PRESS CONFERENCE

HENDERSON, Nev. – No. 1 UC Irvine advanced to the title game of the Credit Union 1 Big West Basketball Championships with a 93-78 victory over fourth seeded CSUN Friday at Lee's Family Forum.

The Anteaters improve to 23-10 overall, advancing to the championship game for the second consecutive year and third time in the last six years. Saturday's championship game against the Hawaii starts at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN2.

UCI led wire-to-wire and used a big first half, shooting 58.1 percent (18-31) from the floor to hold a 49-37 halftime lead. The Anteaters ended the game shooting 51.6% (33-64) from the field and 17-22 from the line (77.3%). UCI dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Matadors 44-26.

Four Anteaters scored in double-digits led by redshirt sophomore guard Derin Saran with 23 points. The guard hit 9-18 from the floor with three three-pointers and 2-2 from the line. He grabbed a team-high nine boards with five assists and a season-high four steals.

Guard Jurian Dixon went 7-14 from the field, including three from long range for 18 points. He had a team-best seven assists and five boards. Forward Kyle Evans recorded 15 points on 5-6 shooting from the floor and 5-5 from the line. The senior totaled eight rebounds and had a block. Andre Henry, The Big West Best Sixth Man, provide it again tonight, scoring 12 points off the bench.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Forward Harrison Carrington was 2-2 from the floor with a free throw for five points to go with three rebounds
>Guard Jovan Jester Jr. was 4-8 from the floor with a three-pointer, for nine points. He had three assists and two steals in 11 minutes of action
>Freshman Tama Isaac added nine points, three assists, a rebound and a block
>Forward Nes Emeneke had two blocks, while Elijah Chol had four rebounds, a block and two points
>CSUN's Josiah Davis had a game-high 26 points and eight assists
>The Matadors (20-14) ended the night shooting 32-68 (47.1%) from the floor and got the line just eight times, making five (62.5%)

 FIRST HALF
>UC Irvine sprinted out to a 5-0 start in the first few minutes with a three-pointer and jumper from Jurian Dixon (17:46)
>CSUN responded with a layup, but a pair of Kyle Evans free throws, another triple from Dixon, an Evans and-one and slam in transition by the senior gave the Anteaters 10 straight points and a 15-2 advantage (14:49)
>UCI and the Matadors went back and forth from behind the arc, with CSUN hitting three triples in three trips down the floor and the Anteaters getting a pair of three-pointers from Tama Isaac and Dixon to put the score at 27-20, UC Irvine (9:30)
>Derin Saran took over the game for the Anteaters, scoring 11 with a pair of triples and recording a steal before finding Jovan Jester Jr. for a dunk in transition to put UCI up 42-27 with under five minutes to go in the half
>The half ended with an Elijah Chol dunk, Andre Henry triple and two Matador free throws to send the game into break with the Anteaters leading 49-37

SECOND HALF
>Saran picked up the second half right where he left off, hitting a three-pointer on the first possession of the half, putting the Anteaters up 52-37 (19:10)
>CSUN and UC Irvine battled back-and-forth with a Matador three-pointer cutting the UCI lead to 10 (60-50) headed into the first media timeout of the half (14:47)
>The Matadors cut the lead all the way down to six, but Jester Jr. responded with five straight for UCI, putting in a triple and a layup to maintain a double-digit Anteater lead (67-56) with 11:52 to go
>UCI continued to hold off the Matadors, going on a 10-0 run powered by a two-pointer and free throw from Harrison Carrington, an Evans bucket, Henry triple and pair of free throws from the graduate guard to give the Anteaters its largest lead of the night at 82-64 (5:37)
>Free throws from Dixon and Henry followed by an Evans slam capped off a UC Irvine victory, sending the Anteaters to the Big West Championship by way of a 93-78 final score

NOTES
>Saran poured in 20 or more points for the fifth time
>Evans upped his national leading block total to 110
>UCI advances to the championship game for the 11^th time in program history
>93 points are fourth most this season by the Anteaters
>UCI won all three meetings with the Matadors this year