IRVINE, Calif. – An electric Homecoming crowd of 4,377 watched UC Irvine defeat UC Santa Barbara 64-60 at the Bren Events Center Saturday.

UC Santa Barbara held a 57-55 lead with 3:27 to play before Kyle Evans had a rebound put-back then, after both teams traded stops, Jovan Jester Jr. stole the ball that led to a go-ahead layup in transition from Jurian Dixon at 1:15.

Guard Andre Henry stole the ball on the defensive end then drained a jumper on the other. A Gaucho technical foul following the play put Henry on the line for two more, giving UCI a 63-57 lead with 25 seconds to go. The Gauchos responded with a quick three-pointer, but fouled Tama Isaac who make the second of two free throws with four seconds left to seal the victory.  

UCI was led by Jovan Jester Jr. and Jurian Dixon with 13 points each. Jester Jr. was explosive on offensive as well as defense, going 4-6 from the floor and 5-7 from the line with four steals and four rebounds. Dixon scored 11 of his points in the first half, hitting 5-11 from the field for the game, including the team's lone three-pointer. Dixon grabbed a team-high six rebounds and had two assists.

UC Irvine improves to 20-10 overall and 13-5 in the Big West, tied with Hawaii for the top of the standings. UCSB goes to 18-12 and 11-8.

HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER SAID:
"It's a great night to be an 'Eater. Great to see so many alumni back here. Former players in our program and people who have a lot of pride, like I do in this university. I thought it was good to win for all that tonight because we had a good crowd with good energy. Santa Barbara, to their credit, made us earn it. They put a really big run on us in the second half, but our guys stayed together and made the plays to come out on top. That's exciting because it's hard to do that this time of year. That represents the belief that this group has in each other."

GUARD JOVAN JESTER JR. SAID:
"I feel good. It was a good team effort. I think we played well at the end, making big plays, getting stops, and that's pretty much it. I just think we came with an edge today. We were ready to play and we executed the game plan. Just staying prepared mentally [helps]. Coming in, bringing energy. I just give the team what they need [when I come off the bench].

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Guard Andre Henry scored 11 of his 12 points in the second half with two steals.
>Forward Kyle Evans matched Dixon for the team-high in rebounds with six to go with six points and two blocks
>Guard Derin Saran had eight points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists
>Forward Harrison Carrington added four points, three rebounds and an assist
>Post player Akiva McBirney-Griffin totaled three points and three rebounds
>The Anteaters shot 39.7 percent (23-58) from the floor for the game, while the Gauchos hit 42.9 percent (21-49). The Gauchos went 11-25 from beyond the arc (44.0%)
>UCSB's Colin Smith led all players with 16 points
>UCI out-rebounded UCSB 35-32
>The Anteaters scored 19 points off 18 Gaucho turnovers

FIRST HALF
>UC Irvine won the tip and immediately went to Jurian Dixon, who put a jumper in to start scoring (19:46)
>UCSB got a bucket, but the Anteaters responded with a 7-0 run, lighting up the Bren with a Derin Saran layup, Jovan Jester Jr. dunk and Dixon triple. The three from the redshirt sophomore forced a Santa Barbara timeout and put UCI up 11-2 (16:05)
>The Anteater defense locked down, holding the Gauchos scoreless for nearly three minutes and building a 19-10 lead in the process (8:52)
>Kyle Evans got the Bren rocking again, slamming down a dunk in transition froma bullet pass from Jester Jr. to cap off a 5-0 stretch for UCI, putting the Anteaters up 24-13 (7:10)
>UCI once again held the Gauchos without a point for a multi-minute stretch, building its lead to 30-20 coming out of the half's final media timeout (3:29)
>The period closed with defensive stops by both sides and the Anteaters taking a 32-23 advantage into the break

SECOND HALF
>After two minutes of play, UCSB kicked off the half's scoring with a three-pointer before UC Irvine responded with an and-one layup by Akiva McBirney-Griffin layup to put the score at 35-26, UCI (17:20)
>UCSB stormed back with a 12-0 run to take the 41-37 lead in under three minutes of game time
>UCI answered with a 10-0 run of their own, starting with an Andre Henry and-one layup, a floater from Harrison Carrington, an and-one from Jester Jr. and another layup from Henry to suddenly reclaim a 47-41 advantage (11:50)
>A close second half continued as a Gaucho layup sent the period into its third media timeout with the Anteaters up 52-47 (7:51)
>A 9-2 Gaucho stretch was capped by a triple, tying the game at 54 with 4:32 to go in regulation
>After the Gauchos took a 57-55 lead, Evans put a layup in off an Anteater miss to tie the game at 57 (2:23). Both teams traded stops before a Jester Jr. steal led to a go-ahead layup in transition from Dixon to put the Anteaters ahead by two with just over a minute left in regulation
>Henry put in a jumper then made a pair of technical free throws to push UCI's lead to 63-60. The Gauchos responded with a quick three-pointer, but a Tama Isaac free throw with four seconds left followed by an Anteater defensive stop closed out a 64-60 UC Irvine victory

NOTES
>Evans is now four blocks away form the UCI and Big West single season block record of 106 set by Mamadou Ndiaye in 2013-14
>UCI went 1-10 from three-point range, a season low
>The Anteaters record 20 wins for the 11^th time under head coach Russell Turner and16th time overall
>UCI out-scored UCSB 44-16 in the paint and 31-8 off the bench
>Two blocks matches a season-low
>UCI improved to 18-1 when leading at the half

UP NEXT
UCI closes out the regular season with home games at the Bren Events Center against Cal Poly Thursday (Mar. 5) at 7:00 p.m. and UC Davis Saturday (Mar. 7) at 5:00 p.m. – Note the time change for the final game.