Irvine Teases Before Disappointing Again
The two faces of UC Irvine were grinning and scowling for all to see again Friday night. The Anteaters, who have led at halftime in each of their last three games and ended up losers, continue to make an art form of going from protagonist to anti-hero after the intermission.
Performing at home for only the second time this season, the Anteaters brought their good guy-bad guy act to the Bren Center at UC Irvine, where 2,659 cheered them to a halftime lead and then quietly left disappointed after Washington State won, 88-81.
Both teams were missing a top player. Washington State (7-1) was without Mark Hendrickson, who broke his hand Wednesday, and Irvine (3-4) was missing Kevin Simmons, who was suspended for one game for breaking an undisclosed team rule.
Both players are among team leaders in scoring and rebounding.
But the Anteaters responded with one of their best halves of the season and, thanks primarily to Raimonds Miglinieks’ 10 first-half assists, Irvine held a 40-38 advantage at intermission.
Washington State, which led the nation in field-goal percentage last season (.517), made 14 of its 20 second-half shots, however, and 15 of 16 free throws in the last 10:50 to come out on top. The Cougars shot a season-high 60% from the field.
“Yeah, we played pretty well without Kevin, but they played very well without Hendrickson too,” Coach Rod Baker said. “I just don’t know that we defended very well in the second half.”
Miglinieks (18 points), sophomore guard Brian Keefe (19) and senior forward Shaun Battle (15) combined to make 22 of 37 shots and score 52 points for Irvine, but the Cougar’s advantage in quickness was telling in the final minutes as both teams scrambled against each other’s full-court pressure. Isaac Fontaine led the Washington State with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
“This was not a smooth game,” Cougar Coach Kevin Eastman said. “Beautiful basketball did not come into play. But sometimes you have to know how to win ugly.”
It’s a lesson the Anteaters are dying to learn.