Fullerton Beats UC Irvine Again, 78-68

There are noticeable differences in the styles of play between UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton, and, when the teams play each other, each of those differences becomes intensely magnified.

Fullerton wins with leaps and bounds; with blocked shots that have a way of leading to thunderous slam dunks; with using quickness to frustrate an opponent into submission. UCI wins with good outside shooting; with working the ball inside to draw a foul in order to go to the free-throw line.

Those are the realities, and UCI found nothing funny about them Saturday night. Fullerton jumped over and ran past the Anteaters en route to a 78-68 win in front of 1,513 spectators in what could be UCI’s last game in Crawford Hall.

The win breathes postseason life into a Fullerton team that has had its share of adversities this season. The Titans finish the regular season at 8-10 in Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. play, which is enough to give them the seventh seed in next week’s PCAA Tournament.

Irvine, which had already clinched second place in the conference standings, finishes 12-6 in PCAA play, 16-11 overall. The Anteaters’ reward for winning 6 of their last 8 games and overtaking New Mexico State in the conference race is a first-round matchup with Fullerton, a team they have lost to 9 times in the last 11 meetings. New Mexico State opens the tournament against Utah State, a team the Anteaters have beaten twice this season by a total of 24 points.

Kevin Henderson scored 21 points and Herman Webster added 18 as the Titans ignited midway through the second half to take a 13-point lead and held on down the stretch for the victory they needed to qualify for the post-season tournament.

Construction of the Donald Bren Events Center is expected to be completed next winter, perhaps as early as the opening of the PCAA season. UCI is expected to use an alternate site for its early season games before moving into its new home, meaning Saturday night’s game could be the last in the place that was once inauspiciously known as “The Library.”

This was not the way the Anteaters had hoped to check out. Said senior forward Tod Murphy: “They won, we lost, and we did Crawford Hall no justice.”

It happened in a blur. UCI took a 50-49 lead on a tip-in by Joe Buchanan with 12:21 to play. The next seven minutes illustrated how quickly a team can strike when it consists of talented athletes. Fullerton outscored Irvine, 21-7, to take a 70-57 lead. Irvine put together a mild comeback effort, cutting the gap to 71-65 with 2:24 to play, but the Titans held on from there.

Said Titan Coach George McQuarn: “This is a tremendous win when you look at everything we went through for 29 games . . . so many lineups, no offensive continuity. But tonight, we didn’t struggle at all and did what we wanted to do.”

There is perhaps no better living illustration of the problems the Titans pose to UCI than the guard matchup between Fullerton’s Kevin Henderson and the Anteaters’ Scott Brooks. Henderson is a 6-foot, 4-inch senior who, despite missing seven weeks of the season with a foot injury, is likely to be a high NBA draft choice. Brooks is a 5-foot, 11-inch junior who will need a ticket to see the NBA. He plays with a lot of heart, but against Henderson, he could use a little more height.

Henderson hit 7 of 12 shots from the field, and basically had his way with Brooks on jumpers in the lane. Brooks said afterward that he didn’t think guarding Henderson was too much to ask, but there’s no question this was a difficult assignment for him.

“That’s tough for anybody,” UCI forward Johnny Rogers said.

Rogers finished with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Murphy led UCI with 23 points, but the rest of the Anteaters were kept mostly quiet. UCI shot 40.4% from the field (23 of 57) to Fullerton’s 53.3% (32 of 60). The Anteaters were outrebounded, 39-37, and had seven shots blocked.

McQuarn was understandably pleased.

“If I ever decide to leave and you (reporters) ask me about the highs of my career, this will be one of them,” he said.