The UC Irvine Men’s Basketball team (3-1) took care of business yet again against the Occidental College Tigers (3-1), beating them 111-51 at the Bren Events Center on Friday, Nov. 17. The Anteaters easily handled the small Division III school after their statement win at #16 ranked USC on Tuesday, Nov. 14. The win marked the team’s third victory in a row.
UCI stifled the Occidental offense early on, only allowing two points as they recorded three steals and one block in the first four minutes of the game, UCI junior center Bent Leuchten got the first bucket of the night for the Anteaters, but was forced to leave the game early with what seemed to be a right knee injury.
Despite the injury, the offense found good form quickly. The Anteater’s ability to create turnovers led to a lot of easy fast break buckets. Senior guard Andre Henry accumulated five steals and graduate student guard Dylan Thoerner added three takeaways in the first half.
UCI sophomore forward Hayden Welling finished the first half with 12 points on a perfect 6/6 shooting. He thrived in the mid range, hitting pull-up jumpers nothing-but-net with ease. However, the star of the half was Henry with 16 points on 7-8 shooting from the field.
Other players made themselves known as well. Fifth year forward Dean Keeler saw increased minutes after Leuchten’s departure, making himself a presence on the boards with an offensive rebound that he dished out to Henry for a three, extending the Anteater lead to 10-2 just four minutes into the first half.
Then Welling took over for the ‘Eaters, hitting back-to-back pull-up jumpers to cushion the lead further to 18-4. UCI created high percentage looks which translated well into their shooting percentage, connecting on 60.5% of their shots in the first half. Thoerner made a great hustle play, diving to the floor to steal the ball away, leading to a Welling hook shot from the post to make it 20-8.
UCI kept their foot on the gas after a slick backwards bounce pass from fifth year guard Pierre Crockrell II for a Henry bucket capped an 18-6 run, padding the lead to 38-14 with eight minutes left in the first half. The staunch Anteater defense forced the Tigers to take tough shots, while the ‘Eaters made easy buckets in transition. The turnover battle went in UCI’s favor, forcing 13 from Occidental while only committing two themselves.
They went into the half with a 54-23 lead.
The second half was more of the same from the ‘Eaters. Henry got things started, connecting on a three-pointer from behind the arc. He then converted an and-one opportunity after getting fouled while making a layup, extending the lead to 62-27. Welling also continued his good form, jamming it down for a slam. The next possession he scored again on a post hook shot, bumping up his point total to 16.
Crockrell II kept up the showmanship in the second half, delivering a lob in transition to Henry, who layed it in to increase the lead to 88-40 at eight minutes left in the game. Redshirt senior guard Justin Hohn, who was the hero against USC with 25 points, got his first bucket of the game with only six-and-a-half minutes left. He quickly doubled his points with yet another drive into the basket.
Others were only upping their point count. Freshman guard Derin Saran cleanly dished it to redshirt senior guard Ofure Ujadughele in the corner for his 15th point of the night. Saran then took matters into his own hand with a layup for the ‘Eaters, breaking the century mark for the first time this season and stretching the lead out to 101-45 with four minutes left.
Welling put an exclamation mark on the game with yet another post hook to keep his perfect run going, shooting 9-9 on the night. UCI ran away with the victory in the end, 111-51.
In an interview with the New University, UCI head coach Russell Turner was impressed with what he saw from the team.
“We were ready to play, which isn’t easy after an emotional hard-fought win at USC. I have a lot of respect for coaches and teams in the lower divisions like Occidental. We came into [the game] with the right attitude to cruise and we did,” Turner said.
Next up, UCI will travel to Henderson, Nev. for the Ball Dawgs Classic where they will face a three-game stretch in four days against Pepperdine, Toledo and Rice, with the first game against Pepperdine on Tuesday, Nov. 21.
“That’s gonna be a challenge to play those three games in four days, but I’ve seen glimpses of what everybody can do, so we have to get ourselves right, and it’s a big week for us,” Turner said.
In an interview with the New University, Welling echoed his coach’s sentiment for the upcoming games.
“We are looking to compete, it’s a cool opportunity to play where the Big West Championship is going to be held and it’s a great opportunity to feel the floor,” Welling said. “We are looking one game at a time at this point, but it’s been a great week for UCI Men’s basketball.”
Miguel Rodriguez is a Sports Staff Writer. He can be reached at miguer9@uci.edu.
