IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine dominated overtime, out-scoring Hawaii 15-4 to take an 84-76 victory at the Bren Events Center Thursday evening.

Graduate student Andre Henry took control of overtime, scoring eight of UCI's points in extra time on his way to a season-high 17 points. For the game he went 6-13 from the floor with a three-pointer and 4-5 from the line.

The Anteaters were led by a pair of double-doubles from senior forward Kyle Evans and redshirt sophomore guard Jurian Dixon each with 19 points. Evans, who was named to the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year watch list today, did not disappoint grabbing 11 rebounds and recording a career-high tying eight blocks. Dixon pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds and had four assists.

UC Irvine won its third consecutive game and sits on top of the Big West standings with an 8-2 record, improving to 15-7 overall.

HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER SAID:
"I'm really excited to win against a good Hawai'i team. Credit to those guys for the second half performance that they had to come all the way back. I thought we were really ready to play at the beginning and set the tone with our defense in the first half. I'm really proud that we found ways after being down six points down the stretch to work our way all the way back and build a lead, [even though] we didn't hold it. Our execution again down the stretch was not very good, on offense or on defense. But, you can rise up and make the plays in overtime after all that. It shows the character and toughness in our team. I'm pleased to see that, and we have to continue to grow."

GUARD ANDRE HENRY SAID:
"I just want to show love to my coaches. They put me in the best position for me to succeed. And my coaches, my teammates, they trusted me. They trusted me to make plays at the end of the game. Not only for myself, but for them too. I just have to thank my coaches and my teammates for trusting me with the ball at the end of the game. I want to win. I'm a team player. All that matters to me is, 'am I helping my team win' And my coaches are putting me in positions not only for me to succeed, but for our teammates to succeed. I believe in the coaches with 100% of my heart. And that's the decision they made and I'm all for it."
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Freshman guard Tama Isaac totaled 15 points on 5-9 shooting from the floor and 4-4 from the line. He had a team-best seven assists and two steals
>Forward Harrison Carrington added 10 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal
>Guard Derin Saran grabbed seven rebounds to go with three points
>The Anteaters shot 47.1 percent from the field (33-70), going 4-7 (57.1%) in the final five minutes. UCI tied a season-low with two three-pointers (2-11)
>UCI controlled the glass, out-rebounding UH 52-37
>Hawaii (15-5, 7-3) stayed in the game by hitting 13 three-pointers, recording all but 10 shots from long distance. The Rainbow Warriors were productive from the free throw line, hitting 17-19
>For the game, UH went 23-69 from the floor (33.3%) and were just 2-11 (18.2%) from the field in overtime, including 0-6 from long range

FIRST HALF
>UC Irvine got a stop on its first defensive possession, leading to a Jurian Dixon coast-to-coast layup to start the scoring. On the next Anteater trip down the floor, Akiva McBirney-Griffin got a reverse layup to go to start UCI off with a 4-0 advantage (18:51)
>Hawaii answered quickly, getting two straight threes to fall for a 6-0 run before Dixon tied the game at six with a pull-up jumper in transition, 6-6 (17:10)
>The Anteaters went on their own 6-0 run, getting buckets from Derin Saran, Nes Emeneke and Dixon to take a 12-8 lead with 12:24 remaining in the half
>UCI held Hawaii scoreless for nearly three minutes before a Rainbow Warrior three-pointer gave Hawaii a 17-16 lead (8:08)
>The Bren erupted when Harrison Carrington ripped a Hawaii player clean before taking possession of the ball and slamming a two-handed dunk down on the other end, giving the Anteaters a 23-19 lead and forcing a Hawaii timeout (5:42)
>UCI went on a 6-0 run right before the half ended, with Kyle Evans and Tama Isaac combining for all six during the Anteater stretch (0:53)
>After a pair of Hawaii free throws quelled the run, UC Irvine got a buzzer-beating three-pointer to go down from Andre Henry in the right corner, sending the game into halftime with the Anteaters leading 37-28

SECOND HALF
>Hawaii opened the half going on a 5-0 run in under a minute. Back-to-back layups in transition by Dixon and Isaac righted the ship for UC Irvine and gave the Anteaters a 41-33 advantage (18:03)
>The Rainbow Warriors went on another quick run, scoring seven straight in 1:13 of game-time to cut the UCI lead to just two before a pair of Carrington free throws ended the UH hot stretch, 49-45 (13:38)
>UCI went scoreless for nearly three minutes, allowing Hawaii to take a four point lead (60-56) before Evans scored a layup. The bucket from the senior forward sent the half into its third media timeout with the Rainbow Warriors leading UCI 60-58
>UCI exploded on an 11-0 run on a pair of jumpers from Dixon and Henry followed by a layup from Evans. After a timeout, Dixon got another jumper to go along with an Evans jumper and free throw while holding Hawaii scoreless for 4:15. After the barrage, the Anteaters led 69-62 (2:49)
>Hawaii responded with five straight points, but Isaac continued to shine with a steal-and-score to push the Anteater lead back out to four points with less than a minute to go in regulation
>The Rainbow Warriors hit a three late, but fouled Evans on the next possession, sending the senior to the line where he split a pair of foul shots. Back on defense, the Anteaters fouled a Rainbow Warrior player, allowing UH to tie the game at 72. With 1.8 seconds on the clock, UCI could not convert on a shot, sending the game to overtime

OVERTIME
>After both teams came up empty on their initial possessions in overtime, Carrington found Evans in transition for a two-handed dunk (3:43)
>Henry went on a personal 5-0 run, getting a pair of free throws to go before hitting a layup plus a foul shot to extend UCI's lead to 79-72 (2:52)
>After Dixon added a free throw, the Henry show continued as the graduate student connected on a turnaround jumper to push the UCI lead out to eight points and force a Hawaii timeout, 82-74 (1:25)
>Evans' seventh block of the night set up free throws for the Anteaters, where both Henry and Dixon connected on their tries in addition to a Dixon dunk to finish off an 87-76 victory for UC Irvine

NOTES
>UCI had 22 points on fast-breaks, while holding the Rainbow Warriors to none
>The Anteaters scored 54 points in the paint and took advantage of second chance opportunities, scoring 14 points
>Evans' eight blocks are the most by a Big West player and tied for fourth nationally
>Evans has six double-doubles on the year
>Henry has totaled points in double-figures nine time this season
>Carrington has scored double-digit points in each of the last four games
 
 UP NEXT
UC Irvine will host Cal State Bakersfield Thursday (Feb.5) at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.