BAKERSFIELD — The UC Irvine men’s basketball team used a strong second-half effort to get back in the win column.

Jurian Dixon scored 16 points to lead a balanced offense, Bent Leuchten recorded his 12th double-double of the season and UCI pulled away with a 46-point second half to beat Cal State Bakersfield, 73-64, on Saturday night at Bakersfield’s Icardo Center.

Leuchten had 12 points and 11 rebounds, Myles Che had 12 points and five rebounds, and Dixon added six rebounds and five assists for the Anteaters (23-5 overall, 13-3 Big West Conference), who bounced back from a home loss to Cal State Northridge on Thursday night. Devin Tillis added eight points, six rebounds and two steals and Torian Lee had eight points and four rebounds.

UCI remains in second place in the Big West with four games left in the regular season before next month’s Big West Tournament in Henderson, Nevada. The top two seeds get double byes into the semifinals, while the third and fourth seeds play quarterfinals and must win three games in three days to take the title and the automatic NCAA Tournament berth that comes with it.

The Anteaters trailed by double-digits (17-7) midway through the first half, but they trimmed that margin to three points several times before Bakersfield (12-17, 6-11) grabbed a 32-27 halftime lead on a last-second jumper by Kadar Waller.

The teams traded the lead a few times in the second half, but UCI started to take control with the score tied and less than nine minutes left. A Che layup sparked a 13-2 run that ended with a 3-pointer from Dixon for a 60-49 lead with 5:18 remaining.

Four points from Jemel Jones and a Tom Mark layup cut UCI’s lead to 60-55 with 3:17 left, but a Che layup and a three-point play from Dixon pushed the margin back to 10 points with 1:31 left. A Leuchten layup made it a 12-point game with 1:01 left, then UCI survived a pair of turnovers in the final minute to close it out at the free-throw line.

The Anteaters shot 52% from the field in the second half while holding the Roadrunners to 36% (10 for 28) and finished the game with a 42-29 advantage in rebounds and an eight-point advantage at the free-throw line.

“Proud of our team’s win tonight,” UCI coach Russell Turner said. “We showed resilience, some toughness, especially in the second half coming from behind and building the lead and finishing the game. We rebounded really well tonight after rebounding poorly against CSUN.”

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Jones had 18 points to pace the Roadrunners, who are trying to hold on to eighth place and the final spot in the conference tournament. Fidelis Okereke chipped in 15 points, Corey Stephenson had 11 points and eight rebounds and Marvin McGhee IV added 11 points.

Bakersfield, which has lost nine in a row to UCI, turned 16 Anteater miscues into a 23-7 advantage in points off of turnovers.

“I am excited that we still lead the country in road wins (11),” said Turner, whose team has three additional neutral-court wins. “It’s hard to win here. I am proud of all the guys for that, especially the veterans. We have work to do to play better, to play with more energy and fire, passion, and joy.”

UP NEXT

UCI plays at Cal State Fullerton on Thursday at 7 p.m.

BIG WEST STANDINGS

Through Saturday, Feb. 22

UC San Diego – 24-4, 14-2

UC Irvine – 23-5, 13-3

CS Northridge – 20-7, 12-4

UC Riverside – 18-11, 11-6

UC Santa Barbara – 18-10, 10-7

UC Davis – 15-13, 9-8

Hawaii – 14-13, 6-10

CS Bakersfield – 12-17, 6-11

Cal Poly (SLO) – 11-17, 5-11

Long Beach State – 7-21, 3-13

CS Fullerton – 6-22, 1-15