IRVINE — UC Irvine will face plenty of tests during nonconference play, but its season opener was never going to provide much of a challenge.
Devin Tillis and Dawson Baker both scored 14 points as five UCI players scored in double figures in a 96-50 victory over Chapman, a Division III program, on Monday night at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters, a perennial contender in the Big West Conference, shot 54% from the field while holding Chapman to 30% and outrebounding the considerably smaller Panthers 49-29.
Tillis was 6 for 7 from the field (2 for 3 from 3-point range) in less than 14 minutes on the court and Baker was 6 for 10 from the field in his 19 minutes as UCI took 18 more shots than Chapman and made more than twice as many field goals.
The stat sheet provided plenty of evidence of the expected mismatch. UCI scored 30 points off of 24 Chapman turnovers, outscored the Panthers 58-20 in the paint and had advantages of 22-4 on second-chance points and 23-4 on fast-break points.
Guard Justin Hohn had 12 points – on 5-for-9 shooting – with four assists in 17 minutes, while JC Butler was 4 for 4 (2 for 2 from behind the arc) on his way to 10 points in 14 minutes. DJ Davis (2 for 4 from 3-point range) added 10 points and Dean Keeler went 4 for 4 from the field for his eight points.
Pierre Crockrell II had a team-high six assists to go with five points and two steals, Ofure Ujadughele grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to go with six points and three steals, and Eli Chol had six rebounds and four blocked shots in 14 minutes. Bent Leuchten, Chazz Hutchinson (three steals) and Andre Henry (two steals) pulled down five rebounds a piece and 13 Anteaters scored at least two points. Twelve players played at least 10 minutes and only one starter (Crockrell) played more than 20.
UCI had an 18-9 lead less than seven minutes into the game and extended the margin to 32-13 a little more than halfway through the first half. UCI closed the first half on a 15-0 run that included a 3-pointer by Hohn with nine seconds left for a 49-17 lead at the break.
“I’m pleased we came out and performed, pleased with the defensive effort and intensity,” Coach Russell Turner said. “We learned some lessons from the last game (an exhibition against Alaska Anchorage) and we applied those lessons to this game.”
UCI led by as much as 51 points in the second half.
Chapman was led by Cruz Billings with 12 points and Nathan Williams with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Turner, whose team will play its share of nonconference road games in hostile environments in the weeks ahead, was appreciative of an opening night crowd of more than 3,000.
“It was the largest crowd we have had in a while and we tried to put on a show for them,” Turner said.
UP NEXT
UCI travels to face No. 21 Oregon on Friday at 8 p.m.
