Pacific Shuts Down Anteaters : College basketball: UCI leads by 11 in first half but is eventually doomed by poor shooting.

About this time last year, Big West opponents were discovering that it wasn’t wise to employ a zone defense against UC Irvine. Guard Chris Brown, on his way to becoming the most prolific three-point shooter in the country, was terrorizing those defenses with his uncannily accurate long-range shooting.

The last time he made a stop here in Stockton, he scored 36 points.

These days, however, Brown is more likely to be pouting on the end of the bench or the outskirts of a team huddle than ripping the nets from 20 feet. And Thursday night, while the University of the Pacific shut down Irvine’s potent inside offense with a sagging zone, Brown was either missing shots or missing the action.

Pacific (8-6 and 3-3 in conference) erased an 11-point first-half deficit and rolled up an 86-77 Big West victory in front of 2,225 in the Spanos Center. Irvine, loser of six in a row, fell to 4-9, 0-6.

Brown had his first two attempts--uncharacteristic driving layups--swatted from his hands before he could even shoot. Then he missed two three-pointers and an open baseline jumper during a six-minute span while the Tigers turned a 46-43 lead into a 10-point advantage (60-50). The senior guard played nine minutes and did not score.

“We didn’t think we could zone them, but sometimes you have to try something and it works,” Tiger Coach Bob Thomason said. “They were really hurting us underneath and we were in serious foul trouble so we had to play zone.

“No one would have predicted that Brown would be having the kind of year he’s having.”

Brown, who was suspended for two games by Coach Rod Baker because of a selfish attitude, hasn’t exactly rebounded with a new outlook or vigor. He has totaled three points in the two games since returning.

“He had some open shots that weren’t, well, didn’t go in,” Baker said. “And it wasn’t like we were up by 10 and you can ride awhile with a guy who’s missing. We were dying for a shot and he missed three.

“But you can’t say Chris Brown lost this game. He certainly wasn’t the only guy who missed shots tonight.”

Freshman forward Kevin Simmons again did his thing under the glass, scoring 26 points and forcing Pacific to rethink its defense. But Irvine’s primary spot-up perimeter shooters--forward Mark Odsather and guard Brian Keefe--were a combined five of 17 from the floor.

The Tigers, who had made only two of 10 first-half three-pointers, made eight of 16 after the intermission. Four of their seven scores midway through the second half were threes. And when Adam Jacobsen, who led the Tigers with 24 points, buried one from beyond the arc, Pacific was up, 71-58, with four minutes 25 seconds to play.

Baker didn’t have a lot of answers to explain away this loss. At times he’s pointed to effort, but he thought his team played hard against Pacific. He’s found fault with their decisions during crunch time, but this loss was more a case of a mediocre shooting performance than a few key turnovers.

“Ten minutes after the game, I just don’t know,” Baker said softly. “I just don’t have an answer.”

Thomason isn’t touting any instant remedies but he knows the Anteaters are facing a tough battle.

“You have to do the same thing you do when you’re winning,” he said. “You have to coach every day, meet with the kids and tell them they’re good players, that things just aren’t going their way. You have to create hope and opportunity and stick with it.

“It gets to the point where they still know they’re a good team, but it starts to wear on you. You start to think that no matter what you do, you can’t win and you have to find a way to get that out of their heads.”

Irvine’s next game is Sunday afternoon against 1-13 San Jose State, a team that is also 0-6 in conference.