Irvine Standout Upstaged in a Losing Homecoming

The No. 1 three-point shooter in the nation from last season returned home to Oklahoma Wednesday night, but it certainly wasn’t a victory tour.

It wasn’t the long-range bombs of UC Irvine’s Chris Brown that wowed the crowd of 6,485 in the Lloyd Noble Center. It was Oklahoma forward Ryan Minor who made his first 10 shots, including five three-point shots, and had tied his career high with 30 points in the first half en route to a 36-point night in a 99-77 victory over the Anteaters (0-1).

Minor’s shooting had helped Oklahoma (2-0) to a 52-35 halftime lead.

“The guys just got me the ball when I was open . . . . and I was open a lot,” said Minor, who made 13 of 21 shots and had 15 rebounds. His 10-for-10 start set a Big Eight record, eclipsing the eight in a row made by Kansas’ Danny Manning in 1986.

Brown, who grew up in Muskogee, Okla., and was playing before about 100 family members and friends, was frustrated by the belly-to-belly defense of Sooner guard John Ontjes. Brown gave his personal cheering section very little to applaud, scoring nine points after making one of six three-point shots and six free throws.

“I was really up for coming home and having a great game, really tearing it up,” Brown said. “But they played me really well and just took me out of the game.”

Irvine was pretty much done midway through the first half when Minor hit his fourth three-pointer to give Oklahoma a 33-18 lead.

Irvine managed to crawl back to within 11 when freshman Kevin Simmons scored on a layup to cut Oklahoma’s lead to 60-49, but Minor, who had been held scoreless for the first 12 minutes of the second half, made two free throws and a baseline jumper and the Sooners were rolling again.

“We never had any rhythm tonight,” Irvine Coach Rod Baker said, “especially in the first half. We just never got it going for two or three possessions in a row. They shot the ball extremely well and we can’t allow 50 points in a half and expect to do very well.”