The RV UC Irvine Men’s Basketball team (16-2, 6-0) defeated Cal State Fullerton (5-14, 0-7) 82-62 in front of a packed Bren Events Center student section on Jan. 16.
Irvine increased their chances of cracking the top 25 in the AP poll while Fullerton continued its winless streak in Big West conference play. UCI cruised through most of the game, separating from Fullerton in the second half.
Before tip, Irvine made a change from its usual starting lineup. UCI began with redshirt sophomore forward/center Elijah Chol replacing normal starter redshirt senior forward Devin Tillis. Starting alongside senior center Bent Leuchten, the Anteaters formed a massive frontcourt.
Postgame, UCI head coach Russell Turner confirmed to New University that Tillis was “not 100 percent,” but is expected to be available for Irvine’s next game.
UCI started strong with a vertical contest by Leuchten, forcing a missed layup by CSUF junior guard Donovan Oday. After a few empty possessions by both sides, UCI redshirt freshman guard Jurian Dixon opened the scoring for the Anteaters with a pull-up left-wing three. Leuchten soon followed with back-to-back threes off the catch from the top of the key.
Fullerton responded slowly, only converting one of their first eight attempts. A Leuchten layup gave Irvine an 11-2 lead and forced Fullerton head coach Dedrique Taylor to call a timeout. While it did not yield an easy shot, Oday bailed out Fullerton with a drive and a tough layup around Leuchten.
Following a freethrow split by Dixon, CSUF sophomore guard Keith Richard drained a three to cut the Irvine lead to 5. UCI graduate guard Justin Hohn attempted a response with a three but the try rimmed out. Hohn would self-correct soon after and drained a pull-up two from the right short corner before deflecting the ball out of bounds on the ensuing defensive possession. The Anteater got to the rim soon after and floated the ball up for two.
The two teams then traded threes, one from Fullerton junior guard Kobe Young and the other from Dixon. Chol got on the board soon after, drawing a shooting foul and hitting two freethrows. After the inbound by CSUF, Fullerton senior guard Zion Richardson ripped the cords on a three of his own.
UCI sophomore guard Myles Che got whacked by a Fullerton guard, resulting in a Fullerton layup by sophomore guard Antwan Robinson and an irate Turner on Irvine’s bench.
Richardson hit his second three of the game after a short scoring drought by both sides, cutting the lead to one for Irvine. Fullerton came up empty on their next possession and each team hit layups out of post opportunities to bring the score to 23-22 in favor of UCI with eight minutes left in the half.
Hohn hit a three from the left wing immediately after a media timeout — which was answered by Richardson again, this time with a long two as the Texas native’s foot was on the line. Three missed shots on the same possession by Fullerton led to Hohn’s second trey of the night.
Unfortunately for the Titans, Dixon continued his high-scoring first half with an acrobatic and-one layup in transition to put Irvine back up to eight. Fellow redshirt freshman guard Ben Egbo hit a pair of freethrows to push the lead further for UCI. Leuchten added to the run, hitting an up-and-under lefty layup courtesy of a baseline out-of-bounds play by Turner and UCI.
It appeared that whenever Fullerton gained momentum in the first half, Irvine quickly stomped out any hope of a comeback. Immediately following a layup by senior center Zachary Visentin, Che corralled a loose ball and made a circus shot and-one, bringing the score to 41-29. Leuchten was fouled on the ground on the ensuing possession and made two freethrows of his own.
Fullerton never stopped attacking the paint despite the growing deficit. Oday continued driving the ball and hit another contested layup to give Fullerton its 30th and 31st points of the night. Of course, as they did all half, UCI responded. Che hit his second field goal of the night, closing the half at 45-31.
Both teams opened the second half with stellar defense, with a score not recorded until Dixon flew over the top of Fullerton freshman guard LoLo Rudolph for an and-one layup.
Sparks flew on the ensuing possession between Hohn and CSUF sophomore forward/center Kendrick De Luna after De Luna pulled Hohn down as the play ended. Hohn responded with words of his own to multiple Titans. Technicals were assessed to Hohn and De Luna as a result. Another technical foul was soon called on Taylor from the Titan bench — Che split the ensuing freethrows.
After some chippy plays by both teams, Hohn hit Leuchten with an entry pass in a tight window for an easy finish for the seven-footer. Chol and junior forward Kyle Evans combined for a huge block that led to UCI getting out in transition and feeding Chol on the way to a shooting foul.
Despite leading by 19 points, Turner sent out UCI in a full-court man press with just under 16 minutes to go in the half. The pressure sped up Fullerton and led to a half-court turnover and layup by Dixon on the other end. Hohn added to his point total with a made freethrow on the next possession.
A three by freshman guard Torian Lee gave the Anteaters a 58-35 lead, a double-digit lead they maintained throughout the remainder of the game.
Standout moments from UCI in the final portion of the second half included a jab step triple from Che that caused his defender to hit the floor, a reverse layup going left to right by Che and Leuchten’s third triple of the night.
The game ended with an 82-62 final score and Irvine earned its sixth consecutive win and its sixth Big West victory.
Leuchten led the team with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds. The German national did his damage on just 13 attempts from the field and shot three of five from deep.
“Cal State Fullerton is always tough to play against and they play super physical,” Leuchten said in an interview with New University. “I took the shots that came to me, my teammates got me open, so it was pretty easy for me, for sure.”
UCI continues its quest for an undefeated Big West regular season against Cal Poly at home on Jan. 18.
Jacob Ramos is a 2024-2025 Managing Editor. He can be reached at jacobtr@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor.