Irvine Is Turned Inside Out in Loss

So much for the inside game.

UC Irvine Coach Rod Baker, in attempt to revive his team’s sagging offense, said the Anteaters were going to re-emphasize their inside attack. But Saturday night they ended up out in the cold and lost to Nevada, 98-85, in front of 5,393 at the Lawlor Events Center.

It seemed as if every time Irvine attempted to jam the ball underneath, the Wolf Pack ended up with it and seconds later were jamming it in the hoop on the other end of the court. That, and a five-minute, second-half drought when Nevada outscored the Anteaters, 20-0, were plenty enough to drop Irvine to 4-7 and 1-2 in the Big West.

“I’m not sure we got the kind of effort inside we needed to make good things happen,” Baker said. “And we threw the ball around as if we were running a dummy offense with no defenders on the floor.”

OK, so the inside guys didn’t play well and maybe the players on the point made some ill-advised passes. But hey, how about those perimeter people?

“Our wings didn’t do a very good job of getting back on transition defense,” Baker said. “My first impression is that we didn’t guard anybody very well.”

Again, bad offense plus bad defense equals bad loss.

Irvine turned over the ball 13 times in the first half, but the Anteaters’ long-range offense was on target and they trailed at the intermission by only two points (47-45), thanks to 10 first-half three-pointers. But the Wolf Pack (6-7, 2-3) had 14 points on breakaway dunks or layups after Anteater turnovers and the tone was set for the second half.

Irvine took a 66-65 lead with 10:26 left on a free throw by LaDay Smith, but then Nevada’s Walter Outlaw--who scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half--scored on a breakaway jam; Jerry Hogan hit a three-pointer, and Jimmy Moore made an old-fashioned three-point play (layup and free throw) to put the Wolf Pack ahead, 72-66, with 8:49 left.

Twenty seconds later, the only thing left in doubt was whether Nevada would score 100. Preston Johnson, who was six of 11 from three-point range and finished with a game-high 20 points, was fouled by Chris Brown on a three-point attempt. He made the first two free throws. Outlaw grabbed the rebound when he missed the third and fired it back to Johnson, who nailed another three-pointer that also nailed down the victory in the process.

“Was that only a five-point play?” Baker asked. “It seemed like 12.”

For everything Nevada did right, Irvine did something wrong.

No Points: Baker called timeout to try to stop the onslaught, but the resulting play was an out-of-control drive by Lloyd Mumford and a pass that Smith and Mark Odsather fought over before dropping out of bounds.

Points: Johnson drilled a three-pointer.

No Points: The Anteaters couldn’t get a shot off in the allotted 35 seconds.

Points: Eathan O’Bryant, who tied a school record with 16 assists, went all the way to the basket for a layup, was fouled and made the free throw.

No Points: Odsather put up an air ball.

Points: Joe Hannon fouled Outlaw, who made one of two free throws to give Nevada an 86-66 lead.

“It was a heck of a fast run,” Nevada Coach Pat Foster said. “In that stretch, we did some great things offensively. At times, we were lethargic on defense, but not during that stretch.”

It was a depressing loss for Irvine, a team that has known its share of disappointment in the last few years.

“We were just a little out of sync,” Irvine’s DeForrest Boyer said. “We had a lot of mental breakdowns. Guys hesitated getting back on defense. Some nights it just isn’t going to be there for you, but it was real frustrating. When they started scoring on all those fast breaks, it starts messing with your mind.”

Guards Brown (five three-pointers) and Todd Whitehead (four) led the Irvine attack with 17 points each. Starting power forward Jermaine Avie and Boyer combined for 17 points.

So much for the inside game.

Forwards Outlaw and Moore combined for 21 rebounds as Nevada dominated the boards, 50-40.

So much for the inside game.