Post Game Press Conference

INDIANAPOLIS – UC Irvine did not give up until the buzzer sounded in a heartbreaking 85-84 loss to Chattanooga in the championship of the National Invitation Tournament Thursday evening at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
A Myles Che jumper with 1:13 to play in overtime gave UCI the 84-83 lead but neither team could score until UTC's Garrison Kessler hit a free throw line jumper with 11 seconds left to give the Mocs the game winner.
 
The Anteaters led the entire second half until Chattanooga's Honor Huff was fouled attempting a three-pointer with 16 seconds left and made three free throws to put UTC up 76-74. Che was fouled beyond the arc on the next possession and made a pair at the line to tie the game with 13 seconds remaining, 76-76. The Mocs could not score on the final possession sending the game into extra time.
 
UCI, the nation's third best team at the free throw line, was let down by the stripe going 21-34 (61.8 percent), including 2-6 in overtime. The Mocs were 15-21 (71.4 percent) from the line, going 13-16 in the second half, and the difference maker was draining 14 three-pointers (14-44, 0.318).
 
The Anteaters end their historic season 32-7, the most wins in school history.
 
UC Irvine's entire starting lineup finished with double-digit points, led by redshirt senior Devin Tillis with 19 points, hitting 7-12 from the floor, including 3-4 from three-point distance. He also had eight rebounds and three assists.
 
Center Bent Leuchten recorded his 20th double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He is seventh in the country in double-doubles and ends his season with 213 free throws which ranks sixth in the nation. Leuchten's 11 boards helped him to set the new single-season rebounding record at 354 passing the great Kevin Magee's 353 mark set in 1981-82.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Guard Justin Hohn totaled 17 points, on 7-15 from the floor to go with six rebounds, four assists and three steals
> Big West Freshman of the Year Jurian Dixon recorded 16 points, shooting 4-9 from the field and hitting 7-8 from the line
> Dixon added five rebounds
> Guard Myles Che added 13 points, three assists, two rebounds and a block
> Elijah Chol was the lone Anteater to score off the bench, going 2-2 from the floor for four points
> Forwards Kyle Evans and Ofure Ujadughele each had three rebounds
> The Anteaters held a 44-40 rebound advantage, but Chattanooga scored 17 second chance points to UCI's 12
> 42 of UCI's points came in the paint
> Chattanooga was led by Trey Bonham's 19 points and 10 rebounds as he shot 50 percent from the field (9-18). Collin Mulholland matched Bonham in points with 19, knocking down five three-pointers

FIRST HALF
> Chattanooga started off on an 8-0 run before UC Irvine rattled off seven straight points as Bent Leuchten raised for a second chance layup, Justin Hohn had a crafty layup, and Devin Tillis hit a top of the arc three-pointer, 8-7 at 15:56
> The Mocs built a four-point edge with a jumper then Tillis gave the Anteaters their first lead of the contest with back-to-back triples, the last at 13:43 (15-13)
> UTC responded to a three of their own to push the lead back in their direction, but Che () had a hard take up to the hoop and Jurian Dixon (10:07) knocked down a pair of shots from the line to keep the score in favor of the Anteaters, 19-16
> Hohn drove for a layup in UTC's 7-2 run as they moved back in front, 23-21 at 7:09
> A kiss off the glass from Hohn at 4:31 tied the game for the second time, 25-25
> Each side traded three's, Hohn scoring for the Anteater, and the last by UTC to take the 31-28 edge at 2:32
> Elijah Chol made an impact off the bench with a rebound put-back then landed under the basket where he took a pass from Tillis and used his left hand and the glass to put the Anteaters in front, 32-31 (1:15)
> Out of the timeout, Dixon (0:45) hit a three in the corner to put the Anteaters back in front 35-33
> Trey Bonham pulled up for a baseline floater for UTC then Che found Tillis slipping to the basket for a layup only to watch Bonham hit a three-pointer from half-court as the buzz sounded, giving the Mocs a 38-37 lead at the break
 
SECOND HALF
> Tillis (19:26) backed-down his defender then a spun to the basket before Hohn (19:08) had a steal and drove down for a layup, 41-38
> After a Mocs bucket, Hohn broke through the defense for a layup then Leuchten followed up on a missed layup and put it back, 45-40 (16:13)
> Out of a timeout, UTC turned the ball over and Dixon took advantage with a jumper. Then, Che added a free throw to cap the 7-0 run and up the margin to 48-40 at 14:07
> Chattanooga would hit a three-pointer before Dixon stepped to the line for two, 50-43 (13:30)
> The Mocs made it a three point game at 13:15 then Tillis made a shot from the line and Hohn grabbed the long rebound, flying down the court to find Dixon for the layup at 12:00, 53-48
> UTC went on a 5-1 spurt to close to 52-54 before a steal and layup by Hohn made it 56-52
> Two Anteater baskets, one from Che (9:29) and the other from Tillis (8:57), were placed between two Mocs treys going into a timeout with UCI leading 60-58
> The teams traded two free throws each before Leuchten fought through the paint, spinning to the hoop for a layup at 4:52, 66-63
> After a Chattanooga jumper, UCI scored five unanswered using a floater by Che and a free throw by Dixon, 69-65 (4:09)
> Hohn looked stuck with shot clock winding down, but found Leuchten (3:28) for the layup, 71-65
> UTC called a timeout and got fouled on the next possession. The stop in play resulted in the media timeout in the under-four media timeout at 2:55. A pair of free throws were made out of the break, 71-67
> Leuchten would pull down a board and get fouled making two at the stripe at 2:30, 73-67
> UTC responded with a three (2:13) before Leuchten was fouled again this time on the shot, making the second of two, 74-70 (1:38)
> In a broken play, Chattanooga's Garrison Kesler hit a three-pointer then a rebound led to a foul, but the Anteaters couldn't hit either from the stripe. UCI fouled Honor Huff beyond the arc and UTC would move ahead, 76-74 with 13 seconds to play
> Che was then fouled beyond the arc and made two of three to tie the score at 76-76 and send the game into overtime
 
OVERTIME
> Chattanooga started the scoring before Dixon had a rebound put-back to keep it even, 78-78
> UTC's Bonham (3:07) bounced off the defender and the ball went in then Tillis found Leuchten (2:22) running down the lane 80-80
> An offensive foul on the Mocs led to a trip to the line for Tillis who made one, 81-80 (1:45)
> A long rebound was poked around until Che (1:33) dove on the floor and was fouled making the second of two, 82-80
> UTC answered with a three before Che had a baseline fade away jumper with 1:13 remaining, 84-83
> A miss on the UTC end led to an offensive possession for the Anteaters who were fouled, but missed both allowing Garrison Kessler to hit a free throw line jumper with 11 seconds on the clock to take the 85-84 lead
> The Anteaters turned the ball over and committed a foul but the Mocs missed two free throws on their end giving UCI one last shot with 2.4 on the clock
> UCI attempted a length of the court pass that led to a final shot that would not go in handing UTC an 85-84 victory

NOTES
> UC Irvine went to 3-2 in overtime contests
> UCI won nine of their last 11 games
> Justin Hohn and Devin Tillis were named to the All-Tournament team
> Hohn finished his career ranked fifth in both all-time career steals (152) and in career made three-pointers (207)
> Tillis ends ninth in the all-time rebounding list with 703 while Bent Leuchten holds the 14th spot with 678
> Hohn (11th--1,380), Leuchten (26th--1,180), and Tillis (32nd--1,079) land in the 1,000-career point scoring list