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UC Irvine falls to UC Riverside in OT for its first Big West loss

January 24, 2025

RIVERSIDE — The UC Irvine men’s basketball team battled back from a 12-point second-half deficit to force overtime, but the Anteaters could not finish the comeback and suffered their first Big West Conference loss of the season.

Barrington Hargress had 20 points and eight assists as UC Riverside outlasted UCI, 84-80, in overtime on Thursday night at UCR. Kaleb Smith added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Highlanders (12-8 overall, 5-3 Big West), while Jack Whitbourn, Nate Pickens and Isaiah Moses each scored 11 in a game that included 14 ties and 12 lead changes.

Myles Che scored nine of his 20 points in overtime to pace the Anteaters (17-3, 7-1), who saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end. Bent Leuchten added 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Devin Tillis had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Jurian Dixon added 10 points, and Justin Hohn scored nine.

Trailing 60-48 with 8:27 left in the second half, UCI used a 12-2 run to close within two with 2:01 remaining. UCR went back ahead by four on a pair of Hargress free throws, but Leuchten answered with a putback layup and a pair of free throws to knot the score at 64-all with 1:02 left. Hargress hit a turnaround jumper with 43 seconds left, but Tillis answered for UCI with a layup that tied the score with 31 seconds left. Hohn forced Hargress into a desperate jumper that was off the mark as time expired to send the game into overtime.

Che came alive in overtime, and the score was tied at 73-all after he made a pair of free throws with three minutes left. A 3-pointer from Parker Strauss and a layup from Smith helped UCR open a six-point lead with 1:11 left, but UCI wasn’t done. Che, Hargress and Leuchten took turns making shots, with a Che fast-break layup cutting UCR’s lead to 82-80 with nine seconds left.

UCI was forced to foul and Moses made a pair of free throws with six seconds left for the final margin, with Che missing a 3-point shot in the final seconds.

“Congratulations to UC Riverside. I thought they outplayed us tonight,” UCI coach Russell Turner said. “They showed a level of competitiveness and desperation that wasn’t there consistently enough for us. I am really proud of the team for fighting back and saving the game. There is great belief in this team. We just weren’t able to get it done down the stretch. They made some shots from some key guys. We missed a bunch of shots from the free-throw line, which is uncharacteristic for us.”

The Anteaters, who are ranked fourth in the nation in free throw percentage, were 19 for 27 in this one, but Turner expects his team will bounce back.

“I have belief that this game will help us,” Turner said. “I think I made some things too complicated in preparation for this game, and we weren’t able to compete at a high enough level to make the plays to win. I will get better, and we will get better.”

The Highlanders avenged an 81-57 loss earlier this month to split the season series and keep themselves in the thick of a Big West race in which eight of 11 teams are at .500 or better in conference play.

“I’m proud of our team’s gritty performance against a team I respect and consider one of the toughest opponents in our league,” UCR coach Mike Magpayo said.

UP NEXT

UC Irvine hosts Hawaii on Saturday at 7 p.m., while UC Riverside plays at Cal State Bakersfield the same night at 6:30.

BIG WEST STANDINGS

(through Thursday, Jan. 23)

UC Irvine – 17-3, 7-1

UC San Diego – 16-4, 6-2

UC Davis – 12-8, 6-3

CSUN – 13-6, 5-3

UC Riverside – 12-8, 5-3

Hawaii – 12-7, 4-4

UCSB – 12-7, 4-4

CS Bakersfield – 10-10, 4-4

Long Beach State – 7-13, 3-5

CS Fullerton – 6-15, 1-8

Cal Poly (SLO) – 6-14, 0-8

Orange County Register

News Details

UC Irvine falls to UC Riverside in OT for its first Big West loss

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BIG WEST STANDINGS

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