UC Irvine Anteaters at UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
· BIG WEST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT - SEMIFINAL
61 - 58
Late run helps UC Irvine beat UCSB 61-58 in Big West semis
Hazzard made 5 of 8 from the field and finished with 16 points and Jones, a redshirt junior, scored a career-high 11 with nine rebounds. John Edgar Jr. had 14 points and Eyassu Worku scored 12 with seven assists for UC Irvine (18-16).
The third-seeded Anteaters will play No. 4 seed CS Fullerton in the championship game on Sunday. UCI and the Titans split the regular-season series, with each team winning on the other's home floor.
Jalen Canty's jumper with 9:29 to play gave second-seeded UCSB (23-9) a 51-45 lead, matching the biggest by either team. The Gauchos missed their next four field-goal attempts before Marcus Jackson's 3-pointer pushed their lead to four about four minutes later. Jones answered with a tipin, Hazzard made two free throws and Edgar added a layup to put UCI up by two before Worku hit a jumper to cap the scoring with 45 seconds remaining. UCSB scored just one point and went 0 for 9 from the field in the final five minutes.
Max Heidigger led the Gauchos with 18 points, but was just 4-of-16 shooting. UCSB shot 32 percent (18 of 56) from the field.
The Anteaters had a 31-1 advantage in bench points.
UCSB won just six games in 2016-17 and tied the school record with 23 wins this season. The 17-game improvement was the best in the nation.
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Recent Plays
| 2nd 0:00 | End of Game | 61 - 58 |
| 2nd 0:01 | Max Hazzard Defensive Rebound. | 61 - 58 |
| 2nd 0:01 | Marcus Jackson missed Three Point Jumper. | 61 - 58 |
| 2nd 0:08 | Marcus Jackson Defensive Rebound. | 61 - 58 |
| 2nd 0:08 | John Edgar Jr. missed Jumper. | 61 - 58 |
Statistics
 UCI |
 UCSB |
|
|---|---|---|
| 23-57 | FG | 18-56 |
| 40 | Field Goal % | 32 |
| 3-11 | 3PT | 7-23 |
| 27 | Three Point % | 30 |
| 12-16 | FT | 15-21 |
| 75 | Free Throw % | 71 |
| 40 | Rebounds | 38 |
| 13 | Offensive Rebounds | 14 |
| 27 | Defensive Rebounds | 24 |
| 15 | Assists | 7 |
| 4 | Steals | 3 |
| 2 | Blocks | 5 |
| 12 | Turnovers | 11 |
| 0 | Team Turnovers | 0 |
| 12 | Total Turnovers | 11 |
| 0 | Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Total Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Flagrant Fouls | 0 |
| 9 | Points Off Turnovers | 11 |
| 4 | Fast Break Points | 2 |
| 24 | Points in Paint | 14 |
| 21 | Fouls | 17 |
| 5 | Largest Lead | 8 |
Game Information
Location: Anaheim, CA
Attendance: 3,984 | Capacity:
2025-26 Big West Conference Standings
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVER |
|---|---|---|---|
| UC Irvine | 15-5 | - | 23-12 |
| Hawai'i | 14-6 | 1 | 24-9 |
| UC San Diego | 12-8 | 3 | 23-11 |
| Cal State Northridge | 12-8 | 3 | 20-14 |
| Cal State Fullerton | 12-8 | 3 | 18-16 |
| UC Davis | 11-9 | 4 | 19-14 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 11-9 | 4 | 18-14 |
| Cal Poly | 10-10 | 5 | 14-19 |
| Long Beach State | 6-14 | 9 | 10-22 |
| UC Riverside | 5-15 | 10 | 10-22 |
| Cal State Bakersfield | 2-18 | 13 | 8-24 |