SAN LUIS OBISPO — The UC Irvine men’s basketball team reached the midpoint of Big West Conference where it wants to be – atop the standings. Plenty of hurdles remain in a league where even a road game against the last-place team can provide a test.
Freshman Derin Saran returned from a two-game absence and tied his career high with 17 points to help UC Irvine pull away late in a 73-59 victory over Cal Poly on Thursday night.
The Anteaters (15-6 overall, 9-1 Big West) shot 53.1% in the second half and outscored the Mustangs 18-8 over the final six minutes for their third straight win, maintaining their share of first place with UC San Diego (15-7, 9-1).
Saran shot 6 for 12 from the field (3 for 4 from 3-point range) to go with a team-best four steals. Forward Devin Tillis added 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting to go with nine rebounds. Guards Justin Hohn and Andre Henry each added nine points and Dean Keeler had eight points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots.
Kobe Sanders scored a game-high 23 points on 9-for-17 shooting (3 for 4 from behind the arc) to pace Cal Poly (4-18, 0-10).
UCI led 35-32 at halftime and appeared ready to pull away from the Mustangs several times in the second half, but the hosts did their best to stay within striking distance.
A Saran jumper and a 3-pointer gave UCI a 49-41 lead with 12 minutes left, but Cal Poly cut the margin to four points multiple times over the next six minutes before UCI finally took control for good.
Tillis scored six of UCI’s next eight points, the last a jumper in the paint, for a 59-51 lead with 5:27 left. Layups by Carter Welling and Saran pushed the margin to 63-51 with 4:36 left and the Anteaters led by double digits the rest of the way. A Pierre Crockrell II jumper made it a 15-point lead with 1:10 left and Henry capped the UCI scoring with a 3-pointer of his own with 23 seconds left.
The Anteaters had a 40-33 advantage on the boards and a 40-24 advantage in points in the paint. UCI went 11 for 12 from the free-throw line, all in the first half.
UP NEXT
UCI hosts Hawaii on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.
