Post Game Press Conference

HENDERSON, Nev. – UC Irvine fell to UC San Diego in the Big West Championship, 75-61, at the Lee's Family Forum Saturday evening.
 
After leading 33-31 at the half, UCI was outscored 44-28 in the second half, watching the Tritons shoot 55.6 percent (15-27) from the floor to the Anteaters' 32.1 percent (9-28).
 
Guard Justin Hohn led UCI with 18 points, knocking down a career-high tying four three-pointers. He was 5-14 from the floor and 4-4 from the line. The graduate student grabbed five rebounds and had two steals.
 
Forward Devin Tillis and center Bent Leuchten were named to the All-Tournament team. Tillis went 4-8 from the floor and 2-2 from the line for 12 points and had a career-high eight assists, while Leuchten added 10 points and matched Tillis for a team-best seven rebounds.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Guard Myles Che totaled seven points
> Forward Kyle Evans went 2-2 from the floor and 1-1 from the line for five points, two rebounds and a block
> Guard Torian Lee had five points and two steals in 15 minutes of action
> For the game, UCI shot 35 percent (20-57) from the field to UCSD's 49 percent (27-55)
> The Anteaters were a perfect 13-13 from the line
> The Tritons went 12-29 (0.414) from downtown
> UCI edged UCSD 14-3 in fastbreak points
> UC San Diego's Hayden Gray led all players with 22 points, draining 6-7 from three-pointers

FIRST HALF
> It took awhile to get the scoring going, but the Tritons jumped out to an 8-2 lead (15:57) on the strength of two three-pointers. Bent Leuchten scored UCI's first basket underneath at 16:58
> Tillis found Kyle Evans for a layup and the freebie from the line then Justin Hohn had a fallaway jumper at the free throw line to draw the Anteaters within one, 10-9, at 12:41
> Following a Triton basket, Hohn rattled in a three-pointer to tie the game 12-all at 11:45 and another from the right side to give the Anteaters their first lead, 15-12 at 10:43
> Tillis unloaded for another three-pointer at the top of the arc, 18-12 (9:53)
> Leuchten had a soft baseline jumper and on the other end of the floor, Torian Lee swiped the ball, allowing the Anteaters to pass the ball around until Ofure Ujadughele went cross court to Myles Che who knocked down a triple, 25-16 (7:36)
> UC San Diego's Hayden Gray had a three and layup before Lee once again jumped in and took the ball away, driving coast-to-coast for a layup to stop the UCSD momentum, 27-21 (5:36)
> Following a pair of Tillis free throws, Che (2:18) hit a floater on the right baseline to extend the lead back to 33-26
> UC San Diego answered with a three-pointer and banging layup to end the half with UCI leading 33-31

SECOND HALF
> After seeing another Hohn three-ball fall, the Tritons went on a 10-0 run to move out to a 43-36 lead at 15:05
> Jurian Dixon (14:34) had a layup up to snap an almost four-minute drought for UCI, 43-38
> Hohn was left all alone, burying his fourth three-pointer, 45-41 at 13:36
> Tillis found Evans for a layup then took it himself down the lane at 9:23 for a layup to draw to 52-49
> Another Triton three-pointer from Gray helped keep UCI at bay, 55-49 (6:57)
> Leuchten pulled down the offensive rebound, dishing to Tillis (5:32) for a triple on the right side only to watch Gray (5:17) drain another to counter, 58-52
> A pair of Che free throws (4:26) closed the margin to four, 58-54, but the Tritons answered with a pair of three-pointers, a free throw and layup down the lane to extend back out to 67-54 at 1:46
> UCI got four free throws from Hohn, while UCSD scored eight, until Lee had the final basket, a three, with two seconds left, 75-61
 
NOTES
> UC Irvine was perfect from the free throw line for the third time this season
> UCI's 61 points are the fewest since the Anteaters had 60 in a win at UC San Diego on January 11
> The Anteaters snap a six-game winning streak
 
UP NEXT
The 28-6 Anteaters will wait to hear about their postseason plans.