No. 1 UC Irvine Men’s Basketball (30-6, 17-3) continued its National Invitation Tournament run against Jacksonville State (23-13, 12-6) at the Bren Events Center on March 23, wheret Irvine ultimately came out on top, winning 66-61.
The scoring began early with Jacksonville State senior forward Marcellus Brigham Jr. hitting a midrange jumper after a Gamecock offensive rebound. Irvine came up empty on its first possession but redshirt freshman guard Jurian Dixon got them on the board with a dribble drive to his left for two. After another Brigham Jr. jumper, State got another boost from redshirt junior center Mason Nicholson, who threw down a huge dunk.
UCI sophomore guard Myles Che hit the first three-pointer of the night for Irvine. After an Irvine stop, redshirt senior forward Devin Tillis found Irvine’s season leading scorer, senior center Bent Leuchten, for an and-one layup to give Irvine its first lead of the night.
Jacksonville State’s leading scorer, redshirt senior guard Jaron Pierre Jr., finally got on the board with a jumper to tie the game for State at 10. Pierre Jr. is the only active Gamecock to average double figures on the season, coming into the night at 21.8 points per game.
After some stops by both teams, UC Irvine freshman guard Torian Lee drove into the lane left to right for a floater as the shot clock wound down.
Irvine caught a break after a pair of State free throws when a pass by Che fell into Leuchten’s hands for a floater. The Irvine crowd lit up when Lee hit a transition three after a UCI stop but was quickly silenced after Jacksonville State redshirt sophomore guard Jao Ituka hit his own three.
Nicholson got deep on Leuchten on the next possession for State and scored a layup. The bucket was quickly answered by Irvine graduate guard Justin Hohn. The Big West all-time games played leader, Irvine graduate guard Ofure Ujadughele, then went coast-to-coast for an and-one layup. In their largest lead of the night, Irvine led by four.
After some stagnant offense by both mid-majors, Hohn connected on a 27-footer to extend the Irvine lead to seven. Che dove to save the ball from going out of bounds after a missed Gamecock shot, and UCI got out on the break, leading to another triple from Hohn.
Pierre Jr., a potential NBA draft pick, got going again with a three, cutting the lead back to single digits for Jacksonville State. Double technical fouls were then issued — one to Tillis and one to Pierre Jr. Lee then made a critical error, fouling State freshman guard Quel’Ron House on a midrange jumper. House made both foul shots, and Brigham Jr. connected on a three to tie the game.
Lee connected on his second three to give Irvine the lead back.
Lee was thrust into his role as a bench three-and-defense player after key contributors graduate guard Andre Henry and redshirt junior guard Langston Redfield were lost to injuries early in the season.
Postgame, UCI head coach Russell Turner spoke about Lee’s ability to fight through mistakes as a freshman.
“I couldn’t be prouder of Torian or more grateful to be connected to the Lee family,” Turner said at the postgame press conference. “That kid, he makes me smile every day I see him because of the infectious enthusiasm that he brings to what he does — he makes some mistakes, more than he ought to, but that’s some of the growth that young guys go through.”
The half closed with Irvine in front, 36-35.
Irvine started strong in the second half with another three from Che — a right corner pop. On the other side, after a made Nicholson free throw and a Gamecock stop, Pierre Jr. bullied Dixon on the break and got downhill for an easy two.
House and Hohn then traded jumpers. State’s starting point guard hit three midrange shots in a row, and Irvine hit another triple.
House is an emerging freshman for the Gamecocks. The true freshman has served as a microwave scorer in the postseason, scoring in double figures in four of his last five games. His breakout run has included a 20-point game where he led Jacksonville State in scoring in the Conference USA Tournament semifinal against Middle Tennessee State.
After missing its last four field goal attempts and falling behind the Gamecocks by two, Hohn came up huge again for the Anteaters — this time with a grenade at the end of the shot clock from 31 feet.
Irvine redshirt freshman guard Ben Egbo gave UCI a lift off the bench, driving left and getting an inside-hand layup to go before reversing another layup off the glass on the next Anteater possession to give Irvine a five-point lead.
Brigham Jr.’s success from distance continued as he hit a deep ball to keep his team in the game. State got a pair of free throws on its next trip down and tied the game nearly as fast as they had lost the lead.
Che then fouled a three-point shooter — Gamecock sophomore guard Koree Cotton — on a possession soon after. Cotton made two of the three free throws, and Irvine was down two points with about six minutes to go in the game.
Leuchten went back to the basket for Irvine and hit a layup plus a foul. Making the freethrow, the German national put Irvine back up one. Tillis then collected an Irvine miss, power-dribbled into the chest of Nicholson and put in a massive layup for Irvine to give the Anteaters a three-point lead.
State then made its own crucial error, fouling Leuchten 85 feet from the basket in the bonus. Leuchten made both freethrow tries.
Pierre Jr. hit a big three from the left corner but Tillis answered with another bucket for UCI. With 3:11 remaining in the second-round NIT matchup, Irvine led 62-58.
The Anteaters stayed strong on defense, holding Jacksonville State to 1 of10 on their final 10 field goal attempts. Irvine closed out the Gamecocks 66-61.
Postgame, Hohn spoke about how it felt to lead his team in scoring in what could have been the last game of his collegiate career.
“I just kind of get lost in [the possibility of it being my last game], in a good way. I’m just out there competing with my brothers,” Hohn said at the press conference.
UCI defeated the University of Alabama at Birmingham 81-77. to advance to the NIT Semifinals, hosted in Indianapolis, In. on March 26.
Jacob Ramos is a 2024-2025 Managing Editor. He can be reached at jacobtr@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor and Jaheem Conley