Post Game Press Conference

HENDERSON, Nev. – UC Irvine dominated the second half in a 96-78 victory over Cal Poly in a semifinal of the Big West Championship at the Lee's Family Forum Friday.
 
After trailing 38-39 at the half, UC Irvine out-scored the Mustangs 58-39 to earn a place in the title game Saturday. UCI was fiery in the final 20 minutes, shooting 61.8 percent from the field (21-34) and 10-11 (0.909) from the line.
 
UCI, who advances to the championship game for the 10th time, will face UC San Diego at 6:40 p.m. tomorrow at the Lee's Family Forum. The game will be carried on ESPN2.
 
Center Bent Leuchten dominated the paint, leading the Anteaters with 21 points and 10 rebounds. It is his 17th double-double of the year and eighth scoring 20 or more points and 10 or more boards.

The Anteaters improve to 28-5 overall after shooting 55.7 percent from the floor (34-61), including 10-20 from long range. UCI went 18-22 (0.818) from the line and out-rebounded the Mustangs 41-23.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Six Anteaters recorded double-digit points
> Forward Devin Tillis went 7-10 from the floor, including a three and 2-2 from the line for 17 points
> Tillis had eight rebounds and a career-high six assists plus a steal
> Guard Justin Hohn totaled 15 points, shooting 5-9 from the field, hitting two three-pointers
> Guards Myles Che and Jurian Dixon each scored 10 points with two three-pointers and two rebounds
> Forward Kyle Evans rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points, on a perfect 4-4 from the floor and 2-2 from the line
> Evans grabbed six rebounds and two blocks
> Guard Torian Lee had two three-pointers, finishing with eight points and three assists
> Cal Poly's Mac Riniker led all players with 22 points
> The Mustangs (16-19) went 13-28 from three-point distance
 
FIRST HALF
> Each side opened with a three-pointer, Cal Poly hitting first at 18:22 then Justin Hohn banking in his contested shot at 17:27, 3-3
> There was an answer from both teams to keep it even until another three fell for the Mustangs, 10-7 (13:49)
> Cal Poly jumped out to a 15-9 advantage at 10:45 until Jurian Dixon (10:19) and Torian Lee (9:46) went back-to-back from long-range in the same corner to draw back to 15-all
> Devin Tillis shut down the Mustangs 8-0 run when his shot rolled in at 7:02, 25-19
> Bent Leuchten went to work, scoring five in a row on a turnaround jumper and three makes from the line to make it a one-point game, 25-24 (5:15)
> UC Irvine was able to keep it within in as Kyle Evans (3:33, 3:03) received the bounce pass both times for the swing and score layups, 29-28
> The Anteaters moved the needle in their favor when Dixon's steal allowed Hohn to take the empty lane at 2:41, 30-29
> Tillis was left alone at the top of the arc and bounced in a three-pointer with 45 seconds left, 38-37
> A goaltend call gave Jarred Hyder and the Mustangs the points with four ticks left lifting Cal Poly to a 39-38 lead at the half
> Cal Poly hit seven three-pointers in the first 20 minutes and scored 10 points off nine UCI turnovers
 
SECOND HALF
> A Mustang layup started the second stanza scoring then Hohn knocked down a three to tie the score at 41-41 (19:22) and Dixon fired a pass that found Leuchten down low for a layup (18:43), 43-41
> Tillis (17:57) grabbed the rebound and went back up before Leuchten found Dixon (17:12) sliding baseline for a layup. Continuing, Leuchten received the inbound pass for another layup, 49-43 (16:44)
> Leuchten continued to be the x-factor, passing out to Myles Che for the triple in front of the Anteater bench and hitting a jumper in the paint to give UCI a 58-48 lead at 14:39
> Evans had a blocked a one-on-one with a Mustang and then had a rebound put-back on the other, 64-56 (12:10)
> It became a three-point shootout between Cal Poly and UC Irvine, both sides hitting two in response to each other, with the Anteaters' treys coming by way of Lee (11:37) and Dixon (11:07), 70-62
> Another UCI triple fell at 7:23 and the scoring stint was added on to by Tillis with a jumper and two by Leuchten from the stripe to go up 81-66 at 6:38
> Che hit four free throws to cap a 10-0 run to open a game-high 21 point advantage (93-72) with 2:44 to play
> The game's final points came from a three-pointer from UCI's Tishan Ahir (0:31) and Cal Poly's Eric Brown's layup (0:25), 96-78

NOTES
> UC Irvine won their 18th game away from Irvine, the nation's top mark
> UCI improves to 10-15 in semifinal contests
> Justin Hohn is tied for sixth with Evan Leonard (2016-20) in career steals (143)
> Hohn matches Evan Leonard (2016-20) for sixth all-time with 192 career made three-pointers
> Devin Tillis sits 14th in the all-time rebounding list with 650, just 20 from meeting Ben McDonald (670, 1980-84) for 13th
> Tillis is 18 points away from hitting the milestone 1,000-point club in a UC Irvine uniform
> Bent Leuchten holds the 15th spot in the all-time rebounding standings with 624, chasing Tillis for 14th
> Leuchten leads the Big West and team in double-doubles (17)
> Leuchten moves up in UCI's single season rebounding ranks, tied for third with Mark Nelson (1965-66) at 300
> Jurian Dixon has scored in double figures in eight straight games
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine advances to the title game of the 2025 Hercules Tires Big West Championship to face top-seeded UC San Diego at 6:40 p.m. on Mar. 15.