Winning New Habit for Irvine

IRVINE —  There once were scenes from a maul here, several of them. UC Irvine was beaten, savagely at times, last season.

Now the Anteaters sit atop the Big West Conference’s Western Division, following Thursday’s 65-63 victory over Boise State in front of 1,514 fans in the Bren Center, many of whom charged the court after a last-second half-court attempt by the Broncos’ Gerry Washington sailed over the basket.

Who could blame them?

They had seen Ben Jones sink two free throws with 24 seconds left and the Anteaters put up one last defensive stand, not allowing the Broncos a decent shot in the final seconds. Boise State worked the clock under 10 seconds, but referees ruled that Kejuan Woods’ shot with two seconds left came from behind the backboard. Not that it matter, as it never came close to going in.

It left Lamarr Parker, who had been guarding Woods, leaping in the air. He was so excited that he missed two free throws, but no harm came from it.

“Winning is everything,” Parker said. “That’s all I’ve dreamed about--winning, winning, winning.”

He experienced his dream once a year ago, when the Anteaters finished 1-25. They were routed most nights, including a 62-point whipping by USC at home. That was then, this is now, and Irvine is in first place.

“Strange around here, huh?” said Coach Pat Douglass, who was so giddy he giggled at times during the post-game press conference. “That’s pretty neat to see the students run on the court. It’s kind of the whole college experience.”

Douglass, of course, is used to it, having won titles at Division II Cal State Bakersfield. This, though, is virgin ground to those Irvine players who were at the bottom a year ago.

“Our whole outlook has changed,” sophomore Juma Jackson said. “We used to say, ‘We should have won,’ and ‘We should of done that.’ Now we expect to win. We expected it every night.”

Jackson scored 10 second-half points and helped limit Boise State’s Roberto Bergersen to 15 points. Bergersen, the conference’s leading scorer, scored 28 and 29 points in victories over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UC Santa Barbara last week. He made four of nine shots Thursday.

The Anteaters shot 79% in the first half Thursday, but led only 30-28.

Irvine committed 16 turnovers and Boise State had a 7-1 edge in offensive rebounds.

“I was a little concerned about that,” Douglass said.

“We made adjustments. Before we would make adjustments and it would take [the players] two weeks.”

Irvine (5-8, 2-1) turned over the ball seven times in the second half, as point guard Junior Bond controlled the Anteater offense. He finished with five assists, and would have more had it not been for dropped passes. The Anteaters also scored eight of their first 13 points on offensive rebounds.

This against a team that had rattled UCLA earlier this season, losing, 81-75, at Pauley Pavilion.

The Broncos got in every passing lane and deflected passes. But Irvine matched their defensive intensity and held Boise State to six points in the 6 minutes 33 seconds.

The Broncos appeared to have the game in hand, leading, 57-49, with 6:33 left. Irvine scored the next 13 points, six by Ben Jones (15 points). His three-pointer tied the score, 57-57, and then forced a turnover. Adam Stetson followed with a three-pointer for a 60-57 lead with four minutes left.