BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – UC Irvine held a 42-29 advantage in rebounding on the way to a 73-64 victory over Cal State Bakersfield at the Icardo Center Saturday.
 
Guard Jurian Dixon led UCI with 16 points, just one off his career-best set earlier in the season against the Roadrunners. He hit 4-9 from the floor and 7-8 from the line while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out a career-high five assists. It was Dixon's second time pacing the Anteater offense this season.
 
UCI's domination of the glass was led by center Bent Leuchten's game-high 11 boards. The senior also added 12 points for his 12th double-double of the season.
 
UC Irvine earned their 11th win on the road, tied for most in the country with Central Connecticut State with an identical 11-3 road record. The Anteaters are the nation's leader in most wins (14) away from their home court.
 
FROM HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"Proud of our team's win tonight. We showed resilience, some toughness, especially in the second half coming from behind and building the lead and finishing the game. I am excited that we still lead the country in road wins. It's hard to win here. I am proud of all the guys for that especially the veterans. Also, we have work to do to play better, to play with more energy and fire, passion, and joy. These guys starving, so we got to get to work and get better. We rebounded really well tonight after rebounding poorly against CSUN. like that our son was effective tonight. That's good multiple things to have success. I thought Torian Lee was outstanding tonight, and Ben Egbo was outstanding again. Kyle had a great second half. We need everyone on this team in order to be good."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Guard Myles Che totaled 12 points with a pair of three-pointers (2-3, 0.667)
> Che pulled down five rebounds and had two assists
> Forward Devin Tillis added eight points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists
> Guard Torian Lee recorded eight points, four rebounds and two assists
> Kyle Evans and Ben Egbo pitched in six points each
> UCI's bench outpaced CSUB, 22-18
> The Anteaters won the paint game 30-26
> Cal State Bakersfield was led by Jemel Jones' game-high 18 points
 
FIRST HALF
> After seeing Cal State Bakersfield jump out to a 6-0 lead, Kyle Evans was able to kick start the UC Irvine offense with his dunk at 14:16
> The Anteaters kept it within three, twice, off a pull up three-pointer from Devin Tillis (13:48) and when Elijah Chol (11:12) saw his second chance shot fall through to bring it to 10-7
> CSUB scored seven unanswered with Myles Che (8:59) stopping the Roadrunner scoring stint as he knocked down the three-ball, 17-10
> Torian Lee hit two treys which were the bookends of two 'Runner layups, 21-16 (5:37)
> Ben Egbo gave a spark off the bench, taking to the baseline and driving to the hoop for four quick points, bringing it to 23-20 at 4:07
> Tillis dished through the lane to a streaking Dixon (0:17) who got fouled on his dunk and then converted the extra shot from the line to keep it close, 30-27
> The Roadrunners registered the last basket of the half with one second remaining to hold the 32-27 lead at the break
> 14 of UCI's points came from the bench while out-rebounding CSUB, 22-15
 
SECOND HALF
> The Anteaters came out of the break quickly with a 9-2 run, six points on Bent Leuchten layups, to take a 36-34 lead at 16:26
> Evans continued the offense with a hook shot (14:08) and a dunk (12:45) before Egbo followed up to grab an offensive carom to redirect it up back to the basket for the 45-40 advantage at 12:00
> The Roadrunners knocked down a three-pointer to knot the game up 47-all (8:47)
> UC Irvine answered as Che (8:34) took it all the way from the point through the lane, Tillis (8:01) converted three of his four shots from the line, Justin Hohn (7:23) ripped for a triple in front of the Anteater bench, and a pair of free throws by Lee (6:29) to break open a 57-47 lead
> CSUB wouldn't go away, scoring eight of the next 11 points to hang around, 60-55 (3:17)
> After Dixon's hard drive to the hoop for a layup and and-1 free throw, Leuchten took the shot from the block to extend the advantage at 1:01, 68-56
> The Roadrunners used a pair of shots from the stripe and a trey to hang around 68-61 at 0:41
> Following a jumper and free throw by CSUB, Dixon ended the scoring with two free throws with eight seconds left, 73-64
 
NOTES
> UC Irvine won their ninth straight game against Cal State Bakersfield, the longest win streak of the all-time series
> It was the first time in seven games that UCI did not have a 20-point scorer
> Ofure Ujadughele tied the Big West record in all-time games played (148) with his appearance versus the 'Runners
> Justin Hohn sits seventh in the career steals leader board with 139, needing five more to pass Evan Leonard (143, 2016-20) for sixth
> Hohn is the 21st all-time scorer in the program (1,228 points) now 17 points away from passing Mike Heckman (1,244--1966-69) for 20th
> Devin Tillis sits 14th in the all-time rebounding list with 618, just 53 from meeting Ben McDonald (670, 1980-84) for 13^th
> Tillis recorded his 1,000th combined career point in the win, 84 from hitting the milestone in a UC Irvine uniform
> Bent Leuchten is 21st in the rebounding standings with 570, needing 16 to go ahead of Mark Nelson (585, 1965-67) for 20th
> Leuchten leads the Big West and team in double-doubles (12)
> Leuchten has scored in double figures 22 times this season
 
UP NEXT
The Anteaters head over to Orange County rival Cal State Fullerton this Thursday (Feb. 26) for a 7 p.m. tip-off inside Titan Gym.