UC Irvine’s Loss Improves Utah State Highlight Film

UC Irvine, apparently on a weeklong quest to star in its opponents’ highlight films, has put together another Oscar-quality performance.

After losing by 25 points to New Mexico State on Saturday night in Irvine, the Anteaters outdid themselves on Thursday night as the Utah State Aggies scored a 94-67 victory in front of 6,865 at the Spectrum.

Utah State turned 21 Irvine turnovers into a dunkfest, ramming down 10 slams in all sorts of one- and two-handed flying, twisting and spinning styles.

“It was a very fun game,” said forward Silas Mills, who led Utah State with 23 points, including five dunks. “We played pretty well.”

Utah State’s starters made 24 of 35 shots from the field and the Aggies’ field-goal percentage was 64%. They also had 25 assists and held Irvine to 39% from the field and 26% from three-point range.

The game was decided midway through the first half when the Aggies went on a 19-5 run to take a 37-23 lead that they continued to build on.

“We played the two best teams in the conference back to back and got hammered by both of them,” Irvine Coach Rod Baker said. “Hammered.”

Silas, who Frank Layden said is the third-best player in Utah--after John Stockton and Karl Malone--looked the part Thursday night. He made 10 of 14 shots.

“Silas might be our best player right now,” said Utah State Coach Larry Eustachy. “He’s more aggressive, looking to the basket more and he’s playing within the system.”