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An historic run for the UC Irvine men’s basketball team continues Thursday night when the Anteaters will try and bring home their first NIT championship.
UCI defeated North Texas 69-67 Tuesday night in the semifinals at Hinkle Field House in Indianapolis, Ind. and will meet Chattanooga, which defeated Loyola 80-73 in the other semifinal.
The game will be televised at 6 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on ESPN.
UCI set a school record winning its 32nd game of the year. The Anteaters (32-6) join Duke, Florida, Houston and Auburn as the only programs with 32 or more wins this season.
Devin Tillis led UCI with 16 points and 11 rebounds for his fourth double double of the year. The senior made 6 of 11 field goals (0.545) including two three-pointers and sank 2 of 3 free throws.
Center Bent Leuchten had a big second half, scoring 11 points and grabbing seven rebounds. He wound up with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Justin Hohn made 3 of 3 field goals in the second half and wound up with 12 points and Myles Che made 4 of 8 field goals and was 2 of 3 on 3-pointers, finishing with 11 points.
North Texas (27-9) was led by Atin Wright, who had a game-high 25 points and Moulaye Sissoko, who had 13 rebounds. The Mean Green jumped out to a 9-0 lead and led by as many as 15 points in the first half before UCI got untracked and tied the game 30-30 at halftime.
The Anteaters stepped up big in the final minutes and took control with a late 7-0 run. Hohn made the first of two free throws with 12 seconds left to put UCI ahead 67-62. North Texas cut the lead to 67-64, but Leuchten sank two clutch free throws with six seconds left to give the Anteaters a 69-64 lead.
Wright hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to account for the final margin.
“The opportunity we had to compete tonight was special,” UCI Coach Russell Turner said during the post-game press conference which was shared with the media by the NIT. “Our team performed well down the stretch enough to win and I’m grateful for that. I want to credit North Texas for the quality of their team, they really punched us in the mouth at the beginning of the game and played at a higher level than we did but over the course of the game, we settled in and made plays and did what we also were known to do.
“I couldn’t be prouder of these guys sitting next to me (Hohn and Tillis) and our whole locker-room because we had so many different guys contribute, so it was a great night to be an Anteater.”
Both Hohn and Tillis said they’re excited about what the team has accomplished.
“It’s a very special feeling,” said Hohn. “I can’t really put it into words right now, I think I can speak for everyone in the group that we’re just trying to soak it all in and finish the mission on Thursday.”
“I’m playing for pride and respect,” Tillis said. “We came up short in our own (Big West) tournament and obviously that was disappointing a little bit but we have another chance to kind of redeem ourselves in a way and come out on top and I want to play for the name on my chest (UCI), my community and all the people who have always supported us and obviously my brothers who don’t have any more years left.”
Source: UCI Athletic Communications