LONG BEACH, Calif. – The UC Irvine Men’s Basketball team (19-3, 9-1) defeated Long Beach State (7-15, 3-7) 80-75 in a back-and-forth road rivalry game at the Walter Pyramid on Jan. 30.
Long Beach entered the game on a four-game losing streak but came out ready to protect home court in their first game back in the Pyramid since Jan. 2.
Senior guard Devin Askew got the Beach on the board first with a catch-and-shoot three. UCI redshirt freshman guard Jurian Dixon scored the first basket for the away team on a mid-range pullup jumper.
Long Beach came out the gate firing from long distance, with freshman guard Kam Martin supplying two threes off assists from Askew.
Dixon continued to be effective early, finding redshirt senior forward Devin Tillis on a roll to the basket where he finished the layup. Off of a broken play, sophomore guard Myles Che zipped the pass to Dixon for a layup.
Both teams went back and forth, with the score standing at 13-11 with 15 minutes remaining in the first half.
Askew remained a problem for the Anteaters’ defense, getting to the rim for a left-handed scoop. Che dribbled his way through traffic on the following possession before finding space to rise for a jumper. Askew continued to score, getting a contested midrange jumpshot to go in.
On the next play, UCI freshman guard Torian Lee knocked down the catch-and-shoot three off of the find from graduate forward Ofure Ujadughele.
LBSU’s offense remained in the hands of Askew, who lobbed it to sophomore forward Derrick Michael Xzavierro for the layup.
UC Irvine capitalized on their defense leading to offense, with a Che steal leading to Tillis knocking down a fastbreak three. On the very next possession, graduate guard Justin Hohn stole the ball from Askew and found Che in transition for another three off of a steal.
A 10-0 Anteater run, sparked by their defense, gave them a 32-25 lead with four minutes left in the half.
Long Beach responded with a 7-0 run of their own, capped off by an Askew and-one layup. The half ended with the Anteaters commanding a 34-32 lead.
In the second half, Long Beach junior guard TJ Wainwright came alive from deep, hitting three triples, with his first three came after a pump fake got the defender in the air.
Hohn answered with a three of his own, coming off the kick out from senior center Bent Leuchten. A couple of possessions later, a Leuchten swat on the defensive end led to Hohn finding him for a layup and a foul, where the center would convert the freethrow.
The score stood at 40-38 UCI with 15:46 to go in the half until a Wainwright triple gave Long Beach the lead. Every time Wainwright scored from distance, Hohn seemed to have a response, knocking down a three of his own to retake the lead.
Long Beach seemed to gain momentum when graduate forward Austin Johnson found Xzavierro for a two-handed dunk, bringing the crowd onto their feet. UC Irvine junior forward Kyle Evans silenced the crowd with a putback layup.
Back-to-back baskets from the Beach pushed their lead to six. Despite the push from the underdog, Tillis refused to let the Anteaters go away, knocking down a pick and pop three off of the pass from Hohn.
With the home team scoring efficiently, UC Irvine went into a zone, which proved to be ineffective. Wainwright connected on his third three of the half, extending the Long Beach lead to 10 with 5:46 remaining in the game.
On the very next play, the ‘Eaters answered back with their own three, as Che kicked it back out to Leuchten for the triple.
When it appeared as though Long Beach would pull off the upset, Che used the Leuchten screen to navigate his way into the paint for a floater. Che then hit a three to cut the LBSU lead to four.
Che’s defense was stellar during this stretch as well, tipping the ball from behind to force a turnover. After the defensive stop, Che worked the pick and roll to convert on a midrange jumper.
The Anteaters were suffocating on defense, forcing a backcourt violation with 1:17 to go. On the next play, Leuchten grabbed an offensive rebound where he was fouled on the putback attempt. He sank two huge free throws to tie the game at 68.
Neither team scored in the last minute, sending the game to overtime and adding five minutes to the clock.
In the extra period, the Anteaters finally took control of the game, led by the veteran play of Tillis. Dixon grabbed an offensive rebound and kicked it back out to Tillis, who connected on a three from the top of the key.
Tillis showed off his versatility by driving, pump faking and finishing with the left-hand layup over the defender. Wainwright scored on a mid-range pullup to bring the Anteater lead down to three with two minutes remaining.
Tillis delivered once again, hitting a three off the kick out from Hohn. Sophomore guard Varick Lewis answered with a three of his own for the Beach, bringing the game to 78-75 with 22 seconds left.
After the timeout, Long Beach had two good looks from three to tie the game but missed both. Hohn secured the defensive rebound and hit two free throws to ice the game, giving the Anteaters the 80-75 win.
Head Coach Russell Turner talked about Tillis’ two-way performance after the game.
“I think he’s one of the best players in the league,” Turner said in an interview with New University. “He wasn’t just a guy who made shots … I thought he played a really vital defensive role.”
Che, who led all scorers with 20 points, talked about the belief within the team that was needed to make the comeback victory.
“There’s an unwavering calmness and composure we have,” Che said. “I feel like that’s because we’ve got guys that are older.”
UC Irvine was able to build off of this win, beating UC Davis 73-66 at the Bren Events Center on Feb. 1.
Jaden Hunter is a Sports Staff Writer. He can be reached at jadenh2@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor