Green Wins It for Irvine

UC Irvine’s Jerry Green didn’t have any doubt that it was his shot to take Saturday night in the final seconds of overtime.

Boise State didn’t either.

Green scored on a three-point shot with 1.8 seconds left to give Irvine an 89-87 Big West victory that kept the Anteaters tied for first in the conference race with Utah State.

“Coach [Pat Douglass] told me, ‘Jerry take over the game,’ ” Green said. “I knew if I make that last shot, we win and if I don’t, we lose, and I accept that.”

The Anteaters, whose 13-game winning streak ended against Utah State on Thursday, came back with a strong performance, spurred by Green’s 31-point effort. Green scored 20 points in the second half and four in overtime.

Irvine (18-3, 10-1) shot 56.9% from the field to 52.8% for Boise State (13-10, 5-5).

Green made eight of 15 from the floor and 13 of 14 free throws. He also had seven rebounds and five assists.

“Green is a really good player playing with a lot of confidence,” Boise State Coach Rod Jensen said. “His confidence has overflowed to everyone else on their team. What makes Green so tough is if you don’t guard him, he’ll shoot the three, but if you do, then he’ll drive on you.”

Irvine had three other players in double figures, with Malachi Edmond scoring 15, Ben Jones getting 14 points and seven rebounds and Sean Jackson scoring 11 before fouling out with 2 1/2 minutes left in regulation.

Forward Kejuan Woods led the Broncos with 26 points in his first game back after being sidelined for two games by an NCAA suspension related to an eligibility issue. Forward Delvin Armstrong had 24 points.

It was the second game-winning basket in the final seconds for Green in three games. His shot with four seconds left gave the Anteaters a one-point victory over Long Beach State on Feb. 3.

“We had our best defensive player [Joe Skiffer] against their best offensive player,” Jensen said.