The UC Irvine Men’s Basketball team (13-2, 3-0) defeated the UC Riverside Highlanders (10-6, 3-1) 81-57 in their conference game at the Bren Events Center on Jan. 4.
The game began sloppily for UCI, as sophomore guard Myles Che and redshirt senior forward Devin Tillis could not connect on a pass to the right corner, resulting in a turnover. UCI followed it up with another turnover— this time it was redshirt freshman Jurian Dixon traveling on the right wing.
UCR redshirt sophomore guard Barrington Hargress capitalized on these missed opportunities by the Anteaters, sinking a catch-and-shoot three to open the scoring.
Despite their early empty possessions, UCI eventually got on the board courtesy of a long two-pointer from graduate guard Justin Hohn in the left corner.
UCR redshirt sophomore forward Kaleb Smith extended the Highlanders’ lead to seven with a three-pointer and a free throw, making it 9-2. The Highlanders continued their fast start with another three from Smith, prompting a timeout from Anteater head coach Russell Turner.
Che finally stopped the bleeding for UCI with a layup, ending a 9-0 UCR run. Dixon followed with a three-pointer, bringing the score to 12-7 in favor of UCR, with 14 minutes left in the half.
Irvine extended the run to 7-0 with a Hohn layup in transition. Despite the push, Hargress responded with a pull-up jumper from the right wing and then recorded a steal and score in transition to push the UC Riverside lead back to seven.
UCI freshman guard Torian Lee converted on a catch-and-shoot triple in the corner off an assist by fellow freshman guard Berk Can Akin, but Riverside quickly responded with another three.
At the midway point of the first half, UCI — favored by 8.5 points by Vegas — trailed 19-14.
After a UCR timeout, both teams came up empty on their initial possessions, with UCI forcing an offensive foul drawn by Lee. UCR redshirt junior guard Isaiah Moses broke the short dry spell and scored his first points of the night with a pull-up two.
Irvine followed the bucket with three shot attempts and two offensive rebounds, coming up empty on each try. Riverside capitalized on back-to-back second-chance opportunities, scoring putback layups made by senior guard/forward Niyi Olabode and senior center Joel Armotrading, respectively. In between the two UCR scores, UCI redshirt senior center Bent Leuchten hit a three.
After a timeout on the floor, Tillis drew a shooting foul and hit both attempts, bringing Irvine back within six with just over five minutes to go in the period.
Despite increased defensive intensity from UCI, Hargress hit a contested jumper over Lee, drawing a foul but missing the free throw. Che punched back, pulling up off of the dribble for a mid-range hit of his own to bring the score to 27-21, UCR.
After another timeout, Hohn converted on a pull-up two off of a screen assist by junior forward Kyle Evans. Quickly, UCI fouled 70 feet from the basket, resulting in two free throws by Moses that pushed the lead back out to seven.
The Anteater’s fouls ultimately marred the first half, with multiple fouls on jump shooters and unnecessary off-ball fouls contributing to Highlander free throws growing their lead.
Continuing his siege on the Bren, Hargress hit another three at the top of the key, giving himself his 13th point of the night and UCR their 33rd.
After picking up a loose ball on the break, Che drew a shooting foul on a drive to the rim and hit both free throws, cutting UCR’s lead to four — the closest the Anteaters had been since the opening minutes.
The half closed with a two-pointer for Riverside and a brief scoring drought, leaving the Highlanders ahead 35-29.
Irvine opened the second half stronger than the first, opening the scoring with a layup by Hohn and a putback by Tillis.
After UCI cut the lead to only two, Hargress resumed his torrid scoring with another three, this time from the right wing.
The two teams traded buckets inside, eventually bringing the score to 40-37 in favor of UCR. A free throw by freshman center Jack Whitbourn broke the layup scoring streak.
Hohn, however, continued to find a rhythm, hitting on another pull-up. Tillis followed with a three, giving UCI their first lead of the game, 42-41.
UCI did not give the lead back for the remainder of the night.
The Bren erupted as Leuchten hit a three off the catch, pushing the lead to four and the run to six. UCR head coach Mike Magpayo responded with a timeout to stop the bleeding. Irvine added one more point courtesy of a free throw from Che before Armotrading hit a floater to end the Irvine run.
With a three-point lead, Dixon drove the ball on the left wing and put up a floater plus a foul, giving UCI a five-point lead. Shortly after, Che and Evans connected on a slip pass, giving UCI a 50-43 lead.
Akin, who subbed in for Hohn, then made a highlight play to extend the lead, driving right one dribble into an and-one pull-up 17-footer. Tillis continued the onslaught by Irvine, giving the Anteaters a 58-45 lead after a catch-and-shoot three from the top of the arc.
A technical foul on Magpayo, combined with two free throws already earned by Che, led to three extra points for Irvine.
From midway through the second half to the end of the game, it was all Anteaters. Despite trailing at halftime by six, UCI finished the half with a +30 point differential.
Postgame, Turner spoke about the difference between the two halves his team played against Riverside.
“[In] the second half we played with force and purpose. Our competitive level just wasn’t there in the first half, so credit to the players for the clear adjustment in mentality that they were able to make,” Turner said in an interview with New University. “We’ve had that tendency as a team this year [to play less intensely in the first period], which concerns me a little bit, but when we play at a good level like we consistently did in that second half, we’re pretty good.”
Hohn led scoring efforts for UCI with 17 points. After the win, he spoke about the approach against Riverside.
“UCR has some elite scoring guards,” Hohn said. “It’s my fifth year playing [UCR], and they specialize in icing [screen and rolls], which I kinda like.”
UCI continues conference play at Cal State Northridge on Jan. 9.
Jacob Ramos is a 2024-2025 Managing Editor. He can be reached at jacobtr@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor and Jaheem Conley
