The UC Irvine Men’s Basketball team (25-5, 15-3) defeated Cal State Long Beach (7-23, 3-15) 70-60 in its final home game of the regular season at the Bren Events Center on March 1. The two teams previously met at the Walter Pyramid, where Irvine escaped an upset in overtime, winning 80-75.
UCI seniors were honored before the game for Senior Night, including graduate student Ofure Ujadughele, who earned his first career start in his 149th career game, the most played in Big West history.
Both teams came out of the gate sluggish, with UC Irvine shooting 3-for-13 from the field and Long Beach going 3-for-10 in the first 11 minutes. Sophomore guard Myles Che supplied the first two points for the ‘Eaters, getting to his spot in the midrange.
Long Beach State senior guard Devin Askew put his team on the board with a midrange jumper over the contest of Ujadughele, who started defensively on the former blue blood guard. Askew had scored 18 points in the previous matchup against UCI, focusing on slowing him down defensively for head coach Russell Turner’s squad.
With Long Beach leading 7-6, UC Irvine increased the tempo, springing into a full-court press. The pressure resulted in a steal from freshman guard Torian Lee, who found redshirt freshman guard Jurian Dixon streaking for a layup.
The two teams went back and forth until graduate guard Justin Hohn knocked down a three off a handoff from senior guard Devin Tillis. On the next possession, Tillis used his size in the post to rise up for a right-handed floater.
Askew continued scoring for the Beach, knocking down a midrange jumpshot. Dixon responded by getting into the paint and scoring on a floater. After a miss from Long Beach State freshman guard Kam Martin, Askew grabbed the offensive rebound and laid it in.
With 7:54 remaining in the half, Hohn stole an errant Long Beach pass and scored the layup, giving Irvine a 19-13 lead.
Che continued to score at will, driving the lane and finishing with an inside-hand finger roll. Feeling little resistance from the Long Beach defense, Che scored a baseline reverse layup, extending UCI’s lead to nine.
Askew ended the Anteater’s seven-point run with a floater in the lane. A minute later, Long Beach state sophomore guard Jason Hart Jr. found freshman forward Andrew Nagy for a catch-and-shoot three. The Anteaters responded with a three of their own, as Hohn crossed over and dished it out to Dixon for a triple.
UCI senior center Bent Leuchten made his presence known in the first half by executing a drop-step move to create space and finish at the rim. Leuchten then grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled on the putback attempt, sending him to the line where he knocked down two free throws.
Despite shooting 2-for-12 from beyond the arc, the first half ended with UC Irvine commanding a 32-23 lead.
In the second half, both teams started slowly once again, with Irvine scoring its first field goal nearly five minutes in on a steal into an and-one finish from Dixon. On the next play down, Dixon found Leuchten for the three, extending the Anteaters’ lead to 40-28.
Dixon continued to be a pest for the Long Beach guards, stripping the ball and finding Lee for the and-one layup, bringing the home crowd onto their feet.
Askew scored on the next possession down, draining a three after a defensive miscommunication by UC Irvine.
Long Beach found success generating open threes through baseline out-of-bounds plays, with sophomore guard Varick Lewis knocking one down off a screen. Che immediately responded with a catch-and-shoot three of his own, giving UCI a 48-34 lead and forcing Long Beach to call timeout.
After the timeout, Askew scored another three off the Long Beach baseline out-of-bounds set, cutting the lead to 11 with 11 minutes remaining.
UCI junior forward Kyle Evans flushed in a putback attempt a minute later. Askew once again found space for his jumpshot, connecting on a three. Che responded by driving into the lane for a layup.
With the score standing at 60-46, Hohn hit a three as the shot clock expired, providing Irvine with a 17-point cushion with 5:36 remaining.
The Anteaters slowed down the pace, looking to run down the clock. Tillis threaded the needle to Leuchten in the pick-and-roll, icing the game for the ‘Eaters. The game ended with UC Irvine coming out on top, 70-60, clinching a double bye and a top-two seed in the conference tournament.
Che led UC Irvine in scoring with 19 points, including eight free throws. Leuchten notched his 14th double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and snagging 12 rebounds.
Turner talked about the importance of winning the marginal battles, specifically on the defensive end.
“We defended well … which is how we’ve been able to win so many games,” Turner told New University. “I think our style suits tournament basketball. Now we [have] got to go out and perform.”
Turner also talked about the milestone of achieving the 3rd most wins by a head coach in Big West history.
“We’ve had a lot of great players, many of whom were here tonight. We feel like we’ve made a solid impact on this community.”
UC Irvine went on the road and dismantled UC Davis in a 88-59 blowout win at the University Credit Union Center on March 6. They will look to close their regular season strong in the final game against UC Santa Barbara at the Thunderdome on March 8.
Jaden Hunter is a Sports Staff Writer. He can be reached at jadenh2@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor and Jaheem Conley.