UC Irvine Shoots Down San Jose State : College basketball: Anteaters take a big step toward securing final berth in conference tournament.

UC Irvine’s basketball team stayed out of last place in the Big West Conference Thursday night by defeating San Jose State, 78-65, in front of 1,389 at the Bren Center.

The victory broke a three-game losing streak and improved Irvine’s chances of getting a Big West tournament berth. With conference leader Nevada Las Vegas ineligible for postseason play, only one of the conference’s nine remaining teams will be denied a tournament bid.

Irvine (6-19, 3-13) has a 1 1/2-game lead over San Jose (2-21, 1-14) with two conference games remaining. The Anteaters can clinch a berth with victories over Pacific Saturday night or at New Mexico State March 7.

“We still have two big games to play,” Irvine Coach Rod Baker said. “But it looks good for us.”

Irvine avenged a 58-52 loss to San Jose State on Feb. 1, a game in which the Anteaters shot 28% from the field and made only four second-half field goals.

Irvine shot 48.3% Thursday night and committed only nine turnovers. The Anteaters led, 39-27, at halftime, and San Jose never got closer than eight in the second half.

“We got ourselves better shots this time,” Baker said, “and we’re playing at home, so we should be shooting better here.”

Khari Johnson scored 17 points and David Hollaway, a transfer from San Jose State, came off the bench to add 14 for Irvine.

Jason Allen scored 16 points for San Jose State.