Irvine Earns Rest Before Tough Part

UC Irvine has been in this position before. And it has never been in this position before.

Oh, the Anteaters reached the Big West tournament semifinals in previous years -- most recently in 2003.

But for the first time, Irvine, which finished second in the regular season to Pacific, is starting the conference tournament in tonight’s semifinals. And this arrangement gives the Anteaters their best chance to win that elusive automatic NCAA bid. Of course, they still have to win twice for that to happen.

Coach Pat Douglass, in his ninth season, isn’t sure if all of the rest his 16-12 squad has had lately is good.

“We’ve had two games in three weeks, so we need some game action,” he said.

However, he understands having to play two games instead of three or four is a huge benefit for a team that depends primarily on perimeter shooting.

“Your legs will definitely get tired if you have to play three, four games in a row, and especially for a team like us that’s not dominant inside,” Douglass said.

Irvine’s best weapon has been the three-point shot. The Anteaters ranked first in the conference in three-point shooting percentage, 42.3%, and began the week ranked second in the nation behind Utah, 42.9%.

The three-point shot has changed the game, providing the kind of emotional punctuation that the dunk used to do. But it can also be addictive, to the point that players want to shoot it at the expense of everything else.

Championship teams tend to be successful offensively inside and outside. Can Irvine prove otherwise?

“We work all kinds of ways, getting shots close to the basket,” Douglass said. “But if we have the open shot, we have to take it because that’s our strong suit. You can’t fight what you’re good at. But you also have to find ways to get to the foul line, and you have to find ways to get inside shots if you’re not making outside shots.

“But, again, if we create the open look, we have to take it.”

Irvine senior guard Ross Schraeder, the team’s all-time leading three-point shooter who ranks fourth in the nation in percentage this season at 47%, says the Anteaters can win it from long distance.

“We do have some good guys inside too,” he said, pointing out 6-foot-7 sophomore center Darren Fells, who’s averaged 8.4 rebounds in his last seven games, and Adam Metelski, Irvine’s tallest player at 6-10.

“But we have beaten everyone in conference at least once with this style. It will come down to some other things, like playing defense. But if we do that, our offense will take care of itself. And having to play only two games is a huge advantage. We’ll be fresh coming in, and anything can happen in those two games.”

Of course, scoring is only half the deal, and the Anteaters do pay attention to defense.

Opponents are shooting 43.4% against them, which rates third in the conference. But the rebounding margin (plus 1.8) and point differential (plus 3.7) are small, and Irvine is in the red when it comes to turnover margin (minus 2.1).

Two other statistics stand out. Irvine is 8-0 when holding teams to less than 40% shooting, and 0-8 when opponents score more than 70 points.

Douglass has enough to worry about. The Anteaters were drilled by 20 in their final regular-season game by Long Beach, and they have lost three of the last five. Plus, in his mind, Aaron Fitzgerald needs to play more like a point guard rather than a shooting guard so Irvine can find its rhythm quickly.

“If he just runs the show and takes a shot when it’s there, a la Steve Nash, that will be a key to our team,” Douglass said.

Still, if Irvine can reach the NCAA tournament for the first time, Schraeder said the level of satisfaction would be off the charts.

“Personally, it’s something you dream of ever since you’re a kid,” he said. “I’ve been watching NCAA tournaments since I was 5 years old and always wanted to go there. As a school, we’ve never been. I’ve been here five years, and it would be great to be part of that first UCI team to go.”