UC Irvine wins Big West crown, beats UC Riverside 68-47

Mar 3, 2019, 04:08 am

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Evan Leonard scored 14 points and Collin Welp added 13 more off the bench as UC Irvine cruised to its 11th straight win Saturday night, a 68-47 victory over UC Riverside that clinched the Big West Conference regular-season crown.

The Anteaters will be the No. 1 seed into the conference tournament.

UC Irvine built a nine-point lead by intermission and limited the Highlanders to just 20 second-half points.

Jonathan Galloway grabbed 11 rebounds and Elston Jones grabbed another 10 off the bench for the Anteaters (25-5, 13-1). UC Irvine shot 26 of 55 from the field (47.3 percent), including 4 of 19 from distance.

Dragan Elkaz scored 12 points off the UC Riverside bench, with Callum McRae adding 11 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. The Highlanders were 18 of 45 from the field, including 6 of 17 from deep.