Devin Tillis scored 16 points Tuesday night to lead four players in double figures as UC Irvine advanced to the finals of the NIT with a come-from-behind 69-67 win over North Texas in Indianapolis.
Tillis added 11 rebounds for the Anteaters (32-6), who set a school record for wins in a season despite trailing by 15 points midway through the first half. Bent Leuchten contributed 14 points and nine rebounds, while Justin Hohn chipped in 12 points and eight assists. Myles Che hit for 11 points.
UC Irvine will play the winner of Tuesday’s other semifinal, which had Chattanooga facing Loyola Chicago.
Hohn put UC Irvine ahead for good at 62-60 with a 3-pointer at the 1:35 mark of the second half. The basket began a run of seven straight points for the Anteaters.
Leuchten sealed the outcome by making both ends of a one-and-one with 6.7 seconds left, making Atin Wright’s 3-pointer as time expired meaningless.
Wright scored a game-high 25 points for the Mean Green (27-9), going 4 of 8 on 3-pointers. Jasper Floyd added 16 points, but North Texas made only 24 of 70 attempts (34.3 percent) from the field.
It was the last game as Mean Green coach for Ross Hodge, who will replace Darian DeVries as West Virginia’s coach next season.
The first half came down to two distinct parts. North Texas dominated the first 11 1/2 minutes, and then UC Irvine took over.
The Mean Green hit 10 of 20 shots to start the game, including 4 of 8 from the 3-point line, and built a 24-9 lead at the 8:32 mark when Floyd canned a 3-pointer.
The Anteaters not only went only 1 of 7 from the floor to start the game, they couldn’t make a shot but also ran into turnover trouble, committing seven by with just under 8 minutes left in the half.
But beginning with Che’s layup with 8:08 remaining, UC Irvine found footing on both ends. It made 8 of its last 12 shots, including a pair of 3-pointers by Tillis. And North Texas’ touch turned ice cold as it made only 2 of its last 12 shots in the half.
That led to a 21-6 spurt that forged a 30-30 tie at intermission.
