2024-25 Year in Review: Winter
6/25/2025
Men's Basketball
Head Coach: Russell Turner, 15th Year
2024-25 Record: 32-7 (17-3, 2nd Big West); NIT Finalists
UC Irvine men’s basketball shattered expectations and set new team and individual records along the way in a season of highs and lows. Head coach Russell Turner, who led the Anteaters to their 13th straight winning season, earned his 300th career win and became the third most winningest coach in the Big West. Justin Hohn, Bent Leuchten, and Devin Tillis all became a part of the 1,000-career point club while both Leuchten and Tillis also joined the 500-career rebound ladder. UC Irvine became the most-winningest team in program history with 32 wins, just marking the second time in program history to record 30+ wins.
The Anteaters received a double bye into the Big West Championship semifinal for their third straight year as a top-two seed. UCI routed Cal Poly, 96-78, for a spot in the finale marking the seventh time to do so under Turner. The ‘Eaters ended up falling to UC San Diego, 75-61.
UC Irvine made an exhilarating postseason run in the NIT where they made it all the way to the championship game. The Anteaters, a No. 1 seed and hosting a regional, earned their first tournament win since 1986 in the 82-72 win over Northern Colorado. The remaining three victories that followed were all program firsts. UCI became the first Big West team to reach the NIT semifinals since the 1983 Fresno State squad that won it all.
Midway through the non-conference portion of the slate, UC Irvine won their third straight MTE, taking home the Western Slam crown behind wins over Kennesaw State (76-59), Kent State (51-39), and Towson (67-60). Defense reigned supreme as all three opponents were held to 60 points or less with two of the three schools hitting season low marks from three-point range (KSU—4-23, 0.174 and Kent State—4-27, 0.148). Tillis, who averaged 16 points and 7.3 rebounds during the three-game stint, was named the MVP of the tournament and joined Leuchten on the All-Tournament team.
The Anteaters found themselves in the national spotlight multiple times during the season, receiving votes in the AP and USA Today Coaches polls four times. UCI also peaked as high as first, twice, in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll for the first time in program history. They would land in the top ten for 19 straight weeks in the ballot. The first NCAA NET rankings were unveiled on Dec. 2 where UC Irvine placed in the top 25 at No. 24. It is the highest rank in program history and topped a five-team top 100 ranking Big West. The Anteaters were second-best in the ranks both in California behind UCLA (16) and among all true mid-majors.
During the season, UC Irvine used a late offensive surge in an 82-66 victory over Cal State Bakersfield, marking the sixth consecutive year UCI has won their Big West opener. Only six UCI players scored in the contest with five of them in double figures. UC Irvine remained undefeated at 9-0, tying the 1981-82 team for the best start in program history. Nine wins were good for the nation’s longest win streak and the Anteaters were one of three teams who share that mark.
On Jan. 2, the UC Irvine trio of Tillis, Leuchten, and Myles Che scored a combined 71 points in the Anteaters' 96-89 overtime victory against Cal Poly. It was the first time since 2011 that three UCI players scored 20 or more points in a contest. Tillis led the group with 25, Leuchten followed with 24, and Che rounded it out with 22 points.
Domination inside of the Bren Events Center continued under Turner’s reign as a new home winning streak of 22 games was cemented on Feb. 1. The streak started back on Mar. 4, 2023. The Anteaters hold a 168-48 (0.778) overall record on their home court over the last 14 seasons and are 90-16 (0.849) against Big West opponents.
The entire starting five for UC Irvine was honored by the Big West led by Leuchten’s selection to the All-Big West First Team. Tillis landed on the All-Big West Second Team while both Che and Justin Hohn were honorable mentions. Jurian Dixon rounded out the awards he was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year.
Both Leuchten and Tillis continued to earn several more accolades for their standout efforts in 2024-25. Leuchten placed on the NABC Pacific District First Team and was a Lou Henson Award finalist. Tillis collected NABC Pacific District Second Team honors and was a Nolan Richardson Award finalist.
Women's Basketball
Head Coach: Tamara Inoue, 9th Year
2024-25 Record: 21-10 (15-5, 2nd Big West)
UC Irvine women’s basketball had a milestone-filled season in 2024-25. Tamara Inoue became the all-time winningest head coach in program history, while Nikki Tom broke the career steals record. Déja Lee also joined the 1,000-point club. As a team, the Anteaters recorded their fourth consecutive 20-win campaign with four of those victories coming against schools that made the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Statistically, UCI was once again one of the top defensive squads in the nation, ranking fifth in field goal percentage defense (35.4%) and 10th in scoring defense (54.3 ppg).
The ‘Eaters were a top-two seed at the Big West Championships for the fifth year in a row. They received a double bye into their fifth semifinal appearance in Inoue’s nine years at the helm. UC Irvine ended up falling to UC Davis, 63-56.
During the regular season, Déja Lee scored her 1,000th career point on a clutch free throw with 17 seconds left in a 52-49 win at UCD on February 1. A few weeks later, UCI recorded the sixth 100-point game in program history and first since Nov. 9, 2021, with a 100-56 win at CSUN. Two school records were also broken in UC Irvine’s 62-34 victory over Cal State Fullerton at the Bren Events Center on February 27. Nikki Tom became the Anteaters’ all-time steals leader with her 197th career takeaway that came just one minute and 19 seconds into the game. In addition, the win was the 159th under the direction of Tamara Inoue, making her the program’s all-time winningest head coach. On March 6, the ‘Eaters closed on a 9-0 run with Tom knocking down the game-winner in a thrilling 55-53 home victory over UC Davis. It was UCI’s 20th win of the season, while it also clinched a top-two finish in the Big West standings.
Déja Lee and Hunter Hernandez both earned their second career first-team All-Big West nods, while sophomore Summah Hanson was named the conference’s Best Sixth Player. UC Irvine was the only school to receive multiple selections on the six-member first team.
The Anteaters tied a program record with six student-athletes making the Big West Winter All-Academic Team. Hanson, Tom, Nevaeh Dean and Amelia Scharpf were also CSC Academic All-District selections.
Women's Indoor Track & Field
Head Coach: Jeff Perkins, 12th Year
MPSF Finish: 6th
In four meets, UC Irvine women’s indoor track & field broke five school records and produced a total of 37 marks that ranked among the program’s all-time top-10.
Jazzmine Davis, Lauren Aquino, Ihe Okoh and Amelia Trautman set the tone as they combined to take down the Anteaters’ five-year-old record in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:47.41 at the season-opening Silver & Blue Invitational.
At the Riverfront Invitational, Malia Gay broke two school records in a 24-hour span. She opened the meet by winning the 800m in a program-best 2:09.52. The next day, she beat UCI’s standard in the 600m at 1:32.23 for her second victory of the weekend.
The ‘Eaters closed out the season at the MPSF Championships where they set two more program records. Gay, Trautman, Kaia Schmidt and Anna Vogtmann made their way onto the podium with a third-place finish in the distance medley relay. The quartet topped the previous school record by over 10 seconds at 11:36.11.
Jolie Robinson was the runner-up in the pentathlon at the conference meet with a personal-best 3,888 points to rank third in program history. In the long jump, Robinson recorded a lifetime-best 6.04 meters (19-9.75) to top the standard of 5.97m, which she had held along with teammate Reyna Johnson. Nyla Baker (Shot Put) and Zharia Taylor (High Jump) also had podium finishes as they both came in third in their respective events. As a team, UC Irvine placed sixth overall with 53.5 points.
UCI landed a program-record 19 student-athletes on the MPSF Women’s Indoor Track & Field All-Academic Team.
