NORTHRIDGE — UC Irvine took care of business from the outset and found itself back alone atop the Big West standings a few hours later.
The Anteaters held a 13-point lead just four minutes into their game against Cal State Northridge and never looked back in an 89-64 victory at the Matadome that moved them one game ahead of UC San Diego (19-10, 13-4) and guaranteed them an automatic berth in the Big West semifinals on March 15 in Henderson, Nevada.
The reformatted eight-team Big West tournament rewards the top two seeds with byes into the semifinals. UCSD is ineligible for the conference tournament but had temporarily moved into a first-place tie with an overtime victory over UCI last weekend in La Jolla. The Tritons followed that win with a 70-57 loss at Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday night.
Seven-foot-1 center Bent Leuchten had 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting to go with six rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot to pace UCI (21-8 overall, 14-3 Big West), which opened a 17-4 lead with 15:58 left in the opening half and expanded the margin to 47-26 lead by halftime.
The Anteaters dominated down low, getting 43 points from their post players.
Forward Devin Tillis posted 11 points and seven rebounds, while freshman Carter Welling added 10 points and six rebounds. Forward Dean Keeler grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to go with six points and a block.
Point guard Pierre Crockrell II added eight points, 11 assists and three steals, while guards Dylan Thoerner and Justin Hohn each had eight points.
Dionte Bostick scored 20 points to lead the Matadors (18-12, 9-9). Gianni Hunt added 17 points and seven rebounds for CSUN, while Keonte Jones finished with eight points, two steals and two blocks.
UCI outrebounded CSUN 45-36 while shooting 48.4% from the field (30 for 62) and 22 for 28 from the free-throw line. CSUN shot 35% from the field (21 for 60), including a 3-for-17 showing from behind the arc, and made just 19 of 34 free throws.
UCI’s reserves…
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