IRVINE, Calif. – Forward Kyle Evans led UC Irvine to a 73-60 victory over UC Riverside in the Big West opener at the Bren Events Center Thursday.

Evans led the way for the Anteaters, scoring 19 points, grabbing eight rebounds and adding five blocks to his NCAA-leading 32 blocks on the season. The senior went 7-11 from the floor, including knocking down his first career three-pointer.

The Anteaters win their third consecutive game and improve 6-4 overall and 1-0 in the Big West. UCR goes to 4-5 and 0-1.

HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER SAID:
"I feel good to win. Conference play is different, and I think that this team needs to grow into the consistent competitive expectations that come with conference play because in these games, every team can beat us. We have a big bullseye on our backs because of previous years' success, but these guys are going to have to learn how to generate. I thought they shot three-point shots tonight better than we have against Division I teams previously this year. I think that we can play a lot better than we did. But the season's going to have some ebbs and flows. I want to use this win as an opportunity for us to improve."

SENIOR KYLE EVANS SAID:
"I think we will continue to find our offensive identity. As each game goes on, we're learning more about each other and learning more about ourselves. I know that was something that we struggled with early on, but tonight we made 10 threes. That's something that we've really been focusing on, moving the ball on the offensive end. We know we're a good defensive team, but we know we can handle that side of the floor. too."

"Coach Turner always says these conference games are championship games. And I think that's why everyone on the roster comes here to Irvine, to compete for championships. Coming out here every night, trying to compete, get better, and just fighting with each other, that's why we play the game. It's been a lot of fun and tonight was a great night."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Guard Jurian Dixon totaled 16 points, going 4-5 from deep and 6-9 from the floor overall
> Jovan Jester Jr. and Andre Henry both had double figure points off the bench, with Jester Jr. putting in 13 on 4-5 shooting, including two threes and Henry adding 10 on 3-4 from the field with a three. The duo each had four rebounds
>Freshman Tama Isaac led passing efforts for the Anteaters, recording seven assists in the victory
>Post players Elijah Chol and Harrison Carrington chipped in five points each with Chol pulling down six boards
>UCI hit a season-high 10 three-pointers with a season-best 55.5 percent (10-18) from long range
>The Anteaters shot 44.2 percent (23-52) from the field and were 17-26 from the line (65.4%)
>UC Riverside was led by Marqui Worthy's game-high 26 points, going 11-14 from the line with eight rebounds
>The Highlanders were held to just .305 shooting from the floor (18-59) and 25 percent from three (5-20)

FIRST HALF
>UC Irvine started strong on both ends, running out to a 6-2 lead and holding UCR to just 1-12 shooting from the field to open play
>Derin Saran had a highlight pass, drawing two defenders and dropping a bounce pass to Kyle Evans for a layup. Shortly after, Jurian Dixon connected on three-pointer and Jovan Jester Jr. hit a pair of free throws to extend a 7-0 run for UCI, 13-3 (13:21)
>The Anteaters held UC Riverside scoreless for 3:14 as UCI went on another run to open up a 22-5 lead, this time ripping off nine unanswered points from Andre Henry, Elijah Chol, and Dixon (9:10)
>After a short stint of the UCI offense going scoreless, Jester Jr. hit a contested three-pointer from the left wing to reawaken the Bren crowd (5:44)
>UCR's offense got some momentum going, putting up six straight points before Tama Isaac got UC Irvine back on the board with a deep three-pointer, 33-17 (2:32)
>The Highlanders went on a 7-2 run in the closing minutes, cutting the UCI lead to 37-26 to end the first half

SECOND HALF
>The Anteaters went on a 6-0 run and held the Highlanders scoreless for nearly three minutes to open up a 45-31 lead at 15:57
>Harrison Carrington came off the bench firing for UCI, hitting on a floater and then a three-pointer on the next possession that forced a UC Riverside timeout, 50-34 (14:26)
>A 5-0 UCR run was quelled by a Jester Jr. reverse layup. The redshirt freshman would get an and-one layup to go on the next possession to give UCI a 58-44 lead (11:03)
>The UCI defense locked in, holding the Highlanders to just one point in a three-minute span and getting seven points from Saran, Chol and Dixon in the same stretch, 67-52 (5:17)
>UC Irvine got its knockout blow from Evans, who caught the ball with seconds left on the shot clock and banked in a deep three-pointer with 1:35 to go in regulation. Less than a minute later, Evans got a pass deep in the post from Saran and slammed home a two-handed dunk with 46 seconds remaining, 72-59
>Each team recorded a free throw to close out the game, 73-60 

NOTES
>UCI wins its ninth consecutive Big West opener
>The Anteaters, who entered the game ranked fourth nationally in field goal defense, have  held their opponent to under .317 for the third consecutive game
>UCI has recorded five or more blocks in all but one game this season

UP NEXT
UCI will host CSUN Saturday (Dec. 6) at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center. Fans are encouraged to bring a soft toy for the annual halftime Toy Toss.