RIVERSIDE — As halftime speeches go, this one must have been a gem.
The UC Irvine men’s basketball team used a 19-0 run to begin the second half to take control of the game in an 80-66 victory over UC Riverside on Thursday night at the SRC Center.
Jurian Dixon scored 15 points and Harrison Carrington had 14 to pace the Anteaters (13-7 overall, 6-2 Big West), who remain tied with Hawaii atop the conference standings. Andre Henry added 13 points, Derin Saran and Tama Isaac scored 11 apiece and Kyle Evans contributed seven points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots.
The Anteaters shot 45.8% from the floor and held the Highlanders (7-13, 2-6) to 34.4%, including a 28.8% showing (10 for 35) in the second half. UCI had 12 steals, with Isaac getting four and Jovan Jester Jr. and Dixon each adding three.
“I’m excited to win. On the road, we hadn’t won one here in a couple years. We know that it’s tough to come here and get that done,” said UCI coach Russell Turner, whose team was coming off a pair of tight road losses to Hawaii and UC Davis. “I’m pleased with the way that we started the game and started the second half, and over the course of 40 minutes, we wore them down with really good defense.”
Marqui Worthy Jr. scored a game-high 22 points for UCR, which mounted a late rally to cut a 24-point second-half deficit to nine with just over seven minutes left, but UCI pushed the lead back to double digits and closed out the win.
BJ Kolly added 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Jailen Daniel-Dalton finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks, while Ben Waller had nine points and Osiris Grady added eight points.
UCI scored the first seven points of the game, then answered a UCR run with an 8-0 surge for an 18-9 lead. The Anteaters extended the margin to 31-17 with less than five minutes remaining in the first half, but the Highlanders responded with a 16-7 run to close the half and cut the margin to 38-33 by the break.
UCI got baskets from Evans, Dixon, Isaac, Saran and Jester while holding UCR scoreless for nearly six minutes during the 19-0 run to begin the second half.
Down 57-33, Riverside began chipping away with defensive effort and timely scoring, beginning with a Worthy 3-pointer. The hosts eventually used an 11-2 run to get within 67-58 before a Henry jumper pushed the lead back to double digits with 7:05 remaining. UCI’s defense tightened, holding UCR scoreless for 2:35 before closing out the win.
“It’s always going to happen in college basketball that teams make a run,” Turner said. “It’s amazing this year, especially how many huge leads I’ve seen dissipate and be lost and turn into L’s, especially in road games. So, it’s not easy to balance the plays that you need to make with a lead and the aggression that you need to maintain. I thought our guys did that tonight.”
The Anteaters were outrebounded 44-33 but had a 40-26 scoring advantage in the paint and a 19-0 margin on fast-break points.
“It was a great team win,” said Carrington, who shot 6 for 8 from the field. “It was a big emphasis coming in here that they were going to be super physical and we just had to respond to that and we did. Every game on the road is going to be hard. The plays don’t go our way all the time, but we just have to stay composed.”
The Highlanders shot 15 for 16 from the free-throw line.
UP NEXT
UCI plays at UC San Diego on Saturday at 7 p.m.
UCR plays at UC Davis on Saturday at 2 p.m.
BIG WEST STANDINGS
Team – Overall, Big West
Hawaii – 14-4, 6-2
UC Irvine – 13-7, 6-2
UC San Diego – 15-5, 5-3
UC Santa Barbara – 12-7, 5-3
UC Davis – 11-8, 4-4
Long Beach State – 8-12, 4-4
Cal State Northridge – 11-9, 4-4
Cal State Fullerton – 9-12, 4-5
Cal Poly (SLO) – 7-13, 3-5
UC Riverside – 7-13, 2-6
Cal State Bakersfield – 8-13, 2-7
