UCI stays in first with win
The UC Irvine men’s basketball team used proficiency from distance to ensure there would remain none between the top two teams in the Big West Conference standings.
Anteaters’ senior Jaron Martin made his first six three-point attempts on his way to a game-high 28 points to key UCI’s 83-80 Big West win over Cal State Northridge in front of a homecoming crowd of 4,234 at the Bren Events Center.
UCI, which never trailed, improved to 17-13, 10-4 in conference. It is tied for first with UC Davis with two regular-season conference games remaining. The Anteaters visit UC Riverside on Wednesday at 7 p.m., then play host to UC Davis, which beat UCI on its floor, on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Davis needed overtime to defeat visiting Long Beach State on Saturday night.
Martin, who missed his last five three-point tries, was nine for 20 from the field, while adding three assists in 36 minutes.
UCI senior Luke Nelson had 22 points and a team-best five assists. He was six for 11 from the field and three for six from threedom.
Both teams were 24 for 53 from the field (45.3%). UCI secured a 37-27 rebounding advantage to overcome a 15-6 turnover deficit.
The Matadors (11-16, 7-7), who were overwhelmed, 105-73, by UCI at home on Jan. 21, closed to within 79-78 with 1:02 left.
Ioannis Dimakopoulos (12 points on four-for-six shooting) sank a pair of free throws with 38 seconds left and, after two Aaron Parks foul shots cut the deficit to 81-80, Martin was fouled and netted both ends of a double-bonus free-throw situation with 2.5 seconds remaining.
Michael Warren’s 40-foot desperation three-pointer at the buzzer missed, leaving UCI in position to fight for its third regular-season conference title in four seasons.
Jonathan Galloway had 12 rebounds to go with six points, two assists and two blocked shots, while Dimakopoulos and Tommy Rutherford (six points) also had two blocks apiece.
Nelson came up with a big steal to halt a Northridge possession with 20 seconds left, but Galloway missed two free-throw attempts with 16.5 seconds left to keep the Matadors alive.
“[Martin, who topped the 20-point mark for the ninth time this season] was sensational,” UCI Coach Russell Turner said. “But I’ve seen that a lot. Northridge crowded our big guys and when that happens, you are risking guys like Luke and Jaron having room to go off. I thought both of them did that.”
Turner, who saw his team fail to get a shot off on its final possession of a 56-54 loss at Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday, said it was important for his team to win a close game, especially at this point in the season.
“We made our free throws, and we did the things down the stretch in a close game that we need to do,” said Turner, whose team had not won a game by such a narrow margin since a 58-55 decision at Santa Clara on Nov. 30. “That’s important for this team to go through. We’ve had a lot of games in which we’ve been able to stretch the lead, and we need to win close games if we want to accomplish the goals we have for this team in the next two weeks.”
Northridge, which was 30 for 39 from the foul line (UCI canned 26 of 32 free-throw attempts), was two for 12 from three-point range.
Big West Conference
UC Irvine 83, Cal State Northridge 80
CSUN – Dawson 7, Kaba-Camara 0, Smith 24, Johnson 19, Parks 13, Warren 6, Johns 6, Theus Jr. 5.
3-pt. goals – Smith 2.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
UCI – Galloway 6, Smith 0, Dimakopoulos 12, Martin 28, Nelson 22, Rutherford 6, Worku 5, Greene 2, Hazzard 2.
3-pt. goals – Martin 6, Nelson 3.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
Halftime – 45-38, UCI.
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5
