IRVINE, Calif. – Guard Andre Henry poured in a season-high 19 points in UC Irvine's 86-65 victory over Cal State Fullerton Saturday at the Bren Events Center.

Henry had a perfect night, going 8-8 from the field, including 3-3 from three-point range for his season-best. He also added three rebounds and a steal on the night.

With three blocks, forward Kyle Evans has a nation's best 87 blocks overall, moving into a tie for second on the UCI and tie for fourth on the Big West season block list. He is tied with Mamadou Ndiaye who had 87 in 2015-16. Evans is now tracking down Ndiaye's school record of 106 set in 2013-14. The senior shot 5-6 from the field for 10 points to go with 11 rebounds, his seventh double-double of the season.

The Anteaters, who improved to 17-9 overall and 10-4 in the Big West, shot 57.4 percent from the floor (35-61) for the game, including a red-hot 60.7 percent (17-28) in the first half. UCI ranks third nationally in field goal percentage defense, holding the Titans to a 37.3 mark (25-67) for the night.

HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER SAID:
"I feel good that we had the level of competitive spirit that we showed tonight. I feel like that was lacking in the last couple games. So I'm pleased that we saw that, and I think the home crowd being here was part of it. [Also] that we were embarrassed about getting physically dominated on the glass in the last two games. So we were better tonight. It's a long season – our guys responded. I have guys of character. I have guys who care deeply, and I hope we can continue to get better."

GUARD ANDRE HENRY SAID:
"We knew that coming off of two losses, we had to set the tone. And honestly, we just had to play harder tonight. I feel like as a team, we stepped up to the challenge.We made the plays to win. No matter how many shots I'm missing or how many shots our team is missing, we're gonna keep shooting because we work too hard to not shoot."

"We knew the biggest thing for us was getting back in transition. Most teams don't like to play against our half-court defense, so we knew that they were going to try to attack us in transition, so the coaches made an emphasis in both games to get back on defense and I thought the team just collectively did a better job this game getting back."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Forward Harrison Carrington went 7-10 from the field, hitting his third three-pointer of the season, and was 3-5 from the line for 18 points, one shy of his career-high.  He also grabbed six rebounds
>Guard Jurian Dixon had three three-pointers on his way to 15 points. The redshirt sophomore recorded five assists and three rebounds
>Guard Derin Saran totaled 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal
>Guard Tama Isaac dished eight assists and had four points and a steal
>Redshirt freshman Jovan Jester Jr. had five points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal
>Forward Akiva McBirney-Griffin totaled four rebounds, three points, two assists and a steal
>Cal State Fullerton was led by Landon Seaman off the bench with 14 points, including four three-pointers
>Each team had 10 threes on the night
>UC Irvine controlled the glass, out-rebounding CSUF 42-27

FIRST HALF
>Cal State Fullerton opened the game by taking a 5-0 lead before a Derin Saran floater got UC Irvine on the board (18:27)
>A Saran three-pointer, Kyle Evans layup and Jurian Dixon three-pointer gave UCI an 8-0 run and put the Anteaters up 10-8 (15:34)
>Cal State Fullerton went on a series of runs, with a 9-2 spurt for the Titans opening up a 22-14 lead before the half's second media timeout. Coming out of the stoppage, Tama Isaac got a steal-and-score for the Anteaters, reigniting the Bren crowd and ending the Fullerton stretch (10:06)
>UCI's defense settled down, holding the Titans scoreless for over four minutes and going on another 8-0 run powered by Isaac's layup, a Harrison Carrington and-one and a Jurian  Dixon three-pointer to tie the game at 22 (7:18)
>The Titans stopped the run at eight, but the Anteaters quickly restarted another hot stretch, scoring nine uncontested on the back of seven from Andre Henry and a bucket each from Evans and Akiva McBirney Griffin. The two runs combined for a 17-3 Anteater stretch and put UC Irvine ahead 33-25 (3:48)
>UCI ended the half with a free throw from McBirney-Griffin and a stop on defense to send the game into the break with the Anteaters up 41-32

SECOND HALF
>UC Irvine and Fullerton played a largely even first portion of the second half, with Evans getting a layup to go to put UCI ahead 52-41 headed into the half's first media timeout (15:36)
>Carrington hit a catch-and-shoot three from the top of the key before Henry got another layup to go, giving the Anteaters a 61-46 advantage (11:39)
>The Anteater defense once again stood strong, not allowing a point for 3:57 of game time and forcing a Fullerton timeout, 61-47 (9:43)
>UCI went on a 7-0 run courtesy of a Dixon jumper, Carrington floater and Jovan Jester Jr. three-pointer to open up a 20-point advantage, taking a 68-48 lead (8:18)
>Fullerton cut the lead back down under 20, but a Henry three-pointer pushed the advantage back out to 80-58, the largest of the night to that point for UC Irvine (3:42)
>UCI closed out the victory with a Jester Jr. layup and defensive stop, winning by an 84-65 final score

NOTES
>UCI's .574 field goal percentage was the third highest of the season and best since shooting .670 against Lincoln on Nov. 10, 2025
>It is the sixth straight win over the Titans
>UCI's 86 points are the most in regulation since the Anteaters' scored 86 in the first win over the Titans on Jan. 3, 2026
>UCI celebrated six new Hall of Fame inductees at halftime including former men's basketball player Alex Young (2012-16) 

UP NEXT
UCI heads to Long Beach State for a Black & Blue Rivalry game Thursday (Feb. 19) at the Walter Pyramid. Tip is 7:00 p.m.