COLLEGE BASKETBALL / BIG WEST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT : Irvine Still Alive After Upset No. 3

The impossible dream is still alive.

UC Irvine, the only 10th-seeded team in the 15-year history of the Big West to win a game in the conference tournament, is one victory away from earning a part in the NCAA tournament. The Anteaters, their high-top Cinderella slippers still firmly laced to their feet, defeated Pacific, 82-78, in the semifinals Saturday night before 8,959 in the Thomas & Mack Center.

They will play top-seeded New Mexico State, an 82-64 winner over Nevada Las Vegas, in the final today at 12:30 p.m.

Irvine (10-19) has won three games in a row for the the first time in Rod Baker’s three-season tenure as coach and once again it was the play of senior point guard Lloyd Mumford that guided the Anteaters to victory. His regular-season performances varied from spectacular to out of control to just plain ragged, but he has been nothing short of inspired during Irvine’s three-day Las Vegas fling.

When Pacific (17-14) closed to within five points with four minutes to play, Mumford responded with a pair of three-point plays--a steal, layup and free throw and an acrobatic baseline bank shot and free throw--to put Irvine ahead by 11. When the Tigers made a couple of three-point shots down the stretch, Mumford controlled the ball, drew the fouls and made six of eight foul shots in the final two minutes.

Mumford, who finished with a game-high 29 points and seven assists, may have been tired, but he clearly wasn’t running on empty.

“I was a little fatigued, but I was focused,” he said. “The game was right there in your hands and you want to close your fist around it.”

Indeed, the Anteaters have shown the commitment and concentration that was so obviously absent from their regular-season follies.

Irvine came into the tournament last in the conference in field-goal percentage defense (48%). But in three tournament games, their opponents have made only 36% of their shots.

Irvine’s three-point specialist Chris Brown was held scoreless by the Tigers’ box-and-one defense in the first half, but he made four of seven three-pointers in the second.

New Mexico State 82, Nevada Las Vegas 64--The Aggies went on a 32-3 tear late in the second half to overcome a nine-point halftime deficit and will be making their third consecutive appearance in the tournament final.

The top-seeded Aggies (22-7), who swept the Runnin’ Rebels (15-13) during the regular season, were led by James Dockery, who scored 23 points, 13 in the second half.