UC Irvine’s Green Resurfaces as Driving Force

Junior guard Jerry Green is a soft-spoken player whose quiet performances this season have matched his personality but baffled those who saw him play last season.

Green, UC Irvine’s most talented player, finally delivered a highlight reel Saturday night at UC Riverside. He tied his career high with 29 points and handed out five assists on a variety of unchallenged drives and dishes, leading the Anteaters to a hard-fought, 80-72 victory.

Green made 11 of 18 field goals and had seven rebounds.

“Tonight was my night,” Green said. “I think I’m back. I made my statement tonight and hopefully I can continue.”

Riverside (3-7), which joins the Big West Conference next season, is in its first season on the Division I level. The Highlanders, who have played all of their opponents tough, hung around until the very end against Irvine.

They cut into a 15-point deficit in the final 3 1/2 minutes of the game and trailed, 76-68, with 1:24 left when the ball went into Green’s hands again.

Green was fouled by Kevin Butler and calmly sank both free throws. Then he took a charge from Butler and, for good measure, sank another pair of free throws with 12 seconds left.

“They beat us on the penetration dribble,” Riverside Coach John Masi said. “I wasn’t too happy. “He’s a heck of a player. I was trying to get our guys to back him out and make him shoot jumpers, where he’s not comfortable getting his points, but time and time again we didn’t do it.”

Irvine (6-2) made six of its first seven shots and and held a 15-6 lead when Riverside attempted to rally with its three-point shooting.

The Highlanders got a three-point basket from Kevin Butler and a turnaround jumper from Viliamu Morton to pull within four points. But Irvine used three consecutive baskets by senior forward Ben Jones as part of a 12-5 run that made the score 27-16 with 11:35 left in the first half.