UC Irvine center Bent Leuchten, left, passes a loose ball while sitting on the court during the first half of their NIT first-round game against Northern Colorado on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
UC Irvine guard Myles Che, right, gets fouled during the first half of their NIT first-round game against Northern Colorado on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
UC Irvine center Bent Leuchten dunks during the first half of their NIT first-round game against Northern Colorado on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
UC Irvine guard Torian Lee drives between two Northern Colorado defenders during the first half of their NIT first-round game on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
UC Irvine head coach Russell Turner yells instructions to his team from the sideline during the first half of their NIT first-round game against Northern Colorado on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
UC Irvine center Bent Leuchten shoots over Northern Colorado guard Langston Reynolds (6) during the first half of their NIT first-round game on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
UC Irvine guard Myles Che drives to the basket past Northern Colorado guard Zach Bloch during the first half of their NIT first-round game on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
UC Irvine forward Devin Tillis drives to the basket past Northern Colorado guard Zach Bloch during the first half of their NIT first-round game on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
Northern Colorado guard Quinn Denker, left, plays physical defense on UC Irvine guard Myles Che during the first half of their NIT first-round game on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
UC Irvine guard Justin Hohn tries to squeeze past Northern Colorado guard Zach Bloch, left, during the first half of their NIT first-round game on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
UC Irvine guard Myles Che, right, plays defense on Northern Colorado guard Jaron Rillie, left, during the first half of their NIT first-round game on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
UC Irvine forward Devin Tillis scores and draws a foul during their NIT first-round game against Northern Colorado on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
UC Irvine guard Justin Hohn maintains control of the ball despite the efforts of Northern Colorado guard Quinn Denker during their NIT first-round game on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
UC Irvine head coach Russell Turner reacts to an official’s call against his team during their NIT first-round game against Northern Colorado on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
UC Irvine center Bent Leuchten flips in a layup over Northern Colorado forward Brock Wisne during their NIT first-round game on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
UC Irvine guard Myles Che gets some separation from Northern Colorado guard Quinn Denker, right, during their NIT first-round game on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
Northern Colorado forward Isaiah Hawthorne, right, blocks a shot by UC Irvine guard Jurian Dixon during their NIT first-round game on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
UC Irvine center Bent Leuchten loses the ball during their NIT first-round game against Northern Colorado on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
Show Caption1 of 18UC Irvine center Bent Leuchten, left, passes a loose ball while sitting on the court during the first half of their NIT first-round game against Northern Colorado on Wednesday night, March 19, 2025, at UCI’s Bren Events Center. (Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
ExpandIRVINE — It seemed to take a while for the UC Irvine men’s basketball team to play like it wanted to be in the NIT.
Or maybe the Anteaters were still trying to get over their disappointing loss in the Big West Tournament championship game last weekend.
Either way, top-seeded UCI finally switched gears in the second half on Wednesday night against Northern Colorado and pulled out an 82-72 win in the first-round game at the Bren Events Center.
UCI (29-6) will host Jacksonville State (23-12) in a second-round game on Sunday at 6 p.m.
UCI was coming off a 75-61 loss to UC San Diego in the Big West Tournament title game on Saturday night in Henderson, Nevada, and getting over those emotions was a challenge. The Anteaters trailed by nine points early in the second half against Northern Colorado (25-10) before making their push.
“There’s no denying the magnitude of the game we lost on Saturday,” UCI coach Russell Turner said. “It’s hard to process and accept and get beyond. It’s hard for me at 54. It’s really hard for these guys, who only get so many cracks at it.”
Devin Tillis helped the Anteaters early, when few of his teammates looked in rhythm, scoring 15 of his 24 points in the first half. Bent Leuchten rebounded from a slow start to finish with 17 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots and Justin Hohn contributed 15 points and five assists for UCI.
“The character that we have as a group, as individuals, showed up in the second half with the performances we got,” Turner said. “The unselfishness we showed, the defensive level that we played with, to beat a really good (Northern) Colorado team.”
