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UC Irvine pulls away from Cal Poly to reach Big West Tournament title game

March 15, 2025

Fans of the Big West Conference have long dreamed of getting two teams into the NCAA Tournament, and they might just get their wish this season.

The UC Irvine men’s basketball team held down its end of the bargain on Friday night by pulling away for a 96-78 victory against Cal Poly in a Big West Tournament semifinal at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada.

The second-seeded Anteaters (28-5) will face top-seeded UC San Diego (29-4) in the championship game on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

“This is a big game for our community, and we’re excited for it, and it’s a big game for the UCSD community too,” UCI coach Russell Turner said.

The Tritons have won 14 consecutive games after pulling away in the second half to beat fifth-seeded UC Santa Barbara, 69-51, in the earlier semifinal.

Saturday’s winner will get an automatic berth into the 68-team NCAA Tournament, but this season the loser will also get a long look as an at-large candidate. Both teams have been Top 10 mainstays in College Insider.com’s Mid-Major Top 25 all season, with UCSD at No. 2 and UCI at No. 6 in this week’s rankings. They split their regular-season games, each winning on the other’s court.

“Both teams know we’ve obviously got a lot on the line,” Turner said. “We’re looking forward to competing. We’ve both been successful at times against each other, and both also struggled against each other.”

The seventh-seeded Mustangs (16-19) had come a long way since the Anteaters defeated them on Jan. 18, dropping them to 0-8 in conference play. Cal Poly entered the game on a five-game winning streak after upsetting third-seeded UC Riverside in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

“They’ve completely changed the dynamics of that program,” Turner said of Cal Poly. “Our style won out tonight.”

All five starters scored in double figures for UCI, led by 7-foot-1 center Bent Leuchten, who finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Devin Tillis had 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists, Justin Hohn scored 15 points and Myles Che, Jurian Dixon and reserve forward Kyle Evans finished with 10 points each for the Anteaters.

“Had a lot of guys contribute, which is always what makes our team good,” Turner said.

UCI is back in the championship game for the first time in four years, its longest dry spell since 2009-12. Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State have each been to the championship game twice in the past four years.

Mac Riniker scored 22 points to lead Cal Poly and Jarred Hyder added 15 points, but Owen Koonce, who came in averaging 17.3 ppg, matched his season low with four points on 2-for-9 shooting.

UCI had defeated Cal Poly in the previous six matchups and 16 of the past 17, but the Anteaters trailed for most of the first half.

UCI didn’t take the lead for good until a 6-0 run made it 49-43 with 16:33 remaining.

Che scored his first points on a 3-pointer from in front of his own bench to extend the lead to 56-48 with 15:04 left. The Anteaters then drew an offensive foul on the other end and Luechten scored with his left hand from in close to give UCI its first double-digit advantage at 58-48.

The Mustangs managed to get back within single digits on a few trips down the court before Che buried another 3-pointer for a 77-66 advantage with 7:23 left and UCI maintained the double-digit advantage the rest of the way.

“Really proud of the belief that our team showed, overcoming a difficult start, where we looked nervous and we’re playing a tough team in Cal Poly,” Turner said.

The Mustangs helped themselves in the first half by shooting 7 for 16 from 3-point range before finishing 13 for 28 for the game (46.4%).

“They shot the ball incredibly well,” Turner said. “They’ve developed an identity that’s difficult for us in many ways, and I think they had confidence in that, and it showed in the first half, but our defense took over the game, which is how we win. That was the difference in the second half, along with our interior presence.”

UCI committed seven turnovers in the first seven minutes, but was able to stay close because the Mustangs missed 13 of their first 17 shots.

Cal Poly used an 8-0 run to expand its lead to 25-17 with 7:23 left in the half, but Isaac Jessup, who came in averaging 11.7 ppg, picked up his third foul shortly afterward and the Anteaters began chipping away. Jessup finished with 10 points.

UCI briefly moved back ahead 38-37 on a 3-pointer by Tillis with 45 seconds left in the half, but the Mustangs scored the final points on a jumper by Hyder with four seconds remaining and the Mustangs took the 39-38 lead into the break.

The Anteaters cleaned things up and committed just three turnovers in the final 13 minutes of the first half.

“Overall, we were able to dominate the paint, both on defense and on offense as the game wore on,” Turner said. “In the first half, we weren’t able to do that. There was uncertainty because they were making so many 3s.”

Orange County Register

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UC Irvine pulls away from Cal Poly to reach Big West Tournament title game

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