Irvine Goes Inside, Out to Beat Riverside

So this is what a blowout feels like at UC Irvine.

Never a team to coast to victory--it’s always more fun to spot the opponent seven or eight points and then battle back--the Anteaters did it the easy way Saturday, drubbing UC Riverside, 72-53, in a Big West Conference game before 3,299 at the Bren Events Center.

No heroic comebacks. No off-balance game-winners. No nonsense.

The Anteaters, whose average margin of victory had been 3.3 points, clicked inside, center Adam Parada matching his career-high with 20 points. They made it happen outside, guard Jerry Green scoring 18 points and forward Jordan Harris making three of five three-pointers on the way to 15 points.

And an added bonus as well: With UC Santa Barbara losing at home to Utah State, the Anteaters (10-4, 3-0 Big West Conference) snared sole possession of first place in the Big West standings.

“We played our best game of the year,” Irvine Coach Pat Douglass said.

With the victory, the Anteaters extended their school-record home winning streak to 18 games. It used to be a big deal for Irvine to win one in a row, but expectations have risen since the Anteaters won the Big West last season.

“Until somebody beats them a couple times, they’re still the champion,” Riverside Coach John Masi said. “They’re playing like it because Jerry Green wants to play that way. He doesn’t want to lose.”

Green handed out seven assists, his second highest total of the season, but Parada was just as valuable, scoring 10 consecutive points on tip-ins, jumpers and a spinning backdoor dunk during a four-minute span of the second half.

Irvine led at halftime, 31-24, but started the second half with a 22-11 run that practically put the game away with 13 minutes left.

“I don’t think we’ve done that since I’ve been here,” said Parada, a 7-foot sophomore who has already seen a career’s worth of last-minute theatrics.

“Those are always exciting, but it’s nice to show everyone else in the league we can win by more than three, four or five points.”

Riverside (5-7, 2-2) had been faring pretty well in its first season as a member of the Big West and stunned Long Beach State, 73-67, on Thursday, overcoming an 11-point deficit in the second half at The Pyramid.

But the Highlanders struggled against Irvine’s zone, making only 20 of 55 shots (36.4%), including four of 16 from three-point range.

Still, Riverside was within striking distance until Irvine’s second-half spurt.