Second-Half Surge Not Enough as the Aggies Fall Short Against the Anteaters
Robert Carpenter led the Aggies with 18 points on the road.
 
IRVINE, Calif. – With the Aggies coming off a confidence-building win on Wednesday, hopes were high on coming into Irvine and leaving with a win. Unfortunately, tonight this was not the case as the Aggies dropped the Saturday night matchup to the Anteaters, 91-74.
 
The top performer for tonight was Robert Carpenter who led the team with 18 points in 30 minutes of play for the Aggies. He also posted a season-best 50% from the three-point line –  making three of six attempts from deep. Kaosi Ezeagu came close to a double-double again, recording nine points and eight rebounds in 20 minutes on the floor.
 
The Aggies shot 42% from the field compared to the 52% from the Anteaters. UC Irvine played a more physical and team-brand of basketball – grabbing 41 rebounds, collecting five blocks and dishing out 22 assists compared to NM State's 29 rebounds, zero blocks and 13 assists.
 
FIRST HALF

• After getting off to a quick 4-0 start with a floater from Brandon Suggs and mid-range jumper from Jordan Rawls, the Anteaters went on a 10-0 run with seven of those points coming from Justin Hohn.
• After getting down by six with 12:37 left in the first half, Robert Carpenter checked in and gave some valuable minutes as he scored a quick seven points to help take the lead back and go up 19-18 with 10:04 left in the half.
• UC Irvine then went on a 10-2 run to take the lead back. This would turn out to be the final lead change of the game.
• The Anteaters' largest lead of the half was 14 points with their leading scorer in the first half being Devin Tillis.

 
SECOND HALF

• UC Irvine started to stretch the lead further in the second half – pushing it up to 20 points after a huge momentum-shifting three pointer from Andre Henry with 15:40 left on the clock.
• After cutting the lead down to 15 with two free throws made by Jaden Harris, UC Irvine went on another scoring spree to make the deficit 21 points for the Aggies.
• The Aggies then fought back to shorten the lead to only 11 points after two free throws were made by Jonathan Kanyanga with 2:15 left to make the score 85-74.
• UC Irvine ended the game on a six-point run that lead to the final score of 91-74.

 
NOTABLE NUMBERS

• Jaden Harris led the team again in minutes with 33 and added 12 points, three assists and two rebounds in the contest. This marks his third game of the season in which he played at least 30 minutes.
• Robert Carpenter had his biggest scoring night as an Aggie – finishing with 18 points while shooting 3-6 from beyond the arc.
• Christian Cook went six-of-eight from the field for 13 points with two rebounds and two assists. This is his highest shooting percentage of the season so far with his least amount of three pointer attempts.
• Kaosi Ezeagu nearly pulled off a double-double again tonight with nine points and eight rebounds in just 20 minutes of action.
• Jaylin Jackson-Posey shot 75% from the field tonight – making three of his four shot attempts which is his best of the season so far. He finished with nine points, two rebounds and two assists.
• This is the Aggies' first time this season not recording a block in a game.

 
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