FULLERTON, Calif. -- UC Irvine had a impressive team effort on both sides of the ball in an 86-64 victory over Cal State Fullerton at Titan Gym Saturday.

The Anteaters improved to 11-5 overall and 4-0 in Big West play after shooting 56.1 percent (32-57) from the floor on the night and holding the league's leading offense to just 64 points and a 32.8% mark (22-67) from the field. UCI's .561 field goal percentage was the third highest of the season and best against a Division I team.

UCI shot 67.9% (19-28) in the first half to hold a 47-37 lead at the break then held the Titans to just 9-31 shooting from the floor in the final 20 minutes.

The Anteaters knocked down a season-high 11 three-pointers with five players hitting from long range.

UCI had five players with double-figure points led by Derin Saran's third double-double of the season, recording 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, including nine on the defensive glass. The guard went 7-12 from the field and 2-4 from the line, while totaling six assists and two steals.

Center Elijah Chol posted a career-high 15 points, hitting 6-7 from the floor, including 3-4 from three-point range. He added four boards, a block, a steal and an assist in 24 minutes of action.

Guard Andre Henry totaled a season-high 15 points, hitting 4-9 from the floor and 5-5 at the line. The graduate student pulled down five rebounds, recorded three assists and had a steal.

Guard Jurian Dixon continued his hot hand with 7-12 shooting from the field and 4-7 from long range. The redshirt sophomore had three assists, two rebounds and two steals.

Forward Kyle Evans rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points to go with eight points and two blocks.

HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER SAID:
"I'm really pleased with my team with the way that we played and the level that we sustained against a Fullerton team that has been really impressive to this point. Their record doesn't indicate that, but they played the hardest schedule and the job that Coach Taylor and his staff has done, changing over the roster almost entirely and building a team that has an offense and defensive identity is really impressive. I think that we felt that, the way they put the game on us early. They established a lead because they probably surprised my guys a little bit with the level that they played at, but we raised our level because of the competition. ?And I thought we wore them out with the defensive intent that we showed. We got a lot of excellent individual defenders and we were an excellent defensive team tonight."

GUARD DERIN SARAN SAID:
"Fullerton came out, hit a couple threes and partly, it was on me, but we adjusted, took away the threes, and I think we brought the intensity today. That's why we're able to win by 20 points. They had a tough schedule. We talked about that and we tried to prepare and do our best; they're a good team. Before the game, I talked to the coaches. They said I should be more aggressive and that's what I did.?I looked to attack a lot and got a couple shots to fire."

CENTER ELIJAH CHOL SAID:
"That first six minutes of the game, we found out that they were going to play really hard, and I think once we kind of started to get our defense going, it helped me on offense. I got some good energy from our defense, and I was able to make shots. I've always been confident as a shooter, and I think recently I've been waiting for the shots to come to me and I've been knocking them down. We didn't start as good this season as we wanted to. Its good to start 4-0 in conference. We have a lot of work to do, so we're gonna keep going"

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Guard Tama Isacc and Jovan Jester Jr. each added five points while Jester Jr. totaled five rebounds, three assists and a steal
>Forward Harrison Carrington rounded out the scoring with four points and three rebounds
>CSUF's Kiwane Garris Jr. had a game-high 19 points
>The Titans (6-10, 1-3) were 9-12 from the free throw line, the second fewest free attempts by an opponent this season
>UCI out-rebounded CSUF 44-31  

FIRST HALF
>UC Irvine won the tip and immediately got a three-pointer from Tama Isaac on the first possession of the game
>Cal State Fullerton went on a 6-0 run with back-to-back threes before Elijah Chol got a three of his own to go from the left corner, 8-8 (15:52)
>The threes continued falling for the Titans, hitting two more as part of an 8-1 stretch to extend the CSUF lead to 16-9 (13:34)
>Andre Henry got the Anteaters back into the game, scoring seven straight on a three, a pair of free throws and a jumper on consecutive possessions to cut the Fullerton lead to 18-16 (12:02)
>The Anteater defense held the CSUF offense scoreless for just under four minutes, while four points from Derin Saran and two each from Kyle Evans and Jurian Dixon created an 8-0 run and 26-22 UCI lead (8:13)
>After Fullerton briefly tied the game, UCI went on an 11-1 run powered by Evans, Saran and Isaac to take a 47-37 lead headed into the halftime break. Saran had five points during the stretch, bringing his first half total to 11

SECOND HALF
>The Anteaters got off to a good start in the second half, led by Dixon who had four early points and an assist to Saran, giving UCI a 53-39 lead (18:19)
>UC Irvine opened up an 18-point advantage after a pair of threes from Dixon and Chol forced a CSUF timeout with 16:36 to go in regulation
> Jovan Jester Jr. recorded a steal and hit a reverse layup in transition to push the Anteater lead to 61-41 (15:44)
>Chol slammed down a dunk over a pair of CSUF defenders, 74-53 (10:11)
>A 9-0 Fullerton run cut the Anteater lead down to 14, but a three-pointer from Dixon slowed the Titan momentum, 79-62 (5:58)
>The Anteaters held Cal State Fullerton scoreless for the final three minutes of play, closing out the victory 86-64

NOTES
>UCI dominated the paint, out-scoring Cal State Fullerton 40-12
>The Anteaters have won four in a row, shooting .533 (121-227) from the field in that span
>It is the fourth consecutive season UCI has started conference with a 4-0 record

UP NEXT
UCI plays one of its two home games in January on Thursday (Jan. 8), hosting Black & Blue rival Long Beach State at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.