IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine put together its best first half performance of the season that led to a dominating second half as the Anteaters defeated South Dakota 121-78 inside the Bren Events Center Saturday night.
 
Seven of the 12 Anteaters who checked in tonight scored in double-figures. UC Irvine (7-4) was led by Dean Keeler with a career-high 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from the charity stripe. Keeler scored 17 points in just seven minutes in the first half. Devin Tillis added 16 points on perfect 7-of-7 shooting from the field with two threes.
 
Three Coyotes reached double-digits as South Dakota (7-4) was led by a career-high 13 points from redshirt freshman Jevon Hill. Hill checked in midway through the second half and knocked down three quick triples. Bostyn Holt added 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field to record his fifth-straight double-figure game.
 
A few quick points in the paint brought UC Irvine out to an early 11-4 lead to start the game. The Yotes responded with back-to-back three pointers to even the field. The two teams continued to trade points until a 21-21 tie with 10:39 to play in the first half. The Anteaters strung together a few big runs, including a 10-1 run in just over one minute of play, to take a 57-38 lead into halftime.
 
UCI came out of the break and stayed hot, shooting 58 percent from the field and 50 percent from three in the second half. The Anteaters reached triple digits with six minutes to play in regulation and did not take their foot of the gas for the remainder of the game. The Yotes shot over 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from three in the first half and just under 50 percent in the second half but could not come up with an answer for the Anteaters defensively.
 
UC Irvine dominated in the paint through the whole game, outscoring the Yotes 72-26 inside and capitalizing on 19 offensive rebounds with 27 second chance points. Lahat Thioune, South Dakota's leading scorer and rebounder, was held to just eight points and five rebounds.
 
South Dakota heads to CSU Bakersfield for game two of the three-game California stretch. The Yotes and Roadrunners are set to tip-off at 9 p.m. CT on Dec. 19 in Bakersfield, California.