game tied at 43 all (13:58)
> LBSU scored six more to lead 53-47 with 10:00 on the clock
> Following a Tillis three-pointer, back-to-back baskets by The Beach gave them a seven-point advantage (59-52) at 7:20
> The Beach built a 10-point edge at 5:46, 64-54, before UCI chipped away with a three-pointer by Leuchten (5:28) and jumpers each by Dixon (4:46) and Che (4:00), 66-61
> Following a Long Beach State layup, Che drained a trey from the left side (2:33) then knock down a pull up jumper from the free throw line (2:01), bringing it to a one-possession game at 68-66
> Leuchten was fouled on a rebound and made a pair from the free throws to tie the game 68-all with 1:01 to play
> After both teams missed shots, and a Long Beach timeout and turnover gave UCI the final possession with 1.1 on the clock, but Leuchten's shot bounced off sending the game into overtime
 
OVERTIME
> Tillis hit a three-pointer up top to start the extra frame, 71-68 (4:34)
> Che had a layup (3:14) followed by a Tillis jumper (2:26) to give UCI a 75-70 lead
> Following a LBSU basket, Tillis drained another three with 1:43 to play, 78-72
> The Beach answered with a three of their own with 42 seconds left, 78-75
> A LBSU take away gave the Beach another possession, but missed twice from three-point range, leading to a foul on Hohn who would end the game with two free throws

NOTES
> Three of the last six meetings inside the Pyramid have gone to overtime
> UC Irvine moves to 7-2 on the season when Justin Hohn dishes out four or more assists in a game
> UCI won their ninth road game, tied for most road victories in the nation with Central Connecticut State who are also 9-3 away from their home court
> Justin Hohn sits seventh in the career steals leader board with 129, needing 15 more to pass Evan Leonard (143, 2016-20) for sixth
> Hohn is the 25th all-time scorer in the program (1,181 points) now 27 points away from passing Chris McNealy (1,207, 2010-14) for 24th
> Devin Tillis now sits 20th in the all-time rebounding list with 575, just 10 behind Mark Nelson (585, 1965-67) for 19th and 11 back from both Nick Sanden (586, 1966-69) and Jeff Cunningham (586, 1967-70) for 18th
> Bent Leuchten is 24th in the rebounding standings with 523, needing four more to move in front of Jeff Herdman (527, 1987-91) for 23rd
> Leuchten leads the Big West with 10 double-doubles
> Myles Che recorded his tenth straight double figure scoring game, the longest of any Anteater this season
> All three of Che's 20-point performances have come in the month of January (Jan. 2, Jan. 23, and Jan. 30)
 
UP NEXT
The Anteaters entertain UC Davis on Saturday Feb. 1 for a 1 p.m. start inside the Bren Events Center.