Northern Colorado came in with the best field-goal percentage in the nation at 51.1%, and UCI came in with the 10th-best field-goal percentage defense (39.6%), but it was the Anteaters who won the battle, holding the Bears to 40.3%.
“I was excited for this game from the beginning,” said Leuchten, who shot 8 for 14 from the field. “That was not the issue. It was hard getting over the last game.”
The Bears took their biggest lead of the night at 51-42 with 15:50 left, but the Anteaters began chipping away.
Torian Lee hit a 3-pointer from the corner and Jurian Dixon hit one from the opposite corner to cut the margin to 51-48. Tillis then passed up a 3-point attempt and scored with a runner to cap an 8-0 run and make it a one-point game.
The Anteaters finally tied it 60-all on an inside basket by Leuchten, and then took their first lead since about 7½ minutes remained in the first half on another inside basket by Leuchten, making it 62-60. Two free throws by Dixon capped the 8-0 run and extended the lead to 64-60.
Leuchten missed inside on four straight trips down the floor, allowing the Bears to tie the score again at 64-all, but Myles Che hit a step-back 3-pointer with 4:52 left to spark a 7-0 run that gave UCI a 71-64 lead with 3:03 left.
UCI, the second best free-throw shooting team in the nation at 80.6%, made all six free throws in the final 53 seconds to close out the win.
“We needed to play a very good second half to have a chance to win that game,” Turner said. “We pulled away from them at the end because these guys have been in that position many times this year.”
The Bears missed their first seven field-goal attempts, including back-to-back blocks by Leuchten on Isaiah Hawthorne, leading to a 3-pointer by Tillis on the other end for an 8-2 lead 3:22 into the game.
Tillis became the third UCI player to surpass 1,000 career points at the school this season when he scored on a jump hook in the key for a 10-4 lead. The Anteaters then made their third 3-pointer on their sixth attempt to open their biggest lead of the first half at 13-6 with 14:07 left.
Marcell McCreary checked in for Northern Colorado and produced back-to-back baskets before Brock Wisne scored against Leuchten inside to cap a 7-0 run and give the Bears their first lead of the game at 15-14 with 11:21 left.
Wisne went to the bench with his second foul 16 seconds later and both teams traded leads for the next seven minutes until Northern Colorado went on another 7-0 run to move ahead 34-27.
The Bears took their biggest lead of the first half at 39-31 on a 3-pointer by Jaron Rillie with 1:02 left, but Tillis came back with two 3-pointers in the final 50 seconds to trim the deficit to 41-37 at the half.
Northern Colorado bounced back to shoot 50% from the floor in the first half, getting 19 points from its bench compared to eight points for UCI’s reserves.
Wisne scored 16 points, Langston Reynolds had 15 and Rillie finished with 14 points for Northern Colorado.
Reynolds, a 6-foot-4 guard for Northern Colorado who came in shooting 60.3%, 14th best in the nation, shot 5 for 14 from the floor.
In Tuesday’s first-round results …
Santa Clara 101, UC Riverside 62: Tyeree Bryan had 17 points and five 3-pointers in Santa Clara’s lopsided victory on Tuesday night at Santa Clara. Jake Ensminger added four 3-pointers to help Santa Clara go 16 for 27 (59%) from behind the arc.
Bryan also added seven rebounds and three steals for the Broncos (21-12). Elijah Mahi scored 15 points and five assists, and Christoph Tilly added 14 points.
Nate Pickens led the way for UCR (21-13) with 15 points and four assists.
Santa Clara led 44-33 at halftime, with Bryan racking up 11 points. Santa Clara pulled away with a 15-3 run in the second half to lead by 26 points. Carlos Stewart led the way with a team-high eight second-half points.
Stanford 87, CSUN 70: Maxime Raynaud had 22 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots to lead host Stanford to a decisive win. Oziyah Sellers had 20 points (3 for 7 from 3-point range) for the Cardinal (21-13) and Benny Gealer added 13 points.
Keonte Jones finished with 18 points for the Matadors (22-11), who got 17 points from Scotty Washington. Grady Lewis had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Stanford led 46-29 at halftime.
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