Despite UCI’s Changes, Bottom Line Is Same : Basketball: Anteaters improve their shooting and their play in second half but still lose, 82-55, to Fresno State.

UC Irvine bucked some recent gloomy trends against Fresno State Saturday night, but the bottom line remained the same--the Anteaters lost, and they lost big.

Bulldog swingman Tod Bernard scored 24 points and Wilbert Hooker added 17, breaking the school’s career scoring record in the process, to lead Fresno State to an 82-55 victory over Irvine before 10,159 in Selland Arena.

In contrast to its previous two games, against Utah State and Nevada Las Vegas, Irvine didn’t collapse in the second half Saturday.

Nope, this one was decided long before intermission, as Fresno State built a 19-point lead with 9 minutes 36 seconds left in the first half and cruised to an easy Big West Conference victory. The Anteaters led Utah State at halftime before losing, 81-63, Thursday and led UNLV by eight points in the first half of a 71-57 loss Jan. 4.

And, unlike the past two games, in which the Anteaters shot a combined 30.4% from the field, Irvine didn’t shoot horrendously Saturday. The Anteaters’ field-goal percentage was upgraded from terrible to just plain bad, as they made 21 of 53 attempts for 39.6%.

The problem for Irvine, which has lost five consecutive games to fall to 3-10, 0-4 in conference, was Fresno State shot an impressive 55.8% from the field, making 29 of 52 attempts, including six of 14 three-pointers.

The Bulldogs (11-4, 2-1) led by as many as 32 points in the second half, and the only drama was provided by Hooker’s pursuit of the scoring record, which came with 3:52 remaining.

Fans stood as Hooker, a four-year starter, made a free throw for his 1,512th career point, breaking Lucius Davis’ 22-year-old Bulldog record of 1,511 points. Davis, who played three seasons (1968-70) at Fresno State, is the father of UC Santa Barbara standout Lucius Davis Jr.

Most of the crowd then began filing out after witnessing one of Fresno State’s better shooting performances.

“They knocked down some shots and some of those were difficult shots--that’s a good team,” Anteater Coach Rod Baker said. “I can’t believe they lost to Utah State (88-83 last week) in this building. But we won’t quit. When the lead was 30 and going to 40, we had every chance to pack it in and get on the bus, but we continued to play hard.”

Baker took the blame for this loss. Normally a pressure, man-to-man team, the Anteaters began the game playing a zone defense in an effort to neutralize the Bulldogs’ strong perimeter attack.

The strategy backfired, as Fresno State made three three-pointers in the first four minutes. The Bulldogs also sliced up the zone for several driving baskets and scored on two follow shots, as Irvine had trouble boxing out in an unfamiliar defense. By the 9:34 mark, the Bulldogs led, 24-7, and Irvine went back to its man-to-man.

“I was an idiot,” Baker said. “I spend three months teaching one thing and all of a sudden we don’t do it. We should of did what we were supposed to do. When we got back to that--pressing guys instead of trying to be cute and playing zone, we made them a little ragged.”

Not nearly as ragged as Irvine looked early in the game. The Anteaters actually went more than five minutes without missing a shot but turned the ball over four times in the first five minutes and got only two shots to the basket. When Gerald McDonald finally missed a layup at the 14:45 mark, the Anteaters still trailed, 13-7.

Irvine went scoreless for 4:22 as Fresno State took a 24-7 lead. After switching back to man-to-man, the Anteaters made a run at the Bulldogs, outscoring them, 10-2, to pull to 24-17 at the 5:47 mark of the first half. But Fresno State closed with a 10-4 run to take a 36-21 halftime lead.

Only one Anteater, reserve forward Elzie Love, scored in double figures, finishing with 11 points. Irvine was outrebounded, 42-24, including 12-7 on the offensive boards.

“We made a great improvement in the second half--nothing considerable, but our goal was to play hard in the second half and we did all right,” Irvine center Don May said. “I think we’ll be OK for next week.”

The Anteaters, who have a week off before playing host to Cal State Fullerton, got some sympathy from Fresno State Coach Gary Colson.

“I knew Irvine wouldn’t be too sharp because they’re on the second game of a long road trip coming from Utah State,” Colson said. “I’ve been in the (Western Athletic Conference) and the travel can certainly get to a team.

“I understand what Rod Baker is going through in his first year with an inherited team. Trust me, they are much better than they showed tonight.”