IRVINE — The UC Irvine men’s basketball team celebrated another Big West Conference regular-season title on Saturday night, but the Anteaters know the biggest prize is still up for grabs.

UCI went to overtime against visiting UC Davis in the regular-season finale before winning, 79-69, at the Bren Events Center, guaranteeing the Anteaters at least a share of their eighth Big West title in 16 seasons under Coach Russell Turner.

Hawaii, which is vying for a share of the title, was hosting Long Beach State in a late game Saturday (9 p.m. PT).

Now UCI heads to Henderson, Nevada for the eight-team Big West Tournament, which begins with the opening round on Wednesday, but the Anteaters earned a double-bye into Friday night’s semifinals.

UCI (22-10 overall, 15-5 Big West) hasn’t had nearly as much success in the conference tournament as in the regular season under Turner, twice losing in the championship game since the program’s last tournament title in 2019.

“None of these guys have won a Big West Tournament, so we know that,” Turner said of his players. “We know that there’s multiple components to the season. We just completed one of them and that’s meaningful. The next one’s more meaningful, and we lean right into that. We’re going to be able to enjoy this, savor it probably until tomorrow night. … And then we have to move on and get ready for more meaningful competition in Henderson.”

UCD (18-13, 11-9) gave UCI the type of test it should expect in the Big West Tournament.

The Aggies, who won the first meeting against UCI, 75-72, on Jan. 17, led by as much as 14 points in the first half and was up 10 at halftime, an ominous sign for an Anteaters team that came in 1-8 when trailing at the intermission this season.

UCI began to chip away early in the second half, however, and tied the score at 49-49 on two free throws by Kyle Evans with 9:36 left.

Jurian Dixon, who scored a team-high 23 points for the Anteaters, put back a blocked shot to give UCI a 65-62 lead with 1:10 left in the second half, but Niko Rocak made his sixth 3-pointer of the night to tie it 65-65 with 59 seconds left and that’s where the score remained until overtime.

The Aggies scored the first basket of overtime, but the Anteaters scored the next eight points to go up 73-67, their biggest lead of the game to that point, and they didn’t let UCD back within one possession.

UCI, which committed a season-low five turnovers in a 107-85 win against visiting Cal Poly on Thursday, had seven turnovers through the first nine minutes on Saturday before finishing with 19.

“We made a big adjustment in the second half. We played small and they forced us to do that with their 3-point shooting,” Turner said. “Give them credit. Every team is going to have strategy and I thought they played like underdogs and they made a bunch of 3s, especially with their center and 4-man. They moved those guys around really well, but we found a way over the course of the game to have the answers we needed to make the offensive plays we needed to make.”

Andre Henry scored 15 points off the bench for UCI, Evans scored 14 and Jovan Jester Jr. had 13 points in a reserve role.

Henry is in his sixth season with the Anteaters, having shared in three Big West regular-season titles in that span, but he has yet to play in an NCAA Tournament game.

“I worry sometimes in this community they take this success that we generate in the regular season for granted,” Turner said. “It’s hard, man. It’s hard to do what we’re doing. I love that we showed the unity and competitiveness and toughness to come out on top of this challenge. We’ve done it before, but that doesn’t make it any less meaningful for these guys who are going through it.”

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