Aces trump ‘Eaters
ANAHEIM — Mid-major wannabes abound on the men’s college basketball landscape, but it’s not always the denizens of the power-conference elite that represent the object of envy.
UC Irvine suffered its second loss to a fellow mid-major program on Sunday, when Evansville rallied from a halftime deficit to post a resounding 75-56 triumph in the fifth-place game of the Wooden Legacy tournament at Honda Center.
UCI led, 31-27, at halftime but made just one of its first 13 field-goal attempts to start the second half, to help the Aces (6-1), who return all five starters from the team that won the 2015 CIT championship, steamroll to victory. That Anteaters were eight for 33 from the field in the final 20 minutes (24.2%) and finished three for 15 from three-point range for the game (20%).
UCI reserves Jaron Martin (15 points) and Ioannes Dimakopoulos (12) combined to outscore the ‘Eaters’ five starters, whose 26 points were four fewer than the total achieved by the UCI bench.
“We were beaten by a clearly better opponent today,” UCI Coach Russell Turner said after UCI, ranked No. 11 in the College.Insider.com mid-major poll entering the week, fell to 5-2. “[The Aces, ranked No. 5 among mid-majors] executed really well. They passed the ball really well at every spot, they are clearly unselfish, they are physical, they are fundamental; they are all the things that I’d like for us to be. I think we have often been that, but we weren’t nearly as good as they were in the second half.”
Evansville overcame four turnovers on its first five second-half possessions to post a 10-2 run that helped create a 37-33 lead with 14:05 left in the game. After two Dimakopoulos buckets inside pulled UCI even, Evansville regained the lead and eventually pulled away.
After a layup by Dominique Dunning closed the UCI deficit to 53-49 with 7:05 left, UCI did not make a field goal. The Aces surged for a 15-2 run that made it 66-51 with 3:04 left and UCI, which fell, 71-64 on Thursday to mid-major Boise State, was left licking its wounds.
Junior guard Luke Nelson (two points) missed all nine of his field-goal attempts and was two for 17 in the final two games of the tournament.
Mamadou Ndiaye, a 7-foot-6 junior center, was four for 12 from the field and one for three from the foul line. He shared scoring honors among the starters (nine points) with senior guard Alex Young.
Ndiaye shared the team rebounding lead with Dunning (six) as the Anteaters were bested, 39-30, on the boards.
Ndiaye, who had 13 points and five rebounds in the two tournament losses, was outplayed by 6-10 Evansville senior Egidijus Mockevicius, who amassed 21 points and 16 rebounds. Mockevicius’ 46 rebounds in three games, including 21 in Friday’s win over Santa Clara, were a tournament record.
Mockevicius averaged 13 points and 15 rebounds in the four-day event and had two blocks Sunday, when the Aces doubled up the taller Anteaters in that department, 6-3.
Evansville for which only six players played more than four minutes, was unfazed by fatigue, while UCI, Turner said, appeared discouraged by its lack of shooting efficiency.
“You can’t be disheartened in basketball when you don’t make shots, if you want to be a championship-level team,” said Turner, whose team shot a season-worst 32.2% from the field. “You have to understand on most teams, there are going to be nights when shots won’t go in. And you have to be able to win anyway. Traditionally, we’ve been able to do that, but today we weren’t able to.”
Turner said faulty defense, spawned by his players disappointment about their offensive struggle, was the most disappointing factor in the loss, in which the ‘Eaters committed just five of the game’s 11 turnovers.
“We gave up 48 points in the second half,” Turner said after the Aces made 16 of 24 field-goal tries after intermission (66.7%) to finish 26 for 47 for the game (55.3%). “[Poor defense] is more the story of the game than us missing shots. We just didn’t defend well.”
The 1-2 showing in the tournament, which included a 67-51 thumping of Boston College that marked UCI’s first victory over an Atlantic Coast Conference school, followed the ‘Eaters’ 4-0 start, their best in 33 seasons.
“When we take the floor, we expect to win,” Turner said. “I don’t care who the opponent is. We were beaten soundly today. We are an experienced team, but we have some players who are learning and developing, and it’s important in college basketball to focus on continued improvement. And that’s what I except to see. We didn’t show that at all in the second half. We got dominated, and what I firmly believe, is that will help us get better.”
UCI plays four straight road games, beginning Friday at former Big West Conference rival Pacific and concluding with a Dec. 15 contest at Oregon.
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5
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Evansville 75, UC Irvine 56
UCI – Best 2, Ndiaye 9, Young 9, Dunning 4, Nelson 2, Martin 15, Dimakopoulos 12, Smith 3.
3-pt. goals – Martin 2, Young 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
Evansville – Mockevicius 21, Simmons 15, Balentine 15, Wing 9, Brown 6, Brozoja 7, Howard 2.
3-pt. goals – Balentine 1, Wing 1, Simmons 1, Brozoja 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
Halftime – 31-27, UCI.
