IRVINE — The UC Irvine men’s basketball team is beginning to show some unfavorable tendencies and that won’t bode well if the Anteaters hope to enjoy postseason success.
UCI held on for a 77-72 victory over rival Long Beach State in a Big West Conference game on Saturday night but nearly blew a 25-point second-half lead at the Bren Events Center.
“We are showing our weaknesses,” UCI coach Russell Turner said two nights after the Anteaters blew a 10-point lead with just under seven minutes left in a loss to Cal State Fullerton. “With a victim mentality, at times, and that bothers me.”
Dawson Baker scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, and Justin Hohn scored all 13 of his points in the first half to lead UCI (14-8 overall, 8-4 Big West). Collin Welp added 10 points and seven rebounds.
Joel Murray scored 20 points and Colin Slater had 16 points and seven assists for Long Beach (16-11, 10-3), which dropped into a tie for first place in the Big West standings with Cal State Fullerton (17-9, 10-3) with two games left in the regular season. Aboubacar Traore had 14 points and six rebounds and Jadon Jones had 11 points and a team-best nine rebounds.
“I was proud of our guys,” Long Beach coach Dan Monson said. “There’s a reason why we’re in first place and challenging to win this league because our guys competed, they didn’t give up and they fought.”
The Anteaters struggled to get the ball past midcourt during the second half, and Long Beach slowly chipped away at the deficit until pulling within a point on a Traore putback dunk with 47 seconds left.
“(Long Beach) believed that they could get all the way back in this game, and I think that says a little bit about the way teams view us,” Turner said. “We’ve got to get that better and figure it out before the Big West Tournament.”
The Anteaters set up a play for the lone senior on their roster and Welp made a turnaround jumper in the key for a 75-72 lead with 32 seconds left. LBSU’s Murray was called for traveling on a ball screen with 28 seconds left, then Baker sealed the win with two free throws with 14 seconds left.
“I’m really happy that we finished it,” said Turner, whose team went 16 for 17 at the free-throw line. “I thought Collin, when we were up one, made a big play, got to his spot, rose up like a senior-night moment, and made the play.”
Still, it aggravated Turner that the Anteaters struggled against the press for the second straight game. LBSU converted 22 UCI turnovers into 28 points and had 14 fast-break points.
“I was a little bit beside myself with our inability to function in the second half when they ramped up the pressure, especially after we had prepared,” said Turner, whose team avenged last month’s 73-67 loss at LBSU. “We didn’t look very tough, we didn’t look very competitive, and credit to Long Beach, they did.”
UCI scored the first seven points of the game and never trailed.
Hohn hit a 3-pointer to spark a 14-0 run that gave the Anteaters a 35-14 lead with 4:08 left.
The Anteaters pushed the lead to 44-21 on a jumper by Baker with 37 seconds left and they took the 23-point cushion into the break after shooting 51.6 percent from the floor and making six 3-pointers.
It was the eighth consecutive game the Anteaters held their opponent to 25 points or fewer in the first half.
“We weren’t disruptive at all in the first half and they were really comfortable,” Monson said. “Offensively, we just really settled, and they controlled that end with their defense, so we just got dominated.”
UP NEXT
Long Beach closes the regular season with two more home games, Thursday night against UC Davis and Saturday at 4 p.m. against UC Riverside.
UCI wraps its regular season with road games at Cal Poly on Thursday night and Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday afternoon.