Leading from wire to wire, UC Irvine rolled past visiting Hawai’i, 71-55, Saturday evening in Big West Conference men’s basketball action.
Myles Che scored a game-high 17 points with five assists and fellow guard Justin Hohn added 13 points and another five assists to help the league-leading Anteaters improve to 18-3 overall and 8-1 in the Big West. Akira Jacobs scored 12 points with five rebounds and three assists for the Warriors, who fell to 12-8 and 4-5 after their second straight loss.
UCI jumped out to a commanding 11-0 lead the first four minutes, built it up to 15 points at 24-9 on Devin Tillis’ layup with 9:07 remaining at the half and then took a 34-24 lead into the break.
Hawai’i shot only 34.5 percent (10 of 29) from the field in the first half, including of just 2 of 10 (20 percent) from 3-point range. The Warriors also attempted only three free throws by halftime, making two.
“The biggest parts of this were the start of the game, and finishing around the rim,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “You won’t see more layups thrown over the rim.”
In the second half, the Warriors cut the lead to 48-44 with 10:15 remaining after freshman point guard Aaron Hunkin-Claytor sank two free throws. But Hohn answered with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to ignite an 11-0 run and Hawai’i could not get within single digits the rest of the way.
More details to come.
Big West Conference Standings
UC Irvine 8-1
UC San Diego 7-2
UC Davis 6-3
UC Riverside 6-3
Cal State Northridge 5-4
UC Santa Barbara 5-4
HAWAI’I 4-5
Cal State Bakersfield 4-5
Long Beach State 3-6
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 1-8
Cal State Fullerton 1-9