Irvine Makes More History

They did not want to celebrate the best start in school history.

No, UC Irvine players, after accomplishing that feat Thursday night with a 69-60 victory over Pacific in front of 2,421 at the Bren Center, shrugged it off and said they just wanted the final result to speak for itself.

It wasn’t the prettiest victory the Anteaters have posted in their 19-3 start, bettering the 1981-82 team that started 18-3 but lost its next game.

Those Anteaters tailed off to a 23-7 finish, and that is one big reason no one seemed overly excited to talk about yet another milestone in what has gone beyond a Cinderella season.

Earlier in the season the Anteaters set a school record with 13 consecutive victories. With five regular-season games left, Irvine players said they just want to get back to practice and take each game the proverbial one at a time.

“We’re still a long way from our potential,” said senior guard Malachi Edmond, who came off the bench to collect five assists and steady an offense that had problems scoring inside. Irvine managed just two offensive rebounds, but led on the boards overall, 39-28.

“At times we play well and at times we don’t,” Edmond said. “We’ve got to strive to be more consistent. We didn’t play 40 minutes of basketball tonight.”

The win was the Anteaters’ fourth straight over Pacific and evened the series at 26-26. It also kept them tied for first place in the Big West Conference with Utah State, which defeated UC Santa Barbara, 71-48.

Senior forwards Sean Jackson and Ben Jones scored 16 points each to lead the Anteaters, who spent most of their time near the three-point arc. Jackson sank three of five three-point attempts. Jones made five of seven, and as a team the Anteaters sank nine of 16.

Jones said the Anteaters seem to be making the same mistakes, most notably not putting away opponents when they have the chance.

“As a team we need to improve,” he said. “We need to capitalize on those times when we can make the lead 15 or 20 points and keep it that way.”

Thursday’s game was extremely physical, bordering on ugly. Guard Jerry Green, Irvine’s leading scorer, was the subject of double- and triple-team defense throughout the game. He scored 12 points, five off his average, but turned the ball over a season-high seven times. Green made just two of seven shots from the field, but sank eight of 10 free throws.

“They slammed him. They squared him up,” said Irvine Coach Pat Douglass. “Then they brought two guys on him.”

Green appeared frustrated as the game wore on and almost came to blows with Pacific guard Jono Metzger-Jones with 3 minutes 32 seconds to play when Metzger-Jones caught Green from behind on a breakaway layup attempt and knocked him to the floor.

Green popped up quickly as spectators showered the floor with debris. Metzger-Jones was called for an intentional foul. Green sank one of two free throws and Irvine retained the ball and a 59-47 lead that they would eventually increase to 15 points.

For all intents and purposes, the Anteaters had the game in hand by then, but Pacific used a couple of three-pointers and a ton of fouls in the final minutes to keep within striking range.

Irvine made 22 of 28 (78.6%) from the free-throw line and 19 of 36 from the field (52.8%).

Tiger forward Peter Heizer shared high-scoring honors with 16 points. Pacific guard Maurice McLemore, who scored 33 points in Irvine’s 86-80 victory in Stockton on Jan. 4, had 15 points and three assists.

But in losing for the fourth time in its last five games, Pacific (13-9, 5-6) made just five of 25 field-goal tries in the first half and trailed, 32-20, at the break.

The Tigers finished 18 of 57 from the field, the second consecutive game in which they have shot 32% or less.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Big West Standings

Through Thursday’s games

*--*

Conference Overall Team W L Pct. W L Pct. UC Irvine 11 1 .917 19 3 .864 Utah State 11 1 .917 22 3 .880 Long Beach State 7 5 .583 14 11 .560 UC Santa Barbara 7 5 .583 10 12 .455 Boise State 5 6 .455 13 11 .542 Pacific 5 6 .455 13 9 .591 Cal Poly SLO 3 8 .273 9 13 .409 CS Fullerton 2 10 .167 3 19 .136 Idaho 1 10 .091 4 18 .182

*--*

Thursday’s results

UC Irvine 69, Pacific 60

Cal Poly SLO 62, Cal State Fullerton 60

Utah State 71, UC Santa Barbara 48