SOUTHLAND ROUNDUP

San Diego 76, UC Irvine 64--The Anteaters (4-6), who had won two consecutive games, took a giant step backward, losing before 1,277 at San Diego to a team with a 9-3 record bloated by victories over Concordia, Eastern Washington (in overtime), Chicago State and Occidental.

“We didn’t come to play,” forward Adam Stetson said. “The coaches prepared us for this game, but we didn’t do anything we were told.”

San Diego jumped to an 11-2 lead and limited the Anteaters to eight points in the first 10 minutes. The Toreros led, 37-21, by halftime and had the Anteaters completely befuddled.

Ben Jones, Irvine’s leading scorer, had one shot in the first half. Stetson, who averages 10 points, didn’t even have that.

It limited the offense to freshman guard Jerry Green looking for one-on-one opportunities. Green scored six points in the first half and eight in the game. He finished with six assists, but had none in the first half.

“I think if we came fired up, we could play with this team,” said Jones, who scored eight points. “Maybe it was a lack of concentration.”

The Anteaters managed to cut it to 37-26 early in the second half, but Brock Jacobsen stamped out any comeback fires, making three consecutive shots to push the lead to 17.

Jacobsen tied his career high with 23 points, making eight of 11 shots. He also had nine rebounds, five offensive.