The University of Hawaiʻi Men's Basketball team was plagued by a woeful 29% (16-for-55) overall shooting from the field and lost another one to the UC Irvine Anteaters, 66-49, at the Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday.

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Tanner Christensen led the 'Bows with 11 points on 4-for-12 shooting. He was followed by Aaron Hunkin-Claytor, Ryan Rapp, and Gytis Nemeikša, who all had 10 apiece.

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Bent Leuchten led the Anteaters with 21 points on 7-for-8 shooting. He was followed by Devin Tillis with 15, and Jurian Dixon had 10.

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Hawaiʻi got out to a very poor start with turnovers on its opening three possessions. After sparing Irvine the first six points of the game, Christensen got Hawaiʻi on the board with a second-chance layup.

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Christensen's layup began an 8-2 UH run and tied the score, but Irvine responded back with 11 unanswered and maintained their lead throughout.

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Eight points was the closest UH got before halftime, and it was 35-22, Irvine. UH was held to just nine made field goals in the first half to Irvine's 13; UH went 0-for-5 from 3-point range and committed an egregious 10 turnovers.

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The second half did not start much better for the 'Bows, as they missed as many as three up-close shots early. However, Christensen drilled UH's first triple of the game with 15:39 remaining.

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The 'Bows tried to make some pushes, but Irvine continued to extend its lead to as many as 18 with under six minutes remaining.

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Towards the end, UH made a last push with a 7-0 run and cut the gap down to 11 with 4:01 remaining. Seconds later, UH went for a loose ball, which turned into a held ball, and Irvine's Miles Che was at the bottom of a scrum.

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After review, a technical foul was issued to UH's Rapp, and Irvine's Che was issued a Flagrant 2 foul and an ejection after a replay showed Che punched Rapp in the cheek. Che had eight points and three rebounds prior to his ejection.

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Unfortunately, Che's ejection did not matter one bit for UH. They did not get any closer, but they got a final hurrah via a Nemeikša layup with just a second left.

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UH drops to 6-9 in Big West play and 14-12 overall. They still maintained seventh place in the standings though. They will hit the road for a single contest against the UC San Diego Tritons at LionTree Arena in La Jolla, California on Saturday, Feb. 22. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. HST, and you can listen to the game on ESPN Honolulu.