Men’s Basketball: ‘Eaters halt losing streak
Chino Hills High phemon LaMelo Ball had 41 points in an eight-minute quarter during a highly publicized 92-point performance on Tuesday night.
One night later, a determined UC Irvine defense held visiting UC Santa Barbara to 47 points in 40 minutes to post a 17-point victory in Big West Conference men’s basketball play at the Bren Events Center. It was the second-fewest points scored by a UCI opponent this season, the fewest registered by a Division I foe.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Anteaters (14-12, 6-3 in conference) and kept Coach Russell Turner’s squad one-half game behind first-place UC Davis.
It was the seventh straight loss for a banged-up UCSB unit (3-19, 1-9) that figures to post the worst record in the 32-season head coaching career of Bob Williams, who is in his 19th campaign with the Gauchos.
UCSB made just two of its first 12 field-goal attempts as UCI bolted to a 12-2 lead.
UCI led, 27-18, at halftime, at which point UCSB was shooting just 25.9% (seven for 27).
The Gauchos shot 42.9% after halftime to finish 19 for 55 for a 34.5% clip.
Ioannis Dimakopoulos, a 7-foot-2 center, was six for seven from the field to lead the ‘Eaters with 15 points.
Junior Jonathan Galloway had 10 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season and senior guard Luke Nelson had 11 points, including three-for-six shooting from three-point range.
“We have the No. 1 offense in our conference right now, though we haven’t consistently made a lot of shots lately,” Turner said. “But if we defend at the level we did tonight, then we can win comfortably, and that’s what I expect our team to do.
“I know people who read the newspapers want to talk about offense, but I like it when we defend and rebound [a 46-30 advantage on the glass]. I thought we did that tonight and I was pleased with that.”
Turner said Dimakopoulos set the tone with his inside efficiency.
“I thought Ioannis got going with his jump shot tonight,” Turner said. “What I expect him to do for us is establish himself in the interior and be a force that teams have to make tough decisions about, whether to single-cover him or double-team him. I thought he was much better at that in the second half. When he’s the best version of what he can be for us, we are a different-level team. There were times tonight he was that.”
Dimakopoulos had 10 points combined in the previous two games and had averaged 7.7 during the three-game skid, after posting 19 points in three straight conference wins.
UCI came at the Gauchos in waves, consistently stymying the visitors, aside from 6-10 junior Alex Hart, who made all seven of his field-goal attempts, all after halftime, on his way to a game- and career-high 16 points.
Freshman Tommy Rutherford led UCI’s bench brigade with seven points and five rebounds, while freshman guard Eyassu Worku had six points, four rebounds and two assists in 17 reserve minutes.
Sophomore Spencer Rivers had four points, three assists and two rebounds for the winners, who visit Hawaii on Saturday, then play three of their final five regular-season conference games at home. Included in that run is a March 4 home date with UC Davis.
UCI senior Jaron Martin was one for seven from the field and is seven for 30 in his last three games (23.3%).
“Most teams go through some kind of lull during the season,” Turner said. “I’m hoping the issues we’ve had over the [previous] three games are ones that will make us better, as we try to continue to improve and be at our best coming down the stretch and heading into the Big West tournament.”
BIG WEST CONFERENCE
UC Irvine 64, UC Santa Barbara 47
UCSB – Hart 16, Kupchak 0, Childress 11, Powell 2, Terrell 0, Heidegger 7, Jackson 4, Slajchert 4, Walters 3.
3-pt. goals – Childress 1, Heidegger 1, Walters 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
UCI – Galloway 10, Smith 0, Dimakopoulos 15, Nelson 11, Martin 3, Rutherford 7, Worku 6, Rivers 4, Leonard 3, Hazzard 3, Greene 2.
3-pt. goals – Nelson 3, Martin 1, Dimakopoulos 1, Leonard 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
Halftime – 27-18, UCI.
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5
