Utah State Gets Push With Irvine

The most difficult leg of the season for UC Irvine took a bruising twist Thursday night, and with it went the Anteaters’ winning streak at 13 games.

Utah State forwards Curtis Bobb and Shawn Daniels combined for 34 points and 18 rebounds as the Aggies bulled their way to a 67-52 victory in front of 10,114 at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.

Irvine, which beat Utah State, 56-51, at the Bren Center last week, fell into a tie for first place in the Big West Conference with the Aggies, 20-3 overall and 9-1 in conference. It was the 20th consecutive home victory for Utah State.

The more physical Aggies dominated, just as they promised they would after last week’s loss at Irvine, which ended their win streak against conference opponents at 26. Utah State had a 41-27 rebound advantage after the losing the battle of the boards, 36-28, at Irvine.

“This was a must win for us,” Bobb said. “We didn’t play well there. Now we’ll see which team can play well down the stretch, but we had to have this game.”

Irvine (17-3, 9-1) was held to its lowest point total of the season. The Anteaters end a three-game trip Saturday at Boise State, a team that they didn’t match up well against at the Bren Center last month even though they won, 76-71.

Thursday night, Irvine was simply mauled in the key at both ends of the floor by Daniels, Bobb and center Dimtri Jorssen, who had only six points and two rebounds but dealt out a fair share of the bruises. At Irvine, each got in early foul trouble, but that wasn’t the case this time.

“When I’m not in foul trouble it gives me a chance to be more physical,” Daniels said.

That he was, adding credence to Utah State claims that he is the best player in the conference. Irvine Coach Pat Douglass couldn’t argue with that. Behind Daniels, the Aggies built a 23-point second-half lead.

“No one could guard Daniels tonight,” Douglass said. “Their post players dominated the game, and we had no answer for Daniels.”

The Anteaters are in the midst of their first winning season since the 1995-96, but Thursday they looked like the old Irvine, flustered and confused. They committed 16 turnovers and made only 17 of 44 shots (38.6%).

At the other end, Utah State was getting good looks at the basket and converted 26 of 55 shots (47.3%)--the first time in five games that an Irvine opponent has shot more than 40%.

Douglass pulled Irvine’s leading scorer, Jerry Green, and most of his regulars for the game’s final eight minutes. Green had 18 points, 13 in the first half when Irvine tried to stay close.