'Eaters Cruise To Tourney Title And Big Dance

3/16/2019 5:14:10 PM

UCI MBB BWT Winner

UC Irvine is going dancing after capturing the Big West Conference title with a 92-64 victory over Cal State Fullerton at the Honda Center Saturday Night.

UCI's 28 point margin of victory is the largest in the Big West Tournament championship game history, bettering the previous record of 25 set by UNLV over San Jose State (94-69) in 1987.

UCI, who won its second tournament title in the last five years, improves to a school record 30-5 overall and extends the school record winning streak to 16. The Anteaters are one of four teams (Houston, Gonzaga, and Buffalo) with 30 wins this season.

VIEWING PARTY
UCI fans are invited to join the team for a public viewing party of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Selection Show.

Location: Newkirk Alumni Center, 450 Alumni Court, Irvine CA 92697

Date: Sunday, March 17^th, 2019
Doors Open: 2:00 p.m.
Selection Show on TBS: 3:00 p.m.

Parking is $10. An attendant will be stationed outside the Newkirk Alumni Center to assist. Parking will be available in lot 14 and the Mesa Parking Structure.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> UCI shot a season-high 61.8 percent (34-55) from the floor
> The Anteaters set a Big West Tournament single-game record for three-point field goal percentage (.714), going 10-of-14 from long range
> Collin Welp had a career-high 23 points on 9-12 shooting. 12 of his points came in the second half
> Max Hazzard also tallied 23 points, he went 5-6 from long range and dished out five assists
> Evan Leonard and Robert Cartwright also finished in double-digits with 10 points apiece. Leonard had three assists and three steals
> Cartwright and JC Butler had five rebounds each
> UCI dominated the paint, out-scoring CS Fullerton, 40-20, and also held advantages in rebounds (30-25), points of the bench (38-7) and points off turnovers (17-5)
> The Titans were led by Kyle Allman Jr. with 16 points. As a team, they shot 41.2 percent (21-21) from the field
> The 'Eaters held the Titans to just 23.8 percent from three-point range

TURNING POINTS
FIRST HALF
>Two free throws by Jonathan Galloway were followed by three consecutive three-pointers by Max Hazzard to give UCI a 13-4 lead at 16:18
>The Anteaters continued to hit from long range as Collin Welp hit another at 15:13 to extend the lead to 18-6
>UCI would score eight straight on baseline layups by Welp (11:55) and Hazzard (11:28), free throws by JC Butler (11:00) and another layup by Evan Leonard, opening an 18-point lead at 10:20
>An 8-2 run by the Titans narrowed the margin to 33-22 at 4:46, but another three by Hazzard and a hook by Welp stopped the momentum at 3:57 (38-22)
>Another hook from Welp ended the half 42-24
>UCI shot 57.7 percent for the half, going 15-26 from the floor and 5-7 from three-point range

SECOND HALF
>UCI opened the second frame with jumpers by Leonard (19:46) and Hazzard (18:57), 46-24
>Hazzard battled for an offensive rebound then fed Leonard for a triple at 17:10 and after a Titan basket Leonard unloaded another three at 16:36, 57-30
>Welp would score all points in UCI's 6-3 run to increase the gap to 66-37 at 13:29
>Elston Jones had a basket in the paint to give UCI its largest lead of the game, 75-43 at 9:39
>Darian Traylor hit the final shot with 1:18 left, 92-64

NOTES
>UCI is the first Big West school, current and former to win 30 games since national runner-up UNLV went 34-1 in 1990-91
> The Anteaters 16 game winning streak is the longest by a Big West team since Pacific had 22 in a row in 2004-05
>The win over the Titans avenges last year's loss to Fullerton in the final game
>UCI has made the Big West title game eight times, including four of the last six seasons
>This was the third all-Orange County final in tournament history
>UCI is 2-6 all-time in championship games
> This marks the second Big West title in school history. UCI will play in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history as well. It's only other appearance was in 2015

All-Tournament Team
Deishuan Booker, Long Beach State
Kyle Alllman, Jr., Cal State Fullerton
Khalil Ahmad, Cal State Fullerton
Collin Welp, UC Irvine
Evan Leonard, UC Irvine
Max Hazzard, UC Irvine (MVP)

BOX SCORE
PHOTOS

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