Davis Scores 24 As UC Irvine Drops Cal Poly, 63-56

SAN LUIS OBISPO (AP/CBSLA.com) — Will Davis II scored 24 points and UC Irvine got past Cal Poly 63-56 on Thursday to remain in second place in the Big West.

UC Irvine (17-10, 10-3) closed the first half with an 11-2 run to lead 40-30 at the break. Davis had 16 points before intermission as the Anteaters shot 65 percent and made 4 of 8 from beyond the arc.

Dominique Dunning's tip-in with 9:07 left pushed UC Irvine's lead to 15 points. Cal Poly got as close as nine with 4:05 left after a 6-0 run, capped by Brian Bennett's tip-in. But Irvine scored on the next two possessions to close the door.

Cal Poly (13-13, 6-8) was led by Ridge Shipley with 20 points. Bennett finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Cal Poly was 6 of 21 beyond the arc.

The Anteaters are one game behind UC Davis in the Big West. The Aggies were upset by UC Santa Barbara 74-60 on Thursday, dropping them to 11-2 in the conference and 21-5 overall. Irvine visits UC Davis to close the regular season on March 7.

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