Anteaters Wake Up and Win : Basketball: UCI beats Oregon State, 89-73. Simmons and Miglinieks make up for their poor performances Saturday.

Two starters who were Oh-for-Arizona during UC Irvine’s last loss and a forgotten point guard whose playing time has been dwindling woke from their slumbers Tuesday night to lead the Anteaters to an 89-73 nonconference victory over Oregon State.

Kevin Simmons and Raimonds Miglinieks, who didn’t score a point during a loss to Arizona State Saturday night, combined for 27 points as Irvine won its home opener in front of 2,410 in the Bren Center. Simmons had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Miglinieks, who played just 25 minutes because of foul problems, scored 10 points and had 12 assists.

Irvine (3-3) led by as many as 16 midway through the first half, but it was senior point guard Zuri Williams, substituting for Miglinieks, who steadied the ship when the Beavers (3-4) closed to within 60-57 with 12:24 left to play.

Williams, who played a season-high 15 minutes, had five assists and scored nine points, including a pair of driving layups as the Anteaters outscored the Beavers, 23-7, over the next eight minutes to put the game away.

“(Irvine) teams in the past might have let this kind of game get away,” Coach Rod Baker said. “We had our ups and downs and we let it slide. But we never let it get away.

“Zuri Williams really stepped up in the second half and played the way he’s capable of playing. He used his athleticism, but he also took control of the team. Between Raimonds and Zuri, that’s a good 40 minutes at the point.”

Williams, a senior who has played in the shadows of a number of Irvine point guards, figures to play second fiddle to Miglinieks this time around. Miglinieks wowed the Anteater fans with his mastery of mystery passes--the ones that somehow get through a lot of traffic and find the hands of a teammate for a layup.

Thanks primarily to the Latvia native’s fancy passes, Irvine’s post players were a combined nine of 10 from the field in the first half. But Williams got a chance to handle the ball and run the team during a crucial stretch and he made the most of it.

“I’ve got to maximize my minutes,” he said, smiling. “I’ve been practicing really well and I just have to take my confidence out on the floor on game night.

“When they got it down to three, I thought, ‘Oh no, here we go again.’ I’ve seen a lot of leads disappear in my first three years here. But I’ve learned a little about leadership and this was my coming-out party.”

Simmons, a freshman, made his Bren debut and was impressive from the early going. He had 13 points in the first half after making all five of his shots from the floor. After appearing intimidated against Arizona State, Simmons was animated and aggressive against the Beavers.

“After that game Saturday, I felt like I needed to come back strong, do a few things to help build my confidence back,” he said. “But this was really a win for all 15 guys. We had a lot of guys in foul trouble and a lot of guys got in the game and did what they needed to do for us to win.”

Ten Anteaters played 13 or more minutes and they all scored. Freshman Brian Keefe made both three-pointers he attempted and scored eight points. Starter Chris Brown made five of 14 three-pointers and scored 15 points. So Irvine got 42 points, 19 assists and only six turnovers from its guards.

Irvine outrebounded the Beavers, 46-35, and again got the job done defensively. Oregon State forward Brent Barry, who came into the game averaging 22 points, had none at halftime and finished with four after making only two of 11 shots from the floor.