IRVINE, Calif. – Freshman guard Tama Isaac recorded his second career double-double in UC Irvine's 78-62 victory over CSU Bakersfield at the Bren Events Center Thursday evening.

Isaac dished a career-high 13 assists, the most since Pierre Crockrell II had 16 against the Roadrunners in 2023.  He also scored 14 points on 5-9 shooting from the floor and 4-8 from the free throw line as well as pulling down six rebounds and grabbing two steals in the win.

Senior forward Kyle Evans went 8-11 from the floor for a team-high 16 points to go with seven rebounds. With four blocks tonight, Evans has a nation's leading 79, entering The Big West season block list in eighth moving past UC Santa Barbara's Eric McArthur (78 in1988-89) and UNLV's George Ackles (77 in 1990-91) and Elmore Spencer (76 in 1990-91).  

The Anteaters win their fourth straight and improve to 16-7 overall with a league-leading 9-2 Big West record.

HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER SAID:
"I'm pleased to win. Anytime you win a conference game, you move forward and take that and get ready for the next one. We know we have a big game in the next one at Santa Barbara. I didn't think our team was as spirited as I expected after a layoff. And so there were some things that really concerned me with what I saw. But I know that happens from time to time throughout a long season. So it's good to win while not playing our best."

"I think that now that this calendar's switched to February, we need to raise our level to compete for a conference championship. But I didn't feel like that showed up very well on the floor today. I do know that there's an emotional component to each matchup and the emotions will be high in front of a big crowd on national TV on Saturday. I expect our team will be ready."

GUARD TAMA ISAAC SAID:
"It was obviously a team effort. I mean, we all contributed in our own ways. So, it was really good to get the win out of this game at the best time. [My teammates] just make it so much easier for me when they run the lanes, so credit to them and thanks to them. The feeling is pretty good. We're just focusing on the next game. Next we have Santa Barbara coming up, I think we're just focused on them and we're ready to play at Santa Barbara. It's going to be an exciting game."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Forward Harrison Carrington totaled 11 points and grabbed a team and career-high tying eight rebounds
>Freshman Nes Emeneke swatted a career-high tying five blocks, while totaling six rebounds
>Guard Andre Henry had 11 points, shooting 5-9 from the field, including a three pointer and had three steals
>Guards Derin Saran and Jurian Dixon had 10 and nine points, respectively
>Forward Akiva McBirney-Griffin added four points and three rebounds
>CSU Bakersfield was led by Ronald Jessamy and Dailin Smith with a game-high 18 points each
>UC Irvine held CSUB to 35.5% shooting from the floor (22-62) and 27.3% from three (3-11). The Roadrunners were 15-16 (93.8%) from the free throw line
>The Anteaters went 29-70 from the floor (41.4%), scoring 18 points on fast breaks and 20 off of Roadrunner turnovers

FIRST HALF
>After both squads came up empty on their initial possessions, a Derin Saran jumper and Cal State Bakersfield jumper began the night's scoring (18:08)
>The Anteaters and Roadrunners traded leads multiple times before a 5-0 run gave CSUB a 12-8 lead. A layup from Kyle Evans ended the short Bakersfield spurt (13:49)
>CSUB continued to keep the Anteaters at bay, getting a three to go and holding a 19-13 lead at the half's second media timeout (11:07)
>UCI battled back, going on a 6-0 run with a three-pointer and free throw from Jurian Dixon as well as another layup from Evans to retake a 23-22 lead (7:30)
>Evans lit up the Bren crowd, rejecting two shots emphatically on back-to-back possessions to cap off defensive stops for the Anteaters and add to his NCAA-leading block total 
>CSUB re-tied the game at 27, but a 10-0 Anteater run started with a dunk by Evans and powered by layups by Akiva McBirney-Griffin and Saran then capped by four points by Harrison Carrington gave UCI a 37-27 lead with just over a minute to go in the half
>Both squads traded buckets in the final minute, sending the game to halftime with UC Irvine up 39-29

SECOND HALF
>The offense came fast for both teams to open the second half, before CSUB's Ronald Jessamy scored five in a row to cut the UC Irvine lead down to 45-40 (16:53)
>UCI and CSUB continued a relatively even-played second half, with the score sitting at 53-46 in favor of the Anteaters (11:47)
>The Anteater defense settled down, holding the Roadrunners scoreless for over four minutes to build a 57-46 lead (8:40)
>Tama Isaac pulled down a rebound and had an and-one layup to go on the other side, giving the freshman his 11th point of the night to go along with 13 assists, 64-52 (5:57)
>UCI maintained a double-digit lead throughout the final minutes of regulation, closing out the Roadrunners 78-62

NOTES
>The Anteaters win their 11^th straight versus the Roadrunners
>Dixon now has 700 career points
>UCI out-scored CSU Bakersfield 44 to 24 in the paint
>Evans' 79 blocks are fourth best in a season at UC Irvine
>Carrington recorded his fifth consecutive game in double-digit scoring
>Isaac has recorded seven or more assists five times this season
>The Anteaters had a season-low two three-pointers for the second consecutive contest

UP NEXT
UC Irvine heads to UC Santa Barbara Saturday (Feb. 7) for a 7:00 p.m. battle at The Thunderdome. The game will be televised on ESPNU.