Men’s Basketball: ‘Eaters remain red hot
Two of the Big West Conference’s most imposing big men were sidelined by injuries Saturday. So, like just about everyone else in the homecoming crowd of 3,773 at the Bren Events Center, they enjoyed UC Irvine’s 77-55 thumping of visiting UC Santa Barbara from a distance.
The Anteaters (13-8, 6-1 in conference) collected eight of their 11 three-pointers in the second half to pull away from the Gauchos (10-11, 3-4). UCI finished 11 for 22 from threedom to continue its recent excellence from beyond the arc.
During UCI’s six-game winning streak, which has lifted it into a three-way tie for the conference lead with UC Davis and Long Beach State, the ‘Eaters have connected on 49 of 96 three-point tries (51%). UCI, which entered Saturday No. 9 in the country in three-point efficiency, upped its season accuracy from 41.1% to 41.7% with Saturday’s sharpshooting.
Sophomore reserve Jaron Martin was three for four from three-point range, senior Travis Souza was three for five, junior Alex Young was two for three and junior Aaron Wright was two for four to bury Santa Barbara from long range.
The Gauchos played without reigning Big West Player of the Year Alan Williams, a 6-8 senior averaging 17.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots per game, who is sidelined with a shoulder injury. The visitors made just five of 20 from three-point range and finished 19 for 52 from the field (36.5%).
Young and Nelson had 11 points apiece to pace UCI’s balanced attack, which included points from 11 players. UCI reserves outscored the UCSB bench, 36-12.
Martin had nine points and a team-best four assists, while Will Davis chipped in eight points and six rebounds and junior reserve Dominique Dunning had six points, seven rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes.
UCI led by as many as 12 in the first half, but UCSB pared the deficit to 39-34 just more than five minutes into the second half.
With 11 minutes left, Wright made the first two of four straight UCI three-pointers (the latter two by Souza) and when Young connected from threedom with 4:38 left, the fifth three-pointer in a string of six field goals for the hosts, UCI’s advantage was 65-45.
“Coach [Russell Turner] preaches all the time for us to shoot with confidence and play with force,” Martin said. “And that’s what we did tonight.”
UCI maintained its offensive flow throughout, regardless of what players were on the floor.
“I feel like when we succeed defensively, it leads to better offense,” Turner said. “But we’ve consistently played good offense for a while too. I don’t want to dismiss that and act as if it’s not happening. It’s a combination of a lot of factors and we’re showing improved understanding and maturity on how to play well together. And the balance that we have throughout our roster is something I feel really good about and I think our guys like.”
UCI was without 7-6 sophomore Mamadou Ndiaye, who remains sidelined with a left foot problem.
But the Gauchos clearly missed Williams more than UCI missed Ndiaye.
“[Williams’ absence] is a huge factor for Santa Barbara,” Martin said, “because he’s a big-time player and all their offense goes through him.”
UCI posted a 37-28 rebounding advantage and was 12 for 13 from the foul line.
UCSB, which did not attempt a free throw in the first half, was 12 for 21 from the foul line.
UCI will play host to UC Davis on Thursday at 7 p.m., before visiting Long Beach State on Saturday at 4 p.m.
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Big West Conference
UC Irvine 77, UC Santa Barbara 55
UCSB – Beeler 11, Green 12, Vincent 10, Bryson 7, Childress 3, Brewe 5, Ford 3, Smith 2, Hart 2.
3-pt. goals – Vincent 2, Green 1, Childress 1, Ford 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
UC Irvine – Davis 8, Ryan 2, Nelson 11, Young 11, Souza 9, Martin 9, Dimakopoulos 9, Dunning 6, Wright 6, Best 4, Saprykinas 2.
3-pt. goals – Souza 3, Martin 3, Young 2, Wright 2, Nelson 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
Halftime – 36-26, UCI.