Streak-Shooting Irvine Tops New Mexico State

UC Irvine managed to score enough in fits and starts to hang on for a 74-66 Big West victory over a flailing New Mexico State team Thursday night in front of 2,056 in Irvine’s Bren Center.

“There’s nothing that says we have to win by 20,” Coach Rod Baker said. “Just because we were up by double digits doesn’t mean they’re going to quit.”

The Anteaters, 6-6 overall and 3-2 in the Big West, dropped in three-point baskets almost at will in the early going and ran up an 11-point lead midway through the first half. With 4 1/2 minutes left in the half, however, their advantage had evaporated to one.

Irvine pushed it back up to 12 at halftime, only to have it trimmed to five 3 1/2 minutes after returning to the court.

The Anteaters dug in on defense, slipped in another handful of three-point shots and went ahead by 19 with 8:12 to play, then had to scramble as the lead dwindled to four with 2:28 left.

“I don’t understand it,” senior point guard Raimonds Miglinieks said. “We’re way up and then a minute later, they’re back in the game. The same thing happened [Jan. 4] against San Jose [State]. We were leading by 21 points and a few minutes later, it’s three. We have to learn the killer instinct.”

Miglinieks leads the nation in assists (8.7 per game), but he had made just two of his last 18 three-point shots. Thursday night, he made six of 10 three-point baskets and finished with 20 points, nine assists, five rebounds and four steals.

“This was a players’ game,” Baker said, “not a coaches’ game. It was Raimonds’ game to call and he did a great job tonight. He simply didn’t want to lose and did whatever it took to help us win.”

The Aggies (4-9, 1-4) may be a shadow of their former selves these days, but their match-up zone defense still forces opponents to shoot from the perimeter.

Forwards Kevin Simmons and Shaun Battle--usually Miglinieks’ favorite targets--found themselves passing the ball back out to the perimeter and combined for seven assists, most coming on three-point shots. Irvine was 12 for 31 from beyond the three-point arc.