RIVERSIDE, Calif. – UC Irvine exploded with a 19-0 run out of halftime and went on to a 80-66 victory over UC Riverside at the SRC Center Thursday.

For the game, the Anteaters shot 45.8 percent (27-59) from the floor and held the Highlanders to 34.4 percent (22-64). In the second half the UCI defense limited UCR to 28.8 percent (10-35) from the floor. UCI had 12 steals, the second most this season.

Guard Jurian Dixon led five Anteaters in double-digit scoring with 15 points. He went 6-15 from the field, including two three-pointers. He also had three steals and three rebounds.

Forward Harrison Carrington scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half, knocking down 6-8 from the floor and 2-3 from the line.He grabbed four boards on the defensive side.

UCI improves to 13-7 overall and 6-2 in the Big West, while UCR falls to 7-13 overall and 2-6 in league play.

HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER SAID:
"I'm excited to win. On the road, we hadn't won one here in a couple years. So, we know that it's tough to come here and get that done. I thought they had a good crowd here tonight too. I'm pleased with the way that we started the game and started the second half, and over the course of 40 minutes, we wore them down with really good defense. I'm pleased with that. It's always going to happen in college basketball that teams make a run. It's amazing this year, especially how many huge leads I've seen, dissipate and be lost and turn into L's, especially in road games. So, it's not easy to balance the plays that you need to make with a lead and the aggression that you need to maintain. I thought our guys did that tonight."

FORWARD HARRISON CARRINGTON SAID:
"It was a great team win. It's always hard to win on the road. It was a big emphasis coming in here that they were going to be super physical and we just had to respond to that and we did. Every game on the road is going to be hard. I try to bring my experience every day in practice. And just being composed in these moments, especially on the road. The plays don't go our way all the time, but we just have to stay composed. I think we should do a better job of once we get up by that much, maintaining that lead and being more consistent with that."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Guard Andre Henry went 5-11 from the field and 3-5 from the line for 13 points. He also grabbed two rebounds
>Guards Derin Saran and Tama Isaac each recorded 11 points. Isaac had four steals and two assists, while Saran posted four assists and two steals
>Forward Kyle Evans was impressive on the glass, pulling down 15 rebounds to go with seven points and three blocks
>Jovan Jester Jr. fired five assists and had four points and three rebounds
>UC Riverside's Marqui Worthy Jr. had a game-high 22 points
>The Highlanders went 15-16 from the line (93.8%)
> UCI out-rebounded 44-33

FIRST HALF
>UCI opened the game with the first seven points on a pair of Elijah Chol free throws then a jumper and three pointer from Jurian Dixon, 16:57
>UCR would go on a 9-3 run to get back in the game, 9-10 (15:36)
>The Anteaters answered with eight of their own, including a layup and dunk by Harrison Carrington, 18-9 (11:59)
>The Anteaters continued to play good defense and went on another run, this time 7-0 and holding the Highlanders scoreless for over three minutes to take a 31-17 lead and force a UCR timeout (4:47)
>UC Riverside got some offense going, hitting a three-pointer to cap off a 7-0 spurt and cutting the Anteater lead down to seven. Derin Saran ended the brief UCI scoreless stretch with a pair of free throw makes to bring the score to 33-24 (3:25)
>Anteaters got a highlight from Tama Isaac when the freshman found Henry with a one-handed bounce pass in transition for a layup, 37-30 (1:34)
>The half closed with UCI leading 38-33

SECOND HALF
>A UCI barrage opened up play in the second half, with the Anteaters getting buckets from Evans, Dixon, Isaac, Saran and Jovan Jester Jr. to blow open the game with a 19-0 run. The Anteaters took a 57-33 lead while holding the Highlanders scoreless for nearly six minutes during that stretch (14:02)
>UCR stopped the bleeding, hitting four of five shots to cut the lead to 19 (11:37)
>Nes Emeneke dropped off a bounce pass to Carrington in the dunker's spot for a two-handed slam, 65-44 (10:26)
>UC Riverside's offense came alive, going on an 11-2 run and cutting the Anteater advantage to just 67-58 before a Henry jumper pushed the UC Irvine lead back to double digits (7:05)
>UC Irvine's defense hunkered down, holding UCR scoreless for 2:35 in the clutch before closing out the victory 80-66

NOTES
>UCI out-scored UCR in the paint, 40-26
>UCI's bench scored 31 points
>The Anteaters scored 19 fast break points, while the Highlanders didn't have any
>UCI snapped a two-game losing streak in Riverside
>Evans' 15 rebounds are the second most in his career

UP NEXT
UCI heads to UC San Diego Saturday (Jan.24) for a 7:00 p.m. game at LionTree Arena.