IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine defense held UC Riverside to 22 second half points in an 81-57 victory at the Bren Events Center on Saturday evening.

The crowd of 3,316 saw the Anteaters trail 35-29 at the half before exploding with 52 second half points, shooting 64.3 percent from the floor (18-28) while limiting the Highlanders to 7-29 (21.4%) from the field.

Guard Justin Hohn led UCI with 17 points, going 8-14 from the field with a three-pointer. He also grabbed five rebounds and recorded two assists and a steal.
 
Guard Myles Che dished a career-high seven assists and added 16 points on the strength of 10-12 shooting from the line.
 
Forward Devin Tillis scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half, making 5-6 shots, including two from long range in the final 20 minutes. The senior pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.
 
UC Irvine improves to 13-2 overall and 3-0 in the Big West. The Anteaters are 4-0 at home this season and extend their Bren Events Center streak to 18 dating back to March 4, 2023. UCI hands UCR their first conference loss as the Highlanders go to 10-6 (3-1 Big West) on the season.
 
FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"This was a tough week with three tough games. I am super proud of some of the things we found tonight Ben Egbo was terrific as a defender and Berk Can Akin made a couple of big plays. I am excited for all these guys because there is a belief that shows up in the second half with performances like that. I would sure like to see us start the game with a little bit more force and purpose on offense."
 
"His [Myles Che's] competitiveness and confidence is obvious and so he fits in well with this group because of those two things. His free throws are a weapon, and he knows that."
 
FROM MYLES CHE
"I think it always starts with our defense. We had a tough first half offensively, but I feel like we had good shots and got where we wanted. We knew that it would come to us in the second half. Once our momentum started it was easy to keep going."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Guard Jurian Dixon added nine points, a career-best six rebounds, and two assists
> Center Bent Leuchten totaled eight points with two makes (2-4) from three-point range to go with four rebounds
> Freshman Berk Can Akin reset his career high in points (5) going 2-5 from the field
> Junior Kyle Evans was strong defensively as he pulled down six boards and swatted a shot
> The Anteaters, who entered the game second in the country in free throw percentage, went 20-28 (71.4%) from the line
> UCI out-rebounded UCR, 43-37, with 34 coming on the defensive end
> The Highlanders were led by Barrington Hargress who had a game-high 20 points
> UCI ended the game, shooting 27-55 (49.1%) from the floor, while UCR was 20-63 overall (31.7%)
 
FIRST HALF
> Justin Hohn' s long two-pointer in the corner at 17:30 opened the scoring for UC Irvine stopping a five-point spurt, 5-2
> UCR scored the next seven, all by Kaleb Smith, to extend the lead to 12-2 at 16:24
> The Anteaters then strung together seven points as Myles Che (15:27) drove down the baseline for a floater, Jurian Dixon (14:47) hitting the three-ball, and Hohn (13:51) taking the ball all the way down the court for a put-in to draw within three, 12-9
> The Highlanders would go on a 7-2 run holding the Anteaters scoreless for three minutes until Bent Leuchten knocked down a three at the top of the arc at 7:46, 23-17
> Four Che free throws helped to cut the UCI deficit after a UCR three-pointer, 33-29 (1:30)
> The Highlanders put away the final jumper with 58 seconds left to take a 35-29 lead at the half
 
SECOND HALF
> Hohn (19:21) started the half with a hard driving baseline layup and Tillis (18:33) tap back to inch within 35-33
> A jumper at the free throw line by Hohn (16:45) pulled the Anteaters back within two, 41-39, after UC Riverside jumped back out by as much as five twice
> The Bren erupted as Tillis knocked down the go-ahead triple at 15:23 followed by Leuchten hitting from the same spot at 14:56 (45-41)
> Che continued to give the fans something to react to as he made a free throw to continue UCI's scoring run, 46-41 (14:11)
> The Anteaters exploded for seven straight on consecutive layups by Dixon (13:33), Kyle Evans (12:01), and Hohn (12:01) and a three-point play on a fall away jumper and free throw make by Berk Can Akin at 10:22 to increase the margin to 55-43
> UCR ended UCI's 26-8 run through the first ten and a half minutes when they drove to the basket for a layup and hit two from the line to make it an 11-point game, 58-47 (8:03)
> UCI out-scored the Highlanders 14-3 over a three and a half minute span, including five free throws from Che, four from the line by Dixon, a three-pointer by Hohn, and a basket down low by Tillis to lead 72-50 at 3:59
> A free throw by Ofure Ujadughele (2:54), jumper by Ben Egbo (2:29), and a mid-range shot from the left side by Ujadughele (1:48) gave UCI the 79-54 advantage
> Akin had the final basket, a layup, with 32 second left, 81-57
 
NOTES
> UC Irvine has held eight opponents to 60 points or fewer
> UCI and UC San Diego both remain unbeaten in Big West play at a 3-0 mark and have identical overall records (13-2)
> It is the second straight game where the Anteaters have scored 80+ points
> Devin Tillis now sits 23rd in the all-time rebounding list with 525, just two behind Jeff Herdman (527, 1987-91) for second
> Justin Hohn cracks the top 10 in the all-time career steals leader board with 119 and is just two away from surpassing Mike Hess (120, 1985-88) for ninth
> Hohn moved in front of both assistant coach Michael Wilder (1,082—2009-13) and Ross Schraeder (1,094—2002-06) to become the 28^th all-time scorer in the program

UP NEXT
The Anteaters take to the road for two straight league contests, the first a 7 p.m. start at CSUN (Jan 9).