UCI Shows Poise but Little Polish in Win

The best thing UC Irvine could say about its Big West Conference men’s basketball game against Idaho Thursday was that it found enough poise to hang on for its sixth consecutive victory.

Besides another strong game from guard Jerry Green, who scored 24 points, and some scrappy defense from reserve guard Aras Baskauskas, there wasn’t much for the Anteaters to enjoy in their 65-61 victory at the Bren Center.

Well, except perhaps that it’s the first time since 1984 that Irvine (10-2, 2-0) has won six straight.

But the way the Anteaters kept Idaho closer than it should have been drew more than a few winces from the announced crowd of 2,074.

Irvine committed nine first-half turnovers and allowed Idaho (3-11, 0-2), a team that is shooting 31% from the field this season, to hang around until the very end.

Not until senior Sean Jackson (who was celebrating his 23rd birthday) made two free throws with 26 seconds left for a 63-58 lead could the Anteaters breathe a sigh of relief.

Still, Irvine Coach Pat Douglass said, “It was nice to win and move to Saturday,” when the Anteaters will face UC Santa Barbara.

Green was once again Irvine’s man of the night, despite playing only 21 minutes because of foul trouble. Green, who sat out nearly 11 minutes of the first half, made 11 of 12 free throws, including four in the final 2 minutes 35 seconds.

Green had made 21 consecutive free throws before he missed one with 8:25 left.

“I think after today he is the best player in the league,” Idaho Coach David Farrar said. “He’s something special. He’s a good scorer and so quick.”

UCI freshman center Adam Parada had 10 points, eight rebounds, five blocked shots and two assists.

Irvine, which ranks second in the conference in field-goal percentage at 47.2%, made only 19 of 49 attempts (38.8%). But that was still better than Idaho, which made 19 of 54.

Guard Adam Miller, who scored 18 points and made five of 10 three-point attempts, kept the Vandals in the game late by making a variety of off-balance jumpers.

Irvine’s Baskauskas played a career-high 29 minutes and finished with seven points. Guard Malachi Edmond got his first start in five games, but was ineffective.

“Mal got tired because he played a lot of minutes,” Douglass said of Edmond, who is still nursing a sore groin muscle. “I thought Aras came in and gave us a big lift when we needed it.”

Said Baskauskas: “I’m here to play solid defense and provide as much positive energy as I can.”

Green, who did not start the second half, went to the bench with his fourth foul with 8:19 to play.

Miller’s three-point basket at the 3:40 mark cut Irvine’s lead to 59-55. Green came back into the game and immediately sank two free throws.

A little over a minute later, Idaho’s Matt Gerschefske hit a three-pointer to cut Irvine’s lead to 61-58.

Irvine missed several shot attempts, but held off the Vandals at the other end of the floor, and with 40 seconds to play Green fed Jackson, who was fouled on a layup attempt. His free throws made it 63-58 and Green followed 25 seconds later with another two throws.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Big West Standings

Through Thursday’s games

*--*

Conference Overall Team W L Pct. W L Pct. Utah State 3 0 1.000 13 2 .867 UC Irvine 2 0 1.000 10 2 .833 UC Santa Barbara 2 0 1.000 5 7 .412 Long Beach State 2 1 .667 8 7 .533 Pacific 2 1 .667 10 4 .714 Boise State 1 2 .500 9 7 .563 Cal Poly SLO 0 2 .000 5 7 .412 CS Fullerton 0 3 .000 1 12 .077 Idaho 0 3 .000 3 11 .214

*--*

Thursday’s results

Pacific 79, Boise State 73

UC Irvine 65, Idaho 61

UC Santa Barbara 74, Cal State Fullerton 71

Utah State 76, Long Beach State 60