UC Irvine scored the first seven points of overtime Thursday night en route to an 87-76 victory over visiting Hawai’i in Big West Conference men’s basketball action.
A crowd of 2,873 at the Bren Events Center watched Kyle Evans and Julian Dixon each score 19 points and record a double-double with 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively, as the Anteaters improved to 15-7 overall and 8-2 in league play, good for first place. Isaac “Big Fish” Johnson scored 17 points and Harry Rouhliadeff added 15 points and six boards for the Warriors, who fell to 15-5, 7-3.
After UCI ended the first half with a 9-0 run to lead 37-28 at the break, the Anteaters stretched it to 45-35 on Dixon’s jumper with 15:43 remaining in the second. But Johnson answered with a 3-pointer to ignite a 15-4 run capped by Rouhliadeff’s putback with seven minutes gone after the break.
UH still led, 62-58, with 6:50 remaining after two free throws by Dre Bullock, but Dixon responded with a jumper by Dixon to start a 9-0 surge culminating in a free throw by Evans to put UC Irvine ahead, 69-62, with 2:49 left to play.
The Warriors clawed back, however, and eventually tied it at 72-72 with three seconds remaining. Harrison Carrington missed a jumper at the buzzer, forcing overtime.
The Anteaters then started overtime with seven straight points, capped by Andre Henry’s three-point play with 2:52 left. Rouhliadeff finally got Hawai’i on the board with a layup 14 seconds later to cut it to 79-74, but that was as close as the Warriors would get as UCI finished the game with a 6-0 run.
Big West Conference standings
UC Irvine 8-2
UC Santa Barbara 7-3
HAWAI’I 7-3
UC Davis 5-5
Cal State Northridge 5-5
Cal State Fullerton 5-5
UC San Diego 5-5
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 4-6
Long Beach State 4-6
UC Riverside 3-7
Cal State Bakersfield 2-8