UC Irvine Takes a Major Step Forward

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Pat Douglass got his first big victory in his UC Irvine basketball rebuilding project Saturday night.

The Anteaters, who had won three of their first 11 games in Douglass’ first season as head coach, upset New Mexico State, 62-55, in front of 8,738 in the Pan American Center. The victory ended Irvine’s 23-game losing streak on the road over three seasons.

It was only the third victory for Irvine in its last 21 games against New Mexico State, a team that is expected to be one of best in the Big West Conference this season. The loss dropped the Aggies to 11-5, 1-1 in the conference.

“This is a great win for our program,” said Douglass, who took over after Irvine went 1-25 last season. “This is a win for us to build on.”

Irvine (4-8, 1-1) shot 37.7% from the field, but won with solid defense in the second half and poise down the stretch. The Anteaters made seven out of eight free throws in the final 2 1/2 minutes.

Juma Jackson, Junior Bond and Jason Flowers held the victory together by each making a pair of free throws before Ben Jones made one of two with six seconds left.

“We’re good shooters, but it seems like we haven’t been getting to the line that often,” Douglass said. “But those were the best two halves of basketball we’ve put together.”

Irvine trailed by nine points at halftime, 36-27, but came back strong with a 19-5 run in the second half to lead, 52-44, with 6 1/2 minutes left. Jones made four three-point shots in that surge. Jones finished with a team-high 17 points, with all but one of them coming in the second half. Irvine center Wendell Robinson had 14 points and Flowers 12.

“Ben got banged on the thigh in our shoot-around, and he might have been favoring it a little in the first half,” Douglass said. “But he got tough in the second half, and made some big shots.”

New Mexico State shot only 27.3% in the second half after going 54.2% in the first half. The Aggies went more than seven minutes without a field goal in the second half. Aggie forward Charles Gosa, who scored 16 points in the first half, was held to three points in the second half.

Douglass gave Jackson credit for his defensive effort against Gosa after the break.

“They just outplayed us,” Aggie Coach Lou Henson said, pointing particularly to Irvine’s unexpected 40-33 rebounding advantage. “We were terrible on the boards in the second half. And we did a poor job defensively. They may have shot only 37%, but they made some big shots at the end. Our players didn’t get ready for this game. Gosa was the only one who was ready to play.”

New Mexico State had to go two overtimes two days earlier to beat Cal State Fullerton, but this time the Aggies’ outside shooting faltered down the stretch.

“We didn’t get the ball to our scorers in the second half,” said Louis Richardson, the Aggies’ leading scorer who was held to 12 points, six below his average. Guard Denmark Reid made only three of 11 shots from the field and finished with 10 points.

Point guard Donminic Ellison tried to rescue the Aggies late the way he had against Fullerton. He drove for two baskets in the final 45 seconds, but Irvine held on.

“We tightened up our defense in the second half,” Jackson said. “Gosa wasn’t able to do the things in the second half that he did in the first half. Gosa did what he wanted to do the first half.”

Both Jones and Jackson said the solid effort reflected the team’s new attitude this season under Douglass.

“We came out in the second half with the idea that we could win this one,” Jones said. “We played hard the whole game and never gave up. We were all helping each other out the whole game, and I think New Mexico State got frustrated late in the game.”