LOS ANGELES — Jay Miller played the best basketball of his career, scoring 26 points on 9 of 11 shooting, Andrew Johnson chipped in 20 points and eight rebounds, and the Occidental men's basketball team overcame a nine-point halftime deficit to win at Whittier, 73-64 on Wednesday.

After giving up free points to the Poets off of turnovers in the first half, the Tigers tightened up their passing on offense and transitioned better to defense, outscoring Whittier 40-22 in the second half.

Season Impact: The Tigers move to 10-5 overall and 4-2 in SCIAC. Oxy is now tied for first with Caltech, Chapman and La Verne.

Whittier goes to 7-7 and 3-3 in conference.

Miller was poised on offense, getting to any spot he wanted and then consistently elevating over the outstretched hands of defenders to make tough contested shots look easy.

As the Tigers extended a two-possession lead late in the second half, Joe Compagno came up big with eight of his 11 points on a layup in transition, a three at the end of the shot clock and another prayer outside shot at the end of the shot clock that banked in.

Whittier went cold in the second half with Oxy playing better defense and without any easy baskets. The Poets shot just 29 percent from the field and were 1 of 14 from the 3-point line, compared to the 5 of 11 they shot from deep in the first half.

The difference was Oxy's switching defense helped to cut off penetration and allowed the Tigers to contest jump shots versus the first-half set shots that lit them up.

Austin Dewitz, Oxy's do-it-all first year forward, grabbed 11 rebounds, played outstanding defense, including a pair of blocks, and finished with six points.

Spencer Levy scored four points and had two assists, and Andrew Garrison added two points and six rebounds for the Tigers.

Oxy outrebounded the Poets 42-30.

Whittier was led by Andrew Torres, who scored 13 points. Eric Jennings and Anthony Martinez each added 12.

Next Game: Oxy returns to action at Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday at 5 p.m.