UC Irvine Falls Short After a Rough Start

There were moments Friday night when UC Irvine’s basketball team was as bad as expected, maybe worse. There were moments when the Anteaters couldn’t make a pass, take a dribble or even inbound the ball.

There were all those problems and, still, Irvine could have won. San Diego State came away with a 100-88 victory in front of 1,598 at the San Diego Sports Arena. But the Aztecs had to sweat it out a lot longer than expected.

It wasn’t until Jacobi Thompson converted a turnover into a dunk with 1 minute 20 seconds left that the Aztecs (1-0) could relax. By then, the Anteaters had more than recovered their self-respect after a disastrous start that left them 17 points behind in the first seven minutes.

Irvine (0-1) spent the night rallying from a first half in which they committed 17 turnovers.

When Wendell Robinson hit a three-pointer they were down by only eight, 80-72, with five minutes left. The Anteaters got no closer, but saved themselves a tongue lashing.

“There were things I wanted to yell at them about, but in the last five minutes we did all the things you need to do to win a game,” Coach Rod Baker said. “We got rebounds, made free throws, we just couldn’t make that one stop. I’m disappointed that we didn’t win the game, but that’s the limit to my disappointment.”

The Anteaters made mistakes, plenty of them. But they also demonstrated their errors came more from inexperience than inability.

Freshman Juma Jackson scored 23 points, making nine of 13 shots. Four were dunks, including a length of the court drive that ended in a tomahawk dunk over 6-8 Tye Fields.

“Early in the game, I went in too timid, thinking I was going to get fouled,” Jackson said. “I decided the next time I wasn’t going to go in there like a little girl. He didn’t commit, so I jumped over him.”

Freshman Brian Johnson scored 19 points, 14 in the second half when the Anteaters outscored the Aztecs, 52-51.

“We came out of here knowing we could have beat these people,” Johnson said. “We were just a little timid at first.”

The Anteaters, who use five freshmen and a junior college transfer, played like a team with little experience, at least early on. They turned the ball over on their first four possessions and had 12 turnovers in the first seven minutes.

Not all the mistakes were because of pressure. Robinson threw three passes out of bounds and each time no one was guarding him. Point guard Lamarr Parker had one assist and seven turnovers in the first half. Freshman center Andrew Carlson traveled . . . on an inbounds play.

Paul Foster, who the Anteaters count on for points, didn’t score until four minutes left in the half.

It didn’t get any worse for Irvine, possibly because it couldn’t.

“I think we respected the press a lot more than we needed,” Baker said. “Once we played it for what it was, we didn’t have any problems.”

Irvine did have troubled with Chad Nelson and Jason Richey, the Aztecs’ backcourt. Both scored 22 points and made key baskets down the stretch.