South Dakota Gives UCI an Exhibition

Didn’t anyone tell UC Irvine it’s supposed to schedule patsies in these meaningless exhibition openers?

Instead, the Anteaters got walloped Friday night in the Bren Center, 73-60, by South Dakota.

The Coyotes, a perennial NCAA Division II power, return four starters from last year’s 22-9 team and also start freshman point guard Richard Ross, the 2000 Nebraska high school player of the year. South Dakota made 11 of its first 16 shots, including five three-pointers. A basket by Ross just nine minutes into the first half made it 24-10 and the Coyotes extended the lead to 60-38 with 10:40 left in the game. Irvine never threatened.

“It was pretty ugly. We definitely got it handed to us,” Irvine Coach Pat Douglass said.

Four South Dakota players scored in double figures. Junior guard Jerry Green led Irvine with 23 points. Senior forward Ben Jones scored 15 points and had 14 rebounds, but made only three of 12 field goal attempts. The Anteaters made only 19 of 55 shots from the field.

“We came out flat,” Green said. “I guess because it was the first game everyone was nervous.”

Picking out Anteater highlights was difficult.

Douglass said he was impressed with Green and the play of 7-2 junior center David Korfman, who came off the bench in the first half and showed some strength around the basket by grabbing five of his eight rebounds. Late in the game the Anteaters’ full-court trap caused several turnovers.