No. 1 UC Irvine Men’s Basketball (31-6, 17-3) faced off against the University of Alabama at Birmingham (24-13, 13-5) in the third round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Irvine fought against a more athletic, faster and stronger UAB team all night but was able to escape with an overtime victory, 81-77, on the back of a complete team effort.
Birmingham was coming off a second-round victory on the road against No. 2 Santa Clara. As the Blazers won their road matchup, UCI was defeating Jacksonville State at home to advance.
The ‘Eaters faced adversity throughout the first half, overmatched physically by the Blazers. From the tip, Irvine struggled to contain UAB senior forwards Yaxel Lendeborg and Christian Coleman.
Lendeborg — the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year — was getting anywhere he wanted to be on the court for the entirety of the first half. The potential NBA draft pick had seven points and seven rebounds against UCI in the first half on 3-for-6 shooting while serving as the lead ballhandler for the Blazers.
As well as Lendeborg was playing, the story of the first half was the play of Coleman. Coleman had 15 first-half points on 6-for-11 shooting, adding three freethrows on three attempts. The barrage on the Anteater paint came against every single Irvine defender head coach Russell Turner threw at Coleman.
Coleman and Lendeborg powered UAB to an 11-3 start and were able to keep Irvine at arm’s length in the first half. UCI was never able to generate consistent offense from its usual sources — sophomore guard Myles Che, redshirt senior forward Devin Tillis and graduate guard Justin Hohn combined for only six points in the first half. Irvine as a whole shot 33% from the field in the half, well under its season average.
Despite the Irvine struggles, redshirt freshman guard Jurian Dixon picked up some of the extra scoring responsibilities, going 4-for-6 from the field for an efficient 10-point first half. Dixon also acted as a secondary playmaker for Irvine, a role he has been slowly growing into as his first season playing at UCI has progressed.
At the postgame press conference, Dixon spoke about his performance and endurance after playing a team-leading 42 minutes.
“I’m a little tired, but I feel the way I prepare myself and the way that everybody else helps me prepare, I feel like that’s what’s able to let me play 42 minutes and still be able to make an impact,” Dixon said. “First half, I just felt like I felt a flow with my teammates [to] try to keep us in the game.”
Despite the sluggish start, the Anteaters only trailed by five at the half, 36-31.
The ‘Eaters began the second half far stronger than the first, getting a three-pointer from Che and a pair of freethrows from Tillis, alongside multiple stops at the rim from their defense. Four minutes into the second half, Irvine looked far better than it did in the first, only down 42-37. UCI was able to weather the storm of UAB inside buckets, leaning on Dixon for energy and multiple buckets in transition.
Back-to-back blocks by junior forward Kyle Evans, leading to scores for himself and Dixon, were a turning point for Irvine. Dixon’s layup gave UCI its first lead since the opening minutes of the game. A player who has played in all 37 Anteater games this season but has not recorded a start, Evans’ impact was felt on both ends of the court all night. As the Blazers fought back against the UCI run, Evans recorded his third block of the night and pushed the ball out in transition to Dixon for a two-handed slam.
Postgame, Turner spoke about the impact the Colorado State transfer has had off the bench for his program in the 2024-25 season.
“[Evans] unquestionably had an impact at the rim. The plays he made were momentum plays because they turned our defense into offense,” Turner said at the postgame press conference. “He ignited the crowd, understandably, with the plays he made. He’s just been an outstanding player who excels at his role.”
It was obvious to everybody in the arena that the elimination game would come down to the final few possessions. Che sensed the urgency — the sophomore transfer went on a personal eight-point scoring run for Irvine, and Tillis tied the game with a post-up layup for Irvine.
Postgame, Turner spoke about Che’s performance battling adversity in a win-or-go-home game.
“We couldn’t be doing what we’re doing without Myles joining our team this year as a transfer,” Turner said. “I thought he was just distracted [in the second half], and when he’s distracted he’s not as good. I ended up taking him out late in the game after what I thought was a distracted turnover. And when he came back in, his focus was laser sharp.”
A travel by UAB and an empty final possession for Irvine meant there would be postseason overtime men’s basketball at the Bren for the first time in the 21st century.
Irvine senior center Bent Leuchten opened the five-minute overtime period with a layup on a feed from Che and a made freethrow to put UCI up three. Another pair of freethrows from Leuchten after a UAB score kept the Blazers at bay, but Birmingham kept putting the ball on the floor and getting downhill, drawing their own two freethrows and making both. The Blazers’ leading scorer got a huge layup after an offensive rebound; the make was followed by a UAB jumper to go up three.
Tillis — in the midst of an 18-point second half — responded with a straight-on triple to tie the game. On the next possession down, Irvine found its leading scorer on the year deep in the paint, and Leuchten did the rest. Irvine then got a stop, turned the ball over, but got two stops at the rim by Leuchten to force fouls by UAB. Tillis made both attempts, and Irvine walked away with a win, 81-77. The Bren Center erupted, as did the UCI team, including Turner.
UAB’s season ends in heartbreak after leading by five at the half and being in control for over half of the game. Irvine’s season will continue after arguably their hardest-fought victory of the year.
The Anteaters will play in their first-ever NIT semifinal game against North Texas on April 1 in Indianapolis, which will be nationally televised on ESPN.
One of the final questions Turner was asked at the presser was to describe how he felt about UC Irvine playing April basketball.
“Confident.”
Jacob Ramos is a 2024-2025 Managing Editor. He can be reached at jacobtr@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor and Jaheem Conley