‘Eaters don’t miss Nelson
NORTHRIDGE – Arguably the best player in the Big West Conference was relegated to cheerleading Saturday night. But if the UC Irvine men’s basketball team missed senior guard Luke Nelson in the least, it certainly wasn’t apparent.
The visiting Anteaters made their first six field-goal attempts, turned 12 of their first 15 possessions into points, and generally punked Cal State Northridge en route to a 105-73 Big West Conference victory.
UCI (13-9, 6-0 in conference), which won its eighth straight game and its fourth straight road contest, led by as many as 29 in the opening half and by as many as 35 late.
The Big West leaders shot 57.9% in the opening half, including nine-for-13 from three-point range (69.2%), behind a breakout performance by Nelson’s stand-in, freshman Max Hazzard.
Hazzard, whose previous game-high was 13 points and who had scored in double figures just twice coming in, had 19 first-half points and sank five of seven from beyond the arc (71.4%). He finished with 22 points in 25 minutes.
“With Luke down, someone had to step up and that’s what I tried to do tonight,” Hazzard said. “I just tried to be aggressive. It felt good. It felt like high school. I was happy about [my play].”
The ‘Eaters, who through Thursday ranked No. 10 in the nation in field-goal-percentage defense (38.2%) and also topped the Big West in scoring defense (65.1 per game), held the Matadors (7-12, 3-3) to 28.1% shooting in the first half (nine for 32).
Northridge finished 20 for 66 from the field (30.3%), while UCI wound up 37 for 69 (53.6%), including 12 for 21 from threedom (57.1%).
The Anteaters came in shooting 52.4% from the field in conference play.
“We were clearly ready to play,” UCI Coach Russell Turner said. “We’ve been consistently assertive on defense and tonight, we had really excellent performances from a couple guys. Ioannis [Dimakopoulos, a 7-foot-2 senior center] was really good inside and Max Hazzard got hot.
“The combination of dominant defense and offensive performance was more than [the Matadors] could handle.”
UCI senior Jaron Martin had 18 of his game-high 26 points in the second half and also had seven assists, four rebounds and one steal, without a turnover.
Dimakopoulos, despite being consistently banged hard inside, was eight for nine from the field and added four rebounds. It was his third straight 19-point performance.
Junior Jonathan Galloway had five points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots for the winners and, along with sophomore Brandon Smith, were singled out for their defense.
“[Hazzard] was the story tonight, but I want to be sure to point out that Jonathan Galloway and Brandon Smith are dominant individual defenders right now and that has affected our team in a really, really winning way,” Turner said.
Turner said Nelson, who sat with a hamstring injury in the same leg that sidelined him the first 15 games this season, could play Thursday at home against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. But his status would be evaluated next week.
“We have to get him right, but while he’s not right, it means more playing time for these other guys who are playing really hard and pretty well,” Turner said.
CSUN which suffered its most-lopsided loss of the season, made 30 of 40 free-throw attempts, while UCI was 19 for 23 from the line.
UCI has now beaten the Matadors five straight times and extended Northridge’s losing streak to three after the Matadors won their first three conference games.
BIG WEST CONFERENCE
UC Irvine 105, Cal State Northridge 73
UCI – Galloway 5, Dimakopoulos 19, Martin 26, Hazzard 22, Smith 6, Worku 8, Rutherford 6, Traylor 5, Rivers 3, Leonard 3, Edgar Jr. 2.
3-pt. goals – Hazzard 5, Martin 3, Leonard 1, Rivers 1, Smith 1, Worku 1.
Fouled out – Dimakopoulos, Greene.
Technicals – None.
CSUN – Dawson 12, Kaba-Camara 0, Smith 13, Johnson 10, Parks 9, Lubin 13, Theus Jr. 8, Warren 5, Johns 3.
3-pt. goals – Dawson 2, Smith 1.
Fouled out – Parks, Lubin.
Technicals – Team 1.
Halftime – 58-30, UCI.