EL PASO, Texas — Twenty-four hours after surviving a game that went down to the wire, the UC Irvine men’s basketball team took control early.
Senior forward Kyle Evans had 22 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots as the Anteaters built a 21-point lead by halftime and cruised to an 89-70 victory over Norfolk State in the championship game of the Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational on Monday night at the Haskins Center.
Evans, who was named the tournament MVP, shot an efficient 8 for 12 from the field and 6 for 7 from the free-throw line.
“Winning the championship feels really good, but we know we have a lot of season ahead of us,” Evans said. “(Teammate) Jurian (Dixon) said it last night, try not to get too high or too low. This is a big trip for us and I think we learned a lot about ourselves and will continue to learn more about ourselves as the season goes on. We will take these next few days to recover and get back to it.”
Harrison Carrington had 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and a 6-for-7 effort from the free-throw line, to go with five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Derin Saran added 14 points (6-of-8 shooting), nine assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Jurian Dixon, who joined Evans on the all-tournament team, added 13 points, knocking down three 3-pointers to go with three assists. Tama Isaac contributed seven points, four assists and two steals.
The Anteaters (9-5) shot 57.6% (19 for 33) in the first half to take a 46-25 lead by the break and never looked back.
“Our team played well tonight against a Norfolk State team that we totally respect and know will have a good year,” said UCI coach Russell Turner, whose 2015 UCI team also won this tournament. “They had a tough schedule traveling and playing four games in five nights, but we played three in four nights so it was a tough challenge for both teams. I was pleased with the leadership that my veterans showed and with the spirit and competitiveness that we showed from the very beginning of the game tonight. We are proud to be a part of this tournament and go home with another trophy.”
UCI shot 53.3% for the night, going 8 for 23 from 3-point range, while making 17 of 20 free throws. The Anteaters outrebounded the Spartans 35-24 and dominated points in the paint (42-22). They turned 15 Norfolk turnovers into 20 points.
UCI used an early 7-0 surge – an Isaac 3-pointer, a Nes Emeneke jumper and a Dixon layup to open a 15-8 lead less than six minutes into the game. A bit later, the Anteaters exploded for a 22-4 run that included nine points from Carrington and was capped by a Dixon layup with 23 seconds left in the half.
UCI led by as much as 27 points in the second half (77-50) with no threat of a Norfolk comeback.
Anthony McComb III had 17 points to lead Norfolk State (6-9), while Dian Wright-Forde scored 14. Mykel Jenkins finished with nine points.
UP NEXT
UCI will take a break for the holiday and return to Big West play on Thursday, Jan. 1, at Cal State Bakersfield at 2 p.m.
