Stanislaus Comes to Town, UCI Wins

There was enough rambunctious play to keep the 1,402 in the Bren Center happy, and enough of an effort to keep UC Irvine Coach Pat Douglass from grumbling too much.

Yet the Anteaters were hardly ready to whoop it up after a 63-52 victory over Cal State Stanislaus Tuesday. What the Anteaters earned was done so on raw ability, with the emphasis on raw.

Some Marek Ondera aerial displays and Jerry Green sleights of hand were pleasing to the eye. But a little more substance was what the Anteaters seemed to crave.

“We did a lot with athletic ability,” said Ondera, who had 13 points and 13 rebounds. “We can get away with that against a Division II school. Against the big boys, that will be difficult because they can match our athleticism.”

It was easy not to get worked up. After all, when Stanislaus is coming to town, you expect a gift. Certainly, the Anteaters’ coach was looking for a little more.

“On the offensive end, we were pathetic,” Douglass said. “We didn’t execute. We didn’t make our free throws. We didn’t take care of the ball. I know it. The team knows it.”

Heck, even Stanislaus knew it. The Warriors (2-3) just didn’t have the ability to take advantage of it.

The Anteaters (1-1) made 10 of 21 free throws. They had 18 turnovers, not an exorbitant amount, but they seemed to stumble at key moments. The Anteaters were never really threatened, but never really felt comfortable either.

The three Irvine centers combined for three rebounds for the second consecutive game.

Still, other times, Irvine soared, despite six first-year players.

“Maybe some of our guys were anxious and nervous,” Douglass said. “If we hadn’t sustained our defense, we wouldn’t have won the game.”

Irvine forced 25 turnovers. Stanislaus shot 40% for the game and made only one of 10 three-pointers in the second half. The Warriors were held scoreless during a key five-minute stretch in the first half, when the Anteaters pushed their lead to 29-13.

It was a comfort zone that became a safety net. Stanislaus challenged but was never closer than eight points in the second half.

“We played much better on defense,” Ondera said. “But we we can’t be so up and down on offense. We’re young. I guess you’re going to hear that excuse a lot.”

The Anteaters had to turn to some experience to get themselves started.

With Irvine leading, 16-13, senior walk-on Brian Scoggin began a 13-0 run with a three-pointer and finished it with a layup. He had seven of the points.

Scoggin’s time increased because of a foot injury to junior forward Adam Stetson, and the need for a smaller lineup. He scored eight of his seven points in the first half and the Anteaters had a 32-25 lead.

But it was Ondera who made the crowd sit up and take notice. He followed a miss by Gabe Cagwin with a two-handed stuff that gave Irvine a 25-13 lead. A moment later, Ondera went high to swat away a Brian Hall shot. It led to a Scoggin layup and a 29-13 lead.

The offense was lean after that.

Green did some handy work, turning three steals into baskets. He also scored five points in a 9-2 run that gave Irvine a 53-39 lead. He had one layup on a back-door pass from Ondera. He scored another on a give-and-go-and-give-back fastbreak with Cagwin.

Those moments, though, were too few.

“We got a lot of offense out of our defense,” Douglass said. “It was spontaneous. I don’t know how to coach that. Maybe it should be our offense.”