UC Irvine 62, Idaho 50--Matt Willard scored...

UC Irvine 62, Idaho 50--Matt Willard scored 11 points and had six rebounds and two blocks in 17 minutes off the bench as the Anteaters stayed atop the Big West Conference Western Division standings with the victory before 1,785 at the Bren Center.

Willard, a transfer from Butte Community College, missed a month of the season because of mononucleosis. He was averaging 4.8 points after scoreless performances against New Mexico State and Boise State in the last week.

Against Idaho, he scored four points in a 7-2 run that gave Irvine (6-8, 3-1) a 34-28 lead five minutes into the second half.

Irvine held Idaho (9-5, 3-1) scoreless for the first eight minutes 27 seconds.