The UC Irvine Men’s Basketball team (20-4, 10-2) fell to the UC San Diego Tritons (20-4, 10-2) in a nationally televised rematch for the Big West’s top spot, losing 85-67 on Feb. 8 at the Bren Events Center. The teams previously met at LionTree Arena in La Jolla, where Irvine came out on top 60-52.
The energy at the Bren was electric, with more than 260 UCSD students making the trek as part of the “Operation Invade Irvine” campaign organized by the KDST sports group. The sold-out crowd of 5,000 marked the largest attendance at a men’s basketball home game since February 2020.
Out the gate, both team’s philosophies were clear. UC Irvine looked to exploit its size advantage in the paint and on the glass. Senior forward Devin Tillis opened the scoring at the charity stripe, going 1-for-2.
UCSD pushed the pace in transition early on, with senior guard/forward Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones — the Big West’s second-leading scorer — scoring his first points off of a transition layup.
Defensively, the Anteaters elected to help off Triton junior guard Chris Howell, who was shooting 30.6% from three this season coming into the game. Howell punished the ‘Eaters by knocking down three triples in a row, giving the away team a 13-6 lead with 15 minutes left in the half.
On the offensive end, UCI sophomore guard Myles Che got on the board with a catch-and-shoot three. A few possessions later, the ‘Eaters worked the ball inside, leading to an easy layup for Tillis.
UC San Diego controlled the pace until UC Irvine sprung into a 2-3 zone, with senior center Bent Leuchten manning the middle. The defensive adjustment forced multiple San Diego turnovers and muddied the Tritons’ offense.
Leuchten, who led all scorers with 23 points in the previous matchup, kept the Anteaters in the game despite the Tritons’ early start. Off an entry pass from Tillis, Leuchten floated the ball in for two. On the next possession, the 7-footer snagged the offensive rebound and was fouled on the putback, where he made both freethrows.
UC San Diego held the lead for most of the half until graduate guard Justin Hohn banged home a deep three, giving UCI a 24-23 lead. The Tritons responded immediately, with redshirt junior guard Justin Rochelin throwing down an emphatic lob from Tait-Jones.
The final five minutes of the half were a back-and-forth affair.
Leuchten continued to work on the inside, tipping in a putback to bring his first-half total to 13 points.
With two minutes remaining, senior guard Hayden Gray stole the ball and threw a go-ahead pass to Rochelin who threw down another dunk over Leuchten, bringing the UCSD crowd to their feet.
The half ended with the Tritons commanding a 32-30 lead.
The Anteaters stayed in the game early in the second half, powered an offensive surge by Che. The California native knocked down back-to-back threes, then Hohn found redshirt freshman guard Jurian Dixon in the post for an and-one post fadeaway, sending UCSD starting senior guard/forward Tyler McGhie to the bench with four fouls.
But UCSD had an answer to every punch the ‘Eaters threw. The Tritons came out blazing from three, going 4-for-6 from distance in the first five minutes, with Gray connecting on two of them.
Down five with 15:31 to go, the Anteaters climbed back. Junior forward Kyle Evans zipped a pass inside to Tillis for an and-one layup. On the next possession, with the shot clock running down, freshman guard Torian Lee spun midair before finding Evans for a finish, tying the game at 46.
The Tritons proceeded to take control of the game, going on a monstrous 14-2 run, capped off by Howell’s fifth three-pointer of the game. Sophomore guard Aidan Burke, in for McGhie due to foul trouble, knocked down back-to-back threes during the stretch.
Hohn ended the run with a stepback three of his own, prompting a timeout. After the timeout, McGhie checked back into the game and immediately hit a three.
Tillis responded on the next possession with a catch-and-shoot three at the top of the key, sparking a UC Irvine 7-0 run in which he scored or assisted on every point. UC Irvine cut the lead to single digits, trailing 70-61 with 5:29 remaining in the half.
Tait-Jones knocked down a three to extend the lead to 10 with 4:52 remaining. The score remained at 73-63 for two minutes as both offenses struggled to gain the edge. This scoreless streak was interrupted by Tait-Jones, who connected on another three to extend the Triton lead to fifteen.
Though Tait-Jones shoots only 29.6% from three on the season, he made the Anteaters pay for leaving him open.
With Irvine down 13 with two minutes remaining, Coach Russell Turner’s squad went into a full-court press. UCSD capitalized, taking advantage of the on-ball pressure and finding junior forward Nordin Kapic for his third three of the game. Prior to his three three-point field goal explosion, Kapic had only shot 28.6% from three.
The game ended with UC San Diego coming out on top, 85-67, shooting 51.6% from three, including a 65% second half explosion on 13-for-20 shooting. The loss marked the end of UC Irvine’s 22-game home winning streak — the longest in Division I.
After the game, Turner talked about the energy in the building from both fanbases.
“That might’ve been the best environment for college basketball I’ve seen in the 15 years I’ve been here,” Turner told New University.
He also commented on UCI’s defensive gameplan to dare historically poor UCSD shooters open from three.
“We often play the percentages on who gets to shoot [threes]. And tonight, UC San Diego made them from every spot.”
UC Irvine will look to bounce back and defend its home court in a nationally televised matchup against UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 13 at the Bren Events Center.
Jaden Hunter is a Sports Staff Writer. He can be reached at jadenh2@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor and Jaheem Conley
