Post Game Press Conference

IRVINE, Calif. – No. 1 seed UC Irvine came alive late in the second half to beat Northern Colorado 82-72 in the first round of the NIT at the Bren Events Center Wednesday evening.
 
The Anteaters out-scored the Bears 26-12 in the final 10:34 to claim their first NIT win since 1986 and first ever on their home court.
 
Forward Devin Tillis was one shy of his career-high pouring in 24 points, going 10-15 from the floor, and knocked down three three-pointers to lead UCI. Tillis became the 35th Anteater to join the 1,000-career point scoring club and third UCI player of the season to reach this accomplishment. The redshirt senior also totaled seven rebounds and three assists in 33 minutes.
 
Center Bent Leuchten scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half including the first six in an 8-0 run that started the final push. The senior was 8-14 from the field and had a team-best 10 rebounds to go with three blocks.
 
UC Irvine shot 55.6 percent (15-27) from the floor in the second frame and 49.2 percent (29-59) for the game. Northern Colorado shot 15-30 (0.500) from the floor in the first half before the Anteaters limited them to just 12-37 (0.324) in the second.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Guard Justin Hohn added 15 points on the strength of three three-pointers and 6-8 from the line
> Hohn also fired five assists and had two steals
> Guard Jurian Dixon had eight points and two rebounds
> Guard Myles Che went 2-3 from the floor with an important three-pointer in the second half push and 2-2 from the line for seven points
> Forward Elijah Chol was impressive off the bench with three blocks and four points in five minutes of action
> UC Irvine handed Northern Colorado just their second loss of the season when the Bears led at the half (20-2)
> UCI won the battle in the paint, 36-30
> The Bears out-rebounded UCI, 41-35
> Northern Colorado had four players with double-digit points led by Brock Wisne's 16 points. Isaiah Hawthorne had a game-high 12 rebounds
 
FIRST HALF
> After Northern Colorado opened up with two free throws, UC Irvine went on an 8-0 run as Justin Hohn (17:42) stopped for a three-pointer then dished through the defense to Devin Tillis (17:11) as he went for the layup. Tillis then saw a triple fall down at 16:38, 8-2
> The Bears scored their first field goal of the contest at 14:43 only to be countered by Jurian Dixon's three-pointer at 14:07, 13-6
>A 9-1 run by Northern Colorado gave the Bears the lead 15-14 at 11:21
>A free throw by Leuchten and Myles Che pull-up jumper was followed by Che dishing Leuchten the ball for a dunk on the inbound, 19-15 (9:40)
> UNC out-scored UCI 11-4 to move in front 26-23 at 6:33
> Elijah Chol had a pair of baskets to tie the game at 27-all, the last a second chance put-in, at 4:41
> The Bears answered with seven straight, 34-27 (2:41)
> Ofure Ujadughele took to the baseline, went under the hoop, and reversed to stop the momentum at 2:20 (34-29)
> Tillis hit two late treys, the last with five seconds left, taking UCI into the half trailing 41-37
> The Bears shot 50 percent from the floor (15-30) and 4-7 (57.1 percent) from three-point distance
 
SECOND HALF
> The teams traded points until Northern Colorado stretched the lead to 51-42 with five in a row (15:50)
> Torian Lee and Jurian Dixon drained consecutive three-pointers and Tillis hit a floater to get the Anteaters to 51-50 at 13:40
> Hohn euro-stepped into the dish to Leuchten then hit a logo three-pointer before the 12-minute timeout, 58-56
>Leucthen battled for two layups to tie the score at 60-60 (9:56)
>Hohn found Leuchten underneath and after collecting the ball and checking his options, he had a reverse layup to give UCI a 62-60 lead at 8:08
> Dixon added two free throws to the run, 64-60 (7:37)
> A free throw and three-pointer by UNC knotted the score again at 64-64 until Che (4:52) had a step back three at the top of the arc, 67-64
> Leuchten and Tillis powered up layups from under the hoop to force a Northern Colorado timeout, 71-64 (3:01)
>The Bears knocked down a three-pointer before UCI had another Leuchten layup and four free throws by Hohn, 78-69, with 28 seconds left
> Hohn drained a triple from the left side with 12 seconds remaining before a UNC three-pointer ended the scoring with five seconds left, 82-72
 
NOTES
> UC Irvine knocked down double digit three-pointers in two of their last three contests
> UCI's 29 wins are the most since the 2018-19 season when they posted 31 (31-6)
> The Anteaters are 2-0 in 2024-25 against Big Sky opponents
> UCI won their first national postseason tournament game since 2019
> It was the fourth straight game when an opponent was held to single digit free throw makes and for the sixth time in the last seven games
> Justin Hohn ranks fifth in all-time career steals (147)
> Hohn is sixth all-time with 199 career made three-pointers, needing two more to match Jeff Herdman (201, 1987-91) for fifth
> Devin Tillis sits 14th in the all-time rebounding list with 664, just six away from meeting Ben McDonald (670, 1980-84) for 13^th, while Bent Leuchten holds the 15th spot with 641
> Leuchten leads the Big West and team in double-doubles (18), placing seventh nationally
> Leuchten is now 20 rebounds away from matching Kevin Magee (337, 1980-91) for second all-time rebounds in a season
> Hohn (11th--1,325), Leuchten (29th--1,123), and Tillis (34th--1,018) have all entered the 1,000-point scoring club this season
 
UP NEXT
No. 1 seed UC Irvine continues postseason action inside the Bren Events Center on Sunday Mar. 23 against Jacksonville State. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.