Men’s Basketball: ‘Eaters move to final
ANAHEIM — The UC Irvine baseball and men’s volleyball teams will play the No. 1-ranked teams in the nation Saturday. But neither will be the biggest contest on the Anteaters’ schedule.
That distinction goes to the men’s basketball team that will compete for an NCAA Tournament bid in the Big West Conference Tournament championship game at Honda Center.
Coach Russell Turner’s top-seeded ‘Eaters assured as much with a hard-fought 62-57 win over No. 4-seeded Long Beach State on Friday.
UCI, the top defensive team in the conference which came in ranked No. 7 in the nation in field-goal-percentage defense (.382) held the 49ers below that mark (.318), and blocked 10 shots, the second-most in Big West Tournament history.
Junior Jonathan Galloway, the Big West Defensive Player of the Year, had five blocked shots and led the winners (21-13) with nine rebounds. He had eight points on four-for-five shooting from the field, including two big buckets down the stretch.
UCI led by as many as nine before securing a 31-26 halftime lead and was up, 42-38, with 11:10 left in the game.
But Long Beach (15-19), which split its regular-season meetings with UCI, used an 8-0 run to take a four point lead with 10:07 left.
Over the next 75 seconds, however, Big West Player of the Year Luke Nelson, a UCI senior guard who had struggled to that point, asserted himself to help the ‘Eaters regain control.
Nelson, who was two for nine from the field at the time, sank a three-pointer from the corner off an inbounds play to open what turned into a 9-0 run.
On UCI’s next possession, Nelson made a step-back 16-footer near the foul line, then knocked the ball loose on defense, collected the turnover and quickly threw the ball down court to a streaking Jaron Martin for a layup.
The 7-0 blitz put UCI up, 49-46, and Galloway upped the lead to five 91 seconds later.
Long Beach pulled to within 59-55 with 1:34 left and rebounded its missed free throw to set up a three-point try from the corner by junior guard Justin Bibbins. But the shot missed, UCI rebounded, and held on to earn its third Big West Tournament final bid in the last five seasons.
Martin led UCI with 18 points, while Nelson finished with 14.
Freshman Tommy Rutherford had six points and four rebounds and was one of five Anteaters to contribute to the block party.
Ioannis Dimakopoulos, a 7-foot-2 senior center, had two blocks, while Brandon Smith and Brad Greene also helped personify the defensive identity UCI so prides itself on.
Galloway, Dimakopoulos, Rutherford and Greene combined to sink 10 of their 12 field-goal tries.
“We had a great defensive effort that led to the win,” said Turner after UCI held Long Beach to its second-lowest scoring output of the season. “And I thought we showed championship character when we got down in the second half. We tightened the screws, defensively, and made some good plays.”
Long Beach posted a 44-35 rebounding advantage, including 20 offensive rebounds, to earn a 16-8 edge in second-chance points.
But UCI still managed a 32-20 advantage in points in the paint and had a 9-0 bulge in fast-break points.
Bibbins, who had a career-high 27 points Thursday in a quarterfinal win over Hawaii, was four for 15 from the field, three for six from three-point range.
Long Beach made 41.2% of its three-point attempts, but thanks largely to the ceiling applied by UCI big men inside, was a mere 14 for 49 inside the arc (28.6%).
“[Limiting Bibbins] was the whole focus of our defensive game plan,” said Turner, whose squad is one win away from earning the program’s second NCAA Tournament bid, having done so in 2015.
UCI, which has won five straight, will play either No. 2-seeded UC Davis or No. 3-seeded Cal State Fullerton in the final on Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
Big West Conference Tournament
Semifinal
UC Irvine 62, Long Beach State 57
LBSU – Yussuf 10 , Prince 5, Ogalue 10, Bibbins 15, Blackwell 11, Payne 6.
3-pt. goals – Bibbins 3, Blackwell 3, Payne 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
UCI – Galloway 8, Smith 2, Dimakopoulos 4, Martin 18, Nelson 14, Rutherford 6, Green 4, Worku 2, Hazzard 2, Rivers 2.
3-pt. goals – Martin 3, Nelson 2.
Fouled out – Smith.
Technicals – None.
Halftime – 31-25, UCI.
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5
