Irvine Suffers Dubious Setback

It was just a little kick, a tap really, and probably didn’t create so much as a ripple in any drink on the scorer’s table. But it must have sent shock waves down the UC Irvine bench.

Even that didn’t work.

Anteater Coach Pat Douglass, who makes points verbally, not physically, stood up and took a swing at the table late in the first half. That it came when Irvine was still in the game showed what kind of evening it was going to be.

By the time Portland was wrapping up a 68-54 victory Monday in front of 923 in the Chiles Center, Douglass merely looked stunned.

Twenty eight turnovers. And that was by the winning team. Irvine had 33, matching the school record set against New Mexico State in 1991. For once, there was no reason to point out that the Anteaters (1-3) were young.

“They woke up in the second half and we remained in the same state we performed in the first half,” Douglass said.

Some of it was caused by the Pilots (4-1), who seemed to disrupt everything. Most of the problems, though, were self-inflicted.

A steal and layup by Irvine’s Jerry Green made it, 25-23, early in the second half. It was a two-point game, then it wasn’t. The Pilots went on a 13-0 run, aided by four Irvine turnovers.

Jason Franklin scored six points and Ryan Jones five in the run. Both finished with 13 points to lead Portland, which scored 28 points on layups, most following turnovers.

The Pilots led by as many as 25 points in the second half.

Green had 10 points and seven assists. He also had six turnovers. Brian Scoggin had six turnovers and no points. Jason Flowers had five turnovers and no points.

Gabe Cagwin had 12 points for Irvine, the only reserve to score. He also had four turnovers.

“We can put it on that old ‘We’re young,’ excuse, but it was just bad ballhandling,” Irvine forward Marek Ondera said. “We are either going to go into a hole or we’re going to go back and practice and improve.”