Collin Welp came off the bench to score 19 points, one of six double-digit scorers for UC Irvine, as the Anteaters defeated Cal Poly 110-72 in a Big West Conference men’s basketball game Thursday night inside Mott Athletics Center.
Welp made nine of 14 floor shots, including a three-pointer, as UC Irvine, which clinched the Big West regular-season title last week, improved to 26-5 overall and 14-1 in the conference.
Cal Poly, which fell to 6-22 and 2-13, was paced by Marcellus Garrick with 27 points, sinking eight of 16 floor shots and seven of 10 free throws. Donovan Fields added 19 points and Mark Crowe 13.
For Fields, it was his team-leading 22nd double-digit scoring game of the season. With his second-highest scoring total this season, Garrick produced double digits for the 16th time.
Fields also contributed five assists and needs one more to become the first player in program history with 1,000 points, 300 assists and 100 steals in a Mustang career.
UC Irvine’s 110-point total was the most given up by Cal Poly since Texas A&M-Corpus Christi earned a 113-108 overtime win on Jan. 9, 2001.
The last time the Mustangs surrendered 100 points in regulation was on Dec. 17, 2015, when USC posted a 101-82 victory.
A jumper by Fields with 12:57 left in the first half capped a 12-4 Mustang run and pulled them to within a point at 15-14. UC Irvine then scored eight unanswered points for a 23-14 advantage and added a 15-0 spurt later in the half for a 38-20 cushion with 6:30 to go in the first half.
The Anteaters built a 58-32 advantage at the break and led by as many as 48 points in the second half.
All five UC Irvine starters scored in double figures. Evan Leonard tallied 16 points, Robert Cartwright and Max Hazzard 15 each, Tommy Rutherford 14 and Jonathan Galloway 13.
The Anteaters amassed a 57-24 advantage on the boards, including 24 offensive rebounds. Elston Jones grabbed eight boards and three other Anteaters corralled seven rebounds. Karlis Garoza had six for Cal Poly.
UC Irvine made 48 of 87 floor shots for 55 percent, including 11 of 24 three-pointers, while Cal Poly connected on 24 of 60 field goal attempts for 40 percent, sinking seven of 18 treys.
Cal Poly wraps up the regular season Saturday night with a Blue-Green Rivalry matchup against UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. inside Mott Athletics Center.
Should the Mustangs win, coupled with a UC Riverside loss at UC Davis, a coin flip will decide the eighth and final team to qualify for next week’s Big West Conference Tournament at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
–Provided by Cal Poly
