The UC Irvine Men’s Basketball team (13-7, 7-3) defeated the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (13-9, 7-4) 77-52 in the Big West Game of the week at the Bren Events Center on Saturday, Feb. 19 .
Redshirt senior forward Collin Welp led the Anteaters with 18 points and 13 rebounds, recording his fourth double double of the season while adding two assists and two steals. Sophomore guard Dawson Baker added 12 points, nine of which came in the first half.
The Anteaters initiated their attack early in the game. Welp made two free throws and a fadeaway jumper, giving UCI an early 4-1 lead. Baker added a three-pointer and a driving layup, increasing the lead to 9-3.
Hawaii cut the lead to 11-9, but UCI responded with layups from redshirt junior forward JC Butler and freshman center Bent Leuchten, followed by a three pointer by junior guard Isaiah Lee to cap a 7-0 run.
Hawaii answered with a 7-0 run of their own, pulling the momentum away from the Anteaters. Both teams traded baskets until UCI went on a 6-1 run to end the first half. The Antears led 32-23 going into the break.
Baker led the way for the ‘Eaters at halftime, with 9 points shooting 4-7 from the field, followed by Welp with six, who struggled and hit only two of his first 11 shots.
The Anteaters seemed to remember their last loss to Hawaii, a result of their second-half meltdown, on January 13. They came out of the break ensuring that history would not repeat itself.
While UCI’s offense started off sloppy in the second half, their defense stifled the Rainbow Warriors. Junior forward Austin Johnson had an aerial advantage and deterred Hawaii’s shots at the rim.
A pair of and-1 layups from Irvine sophomore guard DJ Davis and Welp extended UCI’s lead to 20. Both then made a show of flexing their muscles in celebration, lettingthe Hawaii defenders know that they were just too strong.
With around seven minutes left to go, Welp flashed his skills in the post to get a layup. Tensions began to rise on the benches.
UCI head coach Russell Turner and Hawaii head coach Eran Ganot argued with each other, causing the referees to issue warnings to both of them. Immediately afterwards, Welp stole the ball and handed it off to redshirt sophomore guard Justin Hohn for a layup. The Bren erupted in cheers as UCI blew the game open with a 30 point lead.
UCI won 77-52, but a last layup from redshirt sophomore guard Ofure Ujadughele sparked a confrontation between the benches. Hawaii took exception to the layup with the game already decided. The two teams bickered back and forth during their post-game handshakes, but managed to keep their composure.
Welp spoke about the confrontation after the game.
“They beat us at their place and then we beat them by 20 here, so it kind of [roused]some tempers,” Welp said.
After starting the game shooting an abysmal 2-10 from the field in the first half, Welp only missed one shot in the second half, finishing 6-15.
“I just have to stay confident and I have a ton of trust from my coaches and teammates so I’ll just keep on shooting and playing hard,” he later said.
Turner had some very encouraging words after the game.
“I’m pleased …we needed that,” Turner said. “I thought our energy was great, I thought the guys off of our bench were also very physically into it. I thought we were emotionally on a different level than I’ve seen us in a lot of games this year, and it’s going to take that emotional level for us to win tournament type games.”
UCI increased their win streak to seven games and improved to 8-1 at home this season.
The Anteaters will be back in action this Thursday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Titan Gym against Cal State Fullerton. The game can be streamed on ESPN+ or listened to on KUCI radio. Live stats can also be viewed online.
Angus Wong is a Sports Staff Writer for the Winter 2022 quarter. He can be reached at anguscw@uci.edu.
James Huston is a Sports Staff Writer for the Winter 2022 quarter. He can be reached at hustonj@uci.edu.