The UC Irvine Men’s Basketball team (15-2, 5-0) defeated the RV UC San Diego Tritons (14-3, 4-1) 60-52 in a nationally televised Big West matchup on Jan. 11 at LionTree Arena before a sellout crowd.
This game featured the 39th-ranked Tritons in the most recent coaches poll and the 50th-ranked Anteaters in the NCAA NET rankings. Both teams headed into the matchup not only aiming to top the Big West standings, but also hoping to carve a path for a potential at-large bid to the NCAA tournament in March.
UC San Diego came into the matchup with the nation’s longest winning streak at 12 games, including a win over No. 25 Utah State. UC Irvine, on the other hand, was coming off of a 77-67 win over California State University, Northridge on Jan. 9, a team ranked 103rd in the NET rankings.
The Anteaters opened the game with a 3-0 lead after a three-pointer by graduate guard Justin Hohn. UC San Diego quickly took their first lead, 5-3, with a three-pointer from junior guard Chris Howell. On the next possession, Irvine junior forward Kyle Evans responded with a layup to tie the game at 5.
A minute later, the Tritons once again took the lead as senior guard/forward Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones escaped on a fast break and slammed the ball to give UC San Diego a 7-5 lead.
As the first half progressed, the Tritons held the lead for about nine minutes, at one point extending it to six points. At the eight-minute mark, Irvine senior center Bent Leuchten hit a jumper, giving the Anteaters their first lead since the beginning of the game, 21-20.
Tritons graduate forward Maximo Milovich quickly answered with a layup, reclaiming the lead, 22-21. Hohn then started an 8-0 run for the Anteaters with a three-pointer, which gave the ‘Eaters the lead and started to suck some life out of the electric UC San Diego crowd.
Despite being down by eight points twice, the Tritons were able to come back to trail behind 34-32 going into the half.
Seven minutes into the second half, San Diego took their first lead of the half following a three by Howell. Following the score, the Tritons extended the lead with a 6-0 run to go ahead 44-38.
At the 9:30 mark, Leuchten completed a three-point play. He hit a layup, which was fouled by Triton junior forward Nordin Kapic and converted on a free throw attempt to tie the game at 46. The next play on the defensive end, Leuchten blocked a layup from Tait-Jones to keep the game tied.
A minute later, Leuchten scored a layup to give the Anteaters a 48-46 lead. This layup was part of a 7-0 run by the Anteaters that eventually sealed the game. The Anteaters later held a 10-point lead, their largest, with 11 seconds remaining. The game ended with a final score of 60-52.
Tait-Jones had a strong game for the Tritons with 17 points, three rebounds, three assists and one block. For the Anteaters, Leuchten was a strong force inside, recording a double-double with 23 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks and one assist. He accounted for about 38 percent of his team’s total points and he recorded his second consecutive double-double.
UC Irvine remains the only undefeated team in Big West play with five wins, one game ahead of UC San Diego for the first spot atop the standings.
The more important implication is that the Anteaters won their first Quad 1 game of the season, a victory that bolstered their NET ranking to 43rd in the country. Currently, the Anteaters are one spot behind RV Vanderbilt of the Southeastern Conference in the NET rankings. Vanderbilt is projected to receive one of the last four at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. The ‘Eaters are ranked one spot above Iowa of the Big Ten, which is currently projected to be the eighth team left out of the tournament.
Should UC Irvine not win the Big West championship, they will have to rely on an at-large bid to qualify for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The victory over the Tritons leaves the Anteaters on the border of receiving votes in top 25 polls or not and getting an at-large bid.
UC Irvine will head north to the Bren Events Center to face a conference-winless California State University, Fullerton team on Jan. 16.
Jack Fedor is a Sports Editor. He can be reached at jfedor@uci.edu.
Edited by Benjamin Flores and Jaheem Conley