UC Irvine denies Warriors, 70-63

Eyassu Worku scored a game-high 19 points and Evan Leonard added 18 points tonight to help visiting UC Irvine deny Hawai’i, 70-63, in tense Big West Conference men’s basketball action.

An electric season-best “White-Out” crowd of 5,949 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Collin Welp add 15 points and six rebounds as the first-place Anteaters improved to 17-10 overall and 9-2 in the Big West. Drew Buggs scored 17 points and dished seven assists and Eddie Stansberry added 10 points for the Warriors, who dropped their fourth straight game and fell to 14-10, 5-5.

UCI led for most of the game and was ahead, 66-53, after Welp’s two free throws with 2:26 remaining, but UH rallied back and closed it…