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UC Irvine’s loss at Hawaii creates 3-way tie atop Big West

February 26, 2023

HONOLULU — UC Irvine dropped its second consecutive game on Saturday night, setting up a dramatic final week in the race for the Big West Conference regular-season title.

DJ Davis had 27 points and made six 3-pointers for UCI, but Hawaii outscored the Anteaters 10-5 over the final four minutes to hand them a 72-67 defeat in a nationally televised game played in front of a lively sellout crowd of 10,300 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

With one week left in the regular season, UCI (20-10 overall, 13-5 Big West), UC Santa Barbara (22-7, 13-5) and UC Riverside (20-10, 13-5) are now tied atop the standings, with Hawaii (21-9, 12-6) and Cal State Fullerton (18-12, 12-6) both one game behind. The conference champion earns the top seed for next month’s 10-team Big West Tournament in Henderson, Nevada.

The Anteaters play at UCR on Thursday night before hosting Cal State Bakersfield (10-19, 6-12) in their season finale next Saturday night (March 4). After its game with UCI, UCR closes its season at last-place Cal Poly (7-23, 1-17), while UCSB finishes with games at UC Davis (17-12, 10-7) on Thursday and then at home against Hawaii on Saturday.

Davis was 9 for 20 from the field (6 for 11 from 3-point range) to go with three steals for UCI, while Dawson Baker had 12 points on 4-for-13 shooting. Bent Leuchten had eight points and six rebounds.

Jovon McClanahan had 27 points and seven assists and went 10 for 11 from the free-throw line to lead the Warriors, while 7-foot-1 freshman Mor Seck had 14 points (7-for-11 shooting), 16 rebounds and four blocked shots in his first career start. Samuta Avea had 10 points, and Harry Rouhliadeff added 10 off the bench.

UCI led for much of the second half, opened a 49-40 lead on a Baker 3-pointer with 14:27 left and still held a six-point lead (59-53) with less than eight minutes remaining, but the Warriors started to take control from there.

Hawaii grabbed the lead on the strength of a 9-0 run, moving ahead 62-59 after a 3-pointer by Avea and a short jumper from Noel Coleman with 5:01 left. A long Davis 3-pointer tied the score with 4:15 left, but two free throws and a layup put Hawaii back in front 66-62 with 2:10 left.

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A floater from UCI’s Dean Keeler cut the margin to two points with 1:20 left, but the Warriors responded with four consecutive free throws for a 70-64 lead with 39 seconds left. Davis hit his sixth 3-pointer with a hand in his face to cut the margin in half with 34 seconds left, but McClanahan made two free throws with 10.1 seconds left to ice the win for Hawaii. Davis missed a pair of 3-point attempts in the final seconds.

UCI finished with a narrow edge in points in the paint (28-26), but Hawaii enjoyed a significant advantage in free-throw attempts, especially in the second half. The Anteaters went 7 for 10 from the foul line for the night, while the Warriors were 19 for 24 (15 for 18 after halftime).

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UCI plays at UC Riverside on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Orange County Register

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UC Irvine’s loss at Hawaii creates 3-way tie atop Big West

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