The UC Irvine Men’s Basketball team (13-5, 6-0) came out on top in a clash of undefeated teams in the Big West Conference with a 76-65 win over UC San Diego (11-7, 5-1) at the Bren Events Center on Jan. 18. Senior guard Andre Henry led the Anteaters with 18 points.
The game’s opening was fast and hectic with lots of loose balls and offensive rebounds, which made the game very physical. UCSD took plenty of time to get their shots off, as they came close to the 30-second shot clock violation multiple times, and turned the ball over once after failing to get up a shot in that time.
Redshirt senior guard Justin Hohn had the hot hand for the Anteaters to start the game, recording eight of the team’s first 10 points. He then assisted the other two points with a clean bounce pass to fifth-year guard Pierre Crockrell II who converted an easy backdoor layup.
The Tritons took over the paint and dominated the boards and second-chance points in the first half. Junior forward Francis Nwaokorie carried the bulk of the UCSD attack, scoring 15 of the Triton’s 33 points.
While the Anteaters secured their points in the paint off of passes to cutting players for open layups, the Tritons played more bully-ball and bodied their way to the basket, with 18 of their 33 first-half points coming from the paint.
UCI trailed UCSD at the half, 33-32. The story of the first half was the Tritons dominating the boards, outrebounding the Anteaters 20-12, of which on the offensive glass. The two teams contrasted each other in scoring as UCSD went 6-7 from the free-throw line while UCI made both of their two attempts. The ‘Eaters had a huge disparity in three-pointers made, however, doubling the Tritons with six three-pointers to their three.
The Anteaters started the second half with much better ball movement than the first, creating more open looks. They tightened things up defensively, locking down Nwaokorie who was held to just two points in the second half. Redshirt junior forward Devin Tillis gave UCI their first lead since the dawn of the game, with a three-pointer to make the score 35-33.
UCI freshman forward Carter Welling brought a lot of energy off the bench, igniting the already electric crowd with a massive jam to tie up the score at 39, with 18 minutes left in the second half. Freshman guard Derin Saran gave the ‘Eaters’ lead some cushion with a rapid coast-to-coast layup which came off a block on the defensive end from fifth-year forward Dean Keeler.
The game, which was back-and-forth for the majority of the first half, saw the Anteaters manage to build a lead and hold onto it for the majority of the second half. Tillis had a big impact in the second half, ending the night with 11 points and nine rebounds. The Anteaters also minimized the turnovers in the second half, committing only seven to UCSD’s 13.
The UCI defense stifled the UCSD offense toward the end of the game, locking down the paint where the Tritons were previously thriving. Henry kept up the offensive fireworks, knocking down a three in transition, pushing the lead to nine, 64-55, with four minutes left. The ‘Eaters ran away with it in the end, knocking down their free throw attempts in the twilight of the game, shooting 11-12 from the charity stripe, securing the 76-65 victory.
With the win, UCI jumped out to a 6-0 start to Big West Conference play, their best start since the 2016-17 season. Unfortunately, the ‘Eaters fell to UC Davis 54-52 on Sat. Jan. 20, snapping their six game win streak.
Miguel Rodriguez is a Sports Staff Writer. He can be reached at miguer9@uci.edu.