IRVINE — The UC Irvine basketball team had its shooting stroke going from just about every spot on the court on Saturday night and rolled to a 93-68 victory over Hawaii at the Bren Events Center to move into sole possession of first place in the Big West Conference.
Bent Leuchten had 15 points and Carter Welling had 14 to pace the Anteaters (17-6 overall, 10-1 Big West), who shot a blistering 61.4% from the field and went 21 for 23 from the free throw line (91.3%).
Leuchten shot 5 for 6 from the field and made all four of his free throws to go with six rebounds. Welling was 4 for 5 from the field and 6 for 8 from the free-throw line to go with seven rebounds and two blocked shots, as the Anteaters outscored the Rainbow Warriors 62-34 in the paint and held a 37-25 rebounding advantage.
Pierre Crockrell II had 12 points and seven assists and Derin Saran had 12 points, each going 5 for 6 from the field. Andre Henry and Justin Hohn both posted nine points, as 11 UCI players scored.
With UC San Diego (15-8, 9-2) losing at Long Beach State, UCI sits alone atop the conference standings, one game ahead of UC Davis (14-8, 9-2) and the Tritons.
Bernardo da Silva had 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting, eight rebounds and three blocks to lead Hawaii (12-11, 4-7), which shot 44.4% from the field and 8 for 14 from the free-throw line. JoVon McClanahan had 16 points and five assists and Ryan Rapp added 15 points.
UCI attacked inside from the outset, leading 7-0 and 11-4 before a pair of Dean Keeler baskets extended the lead to 19-10 lead. The Anteaters then went on a 7-0 run that included a Hayden Welling jumper, a Leuchten 3-pointer from the top of the arc and a streaking layup from Saran to make it 26-11 and force a Hawaii timeout with 9:29 left in the first half.
UCI led 45-28 at halftime and pushed the margin to 25 points early in the second half when a Crockrell steal led to an off-balance jumper from Hohn. Hawaii got within 14 with 7:43 left, but Crockrell’s first career 3-pointer helped re-establish a 20-point lead with 4:58 left.
UCI, which had a 20-0 advantage in fast-break points, scored the final seven points of the game and remains unbeaten at home this season (9-0).
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UC Irvine plays at UC Santa Barbara on Thursday at 7 p.m.
