IRVINE, Calif. – Guard Derin Saran scored nine of his team-high 17 points in the final 4:36 of the game to help UC Irvine secure an 85-71 victory over CSUN at the Bren Events Center Saturday night.

UCI finished the win on a 17-4 run in the last five minutes, holding CSUN scoreless for the last 1:49 of play.

Saran ended the night 7-15 from the floor, including two three-pointers plus a free throw for his 17 points. He also grabbed six rebounds, three assists and a steal to help the Anteaters to their fourth consecutive victory.

The Anteaters shot 53.1 percent from the floor (17-32) in the second half, outscoring CSUN 48-30. UCI held the Matadors to 31.4 percent shooting from the field (11-35) in the final 20 minutes after they shot 48.4 percent in the first half.  CSUN knocked down seven treys in the first half and just one in the second (1-8).

Forward Kyle Evans recorded his third double-double of the season, pulling down a career-high 16 rebounds and scoring 12 points. He went 5-7 from the floor and had 11 of his boards on the defensive end. His 16 rebounds are tied for the most by a Big West player this season and are tied for 23^rd most nationally. The senior swatted three blocks, moving back into first nationally in total blocks with 35 on the year.  

UCI improves 7-4 overall and 2-0 during Bold Week to start the Big West schedule. CSUN falls to 4-5 overall and 1-1 in the Big West.

HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER SAID:
"I'm excited to be 2-0 in conference play. We had two home games and were favored in them both, but we did what we were supposed to do. To have started conference this way is important to our team, but the most important thing is for us to continue to grow. I thought we defended at a much better level in the second half, and I thought we were able to wear [CSUN] down with our defense. Kyle Evans was a phenomenal presence in the paint."

"We've played a lot of games, and now we have an appropriate break for us to focus on the academic components of being at a world class institution like UC Irvine. So we've got to do a really good job here of handling our academic business.?We got a long way to go as an offensive team. I'm glad that we had the type of burst that we had tonight with the second half performance, but we've still got a long way to go. I'm realistic about that, but excited about the journey that we're going to travel."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Guard Andre Henry had a season-high 12 points with a 5-8 night from the field, including two three pointers.
>Freshman guard Tama Isaac went 3-3 from downtown and 4-5 on the night for 12 points. He added five rebounds and two assists
>Jovan Jester Jr. rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points, including a pair of threes. He recorded four rebounds as well
>UC Irvine had another stellar game from three, shooting 47.3% (9-19) from distance
>UCI ended the night shooting 49.2 percent (31-63) from the field, while the Matadors were 39.4 percent (26-66)
>The Anteaters out-rebounded CSUN 47-32
>CSUN was led by Larry Hughes II, who put up a game-high 18 points on 6-16 shooting from the field

REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE DERIN SARAN SAID: 
"It feels great, 2-0 in conference always feels great. I think in the first half, we were missing a lot of shots. We got some good looks, and we allowed them to get out to an early hot start. In the second half, we focused on not letting them get easy points or rebounds and we made our shots. Conference is always very important. Every game is a championship game, like Coach Turner said. So it feels great. Credit to Northridge, they came and they wanted the game a lot, but we were the better team today."

FIRST HALF
>UC Irvine's offense began with a Harrison Carrington jumper and Derin Saran layup on back-to-back possessions to get the Anteaters on the board and snap a 5-0 CSUN start (16:47)
>UCI got a boost from Tama Isaac, who hit a pair of threes, with the latter tying the game at 18 (9:44)
>Saran had a momentum shifting three-pointer for UCI, quelling a 6-0 Matador run with a catch-and-shoot triple on an assist from Isaac, 22-24 (8:08)
>Jovan Jester Jr. broke a short Anteater scoring drought by recording a four-point-play for UC Irvine, putting in a three-pointer plus a foul shot to tie the game up at 30 (4:34)
>Another Jester Jr. three-pointer and a CSUN layup closed the half with UC Irvine trailing the Matadors 41-37

SECOND HALF
>Elijah Chol got the Anteaters offense rolling early in the second half, slamming a dunk down and then getting a layup to go before Kyle Evans added another layup to cap a 6-0 run for UCI, moving in front 43-41 (17:09)
>CSUN would go on its own 6-0 run to regain the lead until Jurian Dixon had a turnaround jumper from the short corner to snap the streak, 45-47 (15:20)
>An Andre Henry jumper and Isaac's third three-pointer of the night gave UCI a 58-56 lead with just over 11 minutes to go in regulation
>The Anteater defense beared down on CSUN, holding the Matadors scoreless for nearly three minutes while UCI built a 65-60 lead (7:00)
>CSUN battled back on a personal 5-0 run by Larry Hughes II, but Saran responded promptly with a reverse layup and floater back-to-back. An Isaac jumper extended the UCI run to 6-0 and the lead to 74-67 (2:57)
>Saran continued his takeover in the clutch, hitting a three-pointer and a fade-away jumper to give UCI a double-digit lead with just over two minutes to go
>Free throws from Evans, Dixon and Isaac closed out an 85-71 Anteater victory

NOTES
>UCI is shooting 47.0% (54-115) from the field over the first two Big West contests
>Elijah Chol scored six points, contributing six or more points in each of the last four games
>UCI leads the series over the Matadors, 46-26
>It is the first win of the season after trailing at the half (1-4)
>UCI scored 28 second chance points

UP NEXT
The Anteaters will take a break for final exams and return to action on Dec. 19 hosting Belmont at 6:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.