Two Losses Deflate the Anteaters

It’s funny what a couple of victories will do to a team that’s trying to earn respect. Hopefully, they would provide a rush of confidence and the impetus to carry it to victory over two struggling teams each playing without one of its best players.

For UC Irvine, however, a 2-0 start in the Big West led to a monumental case of overconfidence. Wednesday, the Anteaters lost at UC Santa Barbara, when the Gauchos were without their top scorer, Lelan McDougal. And Saturday, looking as if they had just finished a huge Thanksgiving dinner, they lost to Cal State Fullerton, which was playing without No. 2 scorer John Williams.

“I guess we just got laid back after we got some early ‘W’s,” Irvine forward Kevin Simmons said. “We were so lackadaisical. We probably won’t win another game unless we start guarding people. We’ve completely lost our aggressiveness on defense and we need to find a way to get it back.”

The Anteaters were able to hang with Fullerton well into the second half despite their blase approach, and only seemed to wake from their sleepwalk when the Titans went ahead by nine with nine minutes remaining in the game.

Simmons, who said he “definitely” included himself in his indictment of the team’s lack of effort, realized it was time to play. In the final seven minutes, he hit a three-pointer, was fouled as he scored on a twisting drive and made the free throw, hit a leaning 10-foot bank shot and slipped underneath for a tip-in when teammate Brian Keefe missed a free throw.

Simmons finished with 25 points and a team-high eight rebounds after making 10 of 13 shots from the floor and three of four free throws. But there was little to smile about after this one.

“I thought about trying to get it going myself, yeah, but this is not about offense,” Simmons said. “We can score against anybody. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, especially in this conference.

“We can beat any team in this conference as long as we play hard. It comes down to who wants it more.”

The Anteaters were the ones who were supposed to want it this year, the last season all-conference point guard Raimonds Miglinieks will be feeding the ball to Simmons, last season’s freshman of the year. The talent is there, but the drive is gone.

“It is very disappointing to lose to Santa Barbara and Fullerton,” Miglinieks said. “I have respect for these teams, but they are not like Nevada, Utah State or Long Beach State. These were games you should win.”