Beach Falls 70-60 On The Road At UC Irvine

Saturday, March 1

Irvine, Calif.

7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

7-23,3-15Big West

UC Irvine

25-5,15-3Big West

Long Beach St.

UC Irvine

3/1/2025 10:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Devin Askew led Long Beach State with 25 points.

By: Roger Kirk, Associate Athletics Director, Communications & Broadcast

IRVINE, Calif. – Senior Devin Askew led Long Beach State with 25 points and the Beach got a lift from other places, but 36 points in the paint from UC Irvine helped the Anteaters take the road half of the Black and Blue Rivalry 70-60.

Unsurprisingly, defense carried the way for both teams, though the Beach had a strong shooting day from outside, making 9 3-pointers as a team and shooting 40.9% from behind the arc on the night. That started early as Derrick Michael Xzavierro hit a three to put the Beach on top, and Long Beach State (7-23, 3-15 Big West) led through the 12-minute mark in the first half as both teams took a while to get going.

A second-chance basket from Devin Askew left the Beach down two at 15-13 with just over eight minutes in the first half, but UC Irvine (25-5, 15-3 Big West) responded with a 9-0 run to take a nine-point lead into halftime, on top 32-23.

UC Irvine extended their lead to as many as 18 points in the second half, but the Beach battled back, cutting the lead to 10 where the game would ultimately end in a 70-60 win for UCI. Myles Che led the Anteaters with 19 points on the night.

The Beach played without a banged up TJ Wainwright, with Jason Hart Jr. getting his second career start. The redshirt sophomore responded with one of the best games of his career, playing a career-high 31 minutes and scoring 7 points while leading the team with five assists. Kam Martin added 10 for Long Beach State, joining Askew in double-figures.

Long Beach State will close the season next week, taking on league leaders UC San Diego on the road on Thursday before hosting Cal Poly on Saturday, March 8 at 4 p.m., where the team will recognize their two departing seniors Austin Johnson and Cam Denson.