Anteaters Have Strong Effort, but Nevada Has the Win

After each ebb and flow, all the give and take and every push and shove, Irvine was left in the same spot. The wrong side of the score.

The Anteaters have lost five of six Big West Conference games after an 86-75 Nevada victory in front of 5,231 Saturday in the Lawlor Center. It was another night of what-ifs.

Irvine nearly overcame a 17-point, first-half deficit and a 13-point, second-half deficit. Each time the Anteaters crept close, they were left breathing the Wolf Pack’s exhaust.

“I don’t know what it is,” said forward Adam Stetson, who scored 23 points to again carry the Anteater offense. “We need to get off to better starts. We always get down early and have to play catch-up.

“We need to get a couple wins now. The season is winding down and our team goal has been to make the conference tournament.”

That still remains possible. It’s just the days are dwindling and the losses are mounting.

“The season is coming to an end for everyone,” Coach Pat Douglass said. “I still think we have a lot of good basketball in us.”

They played some Saturday, just not over the entire game.

Nevada led, 52-39, midway through the second half when the Anteaters made their first run, scoring 12 consecutive points. Andrew Carlson had six of his career-high 10 points in that span, including two free throws to make it 52-51 with 8:28 left.

Nevada’s Lamount Allen and Paul Culbertson then tag-teamed Irvine. Allen hit a jump shot, then lobbed to Culbertson for a layup. On the Wolf Pack’s next possession, Allen again fed Culbertson, who scored and was fouled.

It was 68-55 when Irvine made another push, scoring seven consecutive points. This time the response was all Culbertson. He fed David Morgan for a layup, then intercepted a pass that led to a Jimmy Carroll jump shot and the Wolf Pack was off on an 11-0 run.

Culbertson finished with 19 points, five steals and three assists.

“We need to play a whole game,” Stetson said. “If we don’t get down by so much, then those runs give us a 12-point lead.

Instead it only allowed the Anteaters to lose with honor.

“Our kids could have folded, they didn’t,” Douglass said. “Any time you play on the road, it’s difficult. The home team will get to go to the foul line a lot.”

Nevada (11-8, 7-3) made 15 of 16 free throws in the first half. Irvine was three of seven. Douglass was so frustrated midway through the first half that he received a technical.

“The refs were letting us play,” Irvine guard Lamarr Parker said. “It was rough.”

The Anteaters (7-13, 4-6) trailed, 46-35, at halftime, after being down by 17. Things started fine, as Irvine made five of its first seven shots--all three-pointers--and led, 15-12, six minutes into the game. A wild swing, considering Irvine scored 14 points in the entire first half Thursday against Cal State Fullerton.

But the perimeter shots stopped falling and the Anteaters had no inside game to fall back on. Carlson took Irvine’s first shot from inside the three-point line--a 12-foot baseline jumper that came up three feet short.

Nevada, meanwhile, shot 64% in the half, many on easy shots earned by beating the Anteaters up the court.

Culbertson scored seven points in two minutes to fuel a 14-0 run for a 26-15 lead. Allen’s two free throws gave the Wolf Pack a 35-18 lead with 7:27 left in the half.

Parker dragged the Anteaters back into it, scoring 11 of his 15 points in the final six minutes.