‘Eaters’ victory historic
FULLERTON — UC Irvine men’s basketball players gained valuable motivation from a disappointing performance fewer than 24 hours before. But for Anteaters Coach Russell Turner, Friday’s historic victory at the Wooden Legacy tournament was significantly more nostalgic.
UCI rebounded from a quarterfinal setback to Boise State on Thursday to claim an 80-67 triumph over Boston College in the fifth-place semifinals on Friday at Cal State Fullerton. It was UCI’s first win over a school representing the Atlantic Coast Conference, a storied alliance with which Turner is thoroughly familiar.
“Beating an ACC team feels good for me,” Turner said after his squad led wire-to-wire to improve to 4-1. “That was where I grew up and that was the highest level of basketball that you thought about. You didn’t think about the NBA living in Virginia; you thought about ACC basketball. When I was young, Ralph Sampson and Virginia were the biggest story in basketball, and that’s where I lived. So, the ACC does mean something a little extra for me, probably more than the players. We respect the schools at that level, but we don’t fear them.”
More motivational for the Anteaters’ big men was a lackluster showing against Boise State that generated some postgame discussion in the UCI locker room.
Mike Best, a 6-foot-10 senior forward, and 7-6 junior center Mamadou Ndiaye combined for 34 points and 14 rebounds and made 14 of 23 field-goal attempts against Boston College (3-2). Against Boise State, the starting inside tandem combined for six points, four rebounds and seven turnovers.
“Mamadou and I definitely talked about needing to get it done inside today,” said Best, who led the winners with 18 points and nine rebounds. “I think we took it upon ourselves, since we didn’t perform as well in the [Boise State] game.”
Ndiaye, perhaps also spurred by the nearly two-dozen professional scouts in attendance, was seven for eight from the field on his way to 16 points. He also had five rebounds, one block and one assist, without a single turnover.
“I want to add that [7-2 junior Ioannes Dimakopoulos, who chipped in eight points, and 6-10 freshman Jonathan Galloway, who had two points and five rebounds] were really good today, too,” Turner said. “I think probably some of the reason we were so much better today was that I was more committed to staying big.”
Turner said he shoulders some of the blame for Thursday’s loss, due to his decision to limit playing time for his bigs against Boise State.
“I said [coming into Friday’s game] that we have to establish the inside,” Turner said. “We didn’t do that [Thursday] and some of that’s on me. I think that’s our identity and I allowed Boise State to dictate the game [Thursday]. And that’s probably why they beat us. The players seemed to respond to that message, especially [Best].
UCI had a 40-16 advantage on points in the paint and the four aforementioned bigs combined for 20 rebounds, just six fewer than Boston College.
Junior guard Luke Nelson contributed a career-best 10 assists, while junior Jaron Martin had 11 points in 14 minutes off the bench, including a pair of critical three-pointers that helped the ‘Eaters through some shooting struggles in the second half.
Martin was three for five from threedom, while the rest of the Anteaters were one for nine from beyond the arc.
UCI shot 51.7% from the field, but were a blistering 60% in the opening 20 minutes, when they seized their largest lead of 20 points before settling for a 43-31 intermission advantage.
UCI had just two turnovers in the opening half and finished with only six. It also posted a 36-26 rebounding advantage to give it a cumulative 225-224 edge on the boards for the season.
UCI played more man-to-man than zone and Turner acknowledged the importance of his team’s ability to stifle the Golden Eagles.
“We bounced back well from a performance that disappointed us [Thursday] and defeated a good [Boston College] team,” Turner said. “To win that game wire-to-wire the way we did was the type of performance I hope to get a lot more of. We were really outstanding on the defensive end.”
Senior guard Alex Young had 10 points, four assists and four rebounds.
The Anteaters meet Evansville in the fifth-place game on Sunday at 11:30 at Honda Center.
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UC Irvine 80, Boston College 67
UCI – Best 18, Ndiaye 16, Young 10, Nelson 7, Dunning 4, Martin 11, Dimakopoulos 8, Galloway 2, Smith 2, Wright 2.
3-pt. goals – Martin 3, Nelson 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
BC – Owens 4, Clifford 14, Robinson 15, Carter 14, Milon 3, Meznieks 8, Turner 5, Diallo 2, Barnes-Thomkins 2.
3-pt. goals – Meznieks 2, Milon 1, Robinson 1, Turner 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
Halftime – 43-31, UCI.
