UC Irvine Anteaters @ Cal Poly Mustangs
Leonard scores 22 to carry UC Irvine past Cal Poly 82-76
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Evan Leonard had a season-high 22 points as UC Irvine beat Cal Poly 82-76 on Thursday night to clinch the Big West Conference championship, the first time ever the Anteaters claimed back-to-back titles .
Eyassu Worku had 18 points for UC Irvine (20-10, 12-2), which earned its fifth straight victory. Tommy Rutherford added 16 points and Brad Greene had a career-high seven blocks.
Worku made 3 of 4 free throws in the final minute before Leonard drained the two clinchers with 12 seconds left.
Colby Rogers had 13 points for the Mustangs (7-21, 4-10), who have now lost five games in a row. Junior Ballard added 13 points. Job Alexander had 12 points.
UC Irvine defeated Cal Poly 74-67 on Jan. 25. UC Irvine faces UC Santa Barbara at home on Saturday. Cal Poly takes on Long Beach State on the road next Thursday.
---
For more AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/AP-Top25
---
Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com
Game Information
San Luis Obispo, CA
Referee:Gregory Nixon
Referee:Jeff Ketchu
Referee:Daryl Gelinas
2025-26 Standings
| Big West ConferenceBig West Conference | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| UC Irvine | 15-5 | - | 23-12 |
| Hawai'i | 14-6 | 1 | 24-9 |
| UC San Diego | 12-8 | 3 | 23-11 |
| Cal State Northridge | 12-8 | 3 | 20-14 |
| Cal State Fullerton | 12-8 | 3 | 18-16 |
| UC Davis | 11-9 | 4 | 19-14 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 11-9 | 4 | 18-14 |
| Cal Poly | 10-10 | 5 | 14-19 |
| Long Beach State | 6-14 | 9 | 10-22 |
| UC Riverside | 5-15 | 10 | 10-22 |
| Cal State Bakersfield | 2-18 | 13 | 8-24 |
Men's College Basketball News

NCAA discusses implementation of age-based eligibility model
2d

Ex-Wisconsin guard John Blackwell withdraws from NBA draft, heads to Duke
2d

CEO of NIL enforcement reminds schools: These are your rules
3d

