Bulldogs’ shooting too much

ANAHEIM — The arena was different, as were the basketballs and any fatigue that lingered from the near-1,700-mile flight that came with the Mississippi State men’s basketball team’s first road game this season Thursday in the first round of the inaugural Anaheim Classic.

But one change the Bulldogs found to their liking in a 68-53 triumph over UC Irvine at the Anaheim Convention Center was a previously untapped rate of exchange.

The Southeastern Conference representative (3-1) needed just 10 field-goal attempts to score 30 points against the Anteaters, converting seven three-point field-goal tries and three more traditional three-point plays that included a foul shot.

The Bulldogs, who came in shooting just 35.2% from three-point range (25 for 71), connected on their first five shots from beyond the arc and eight of their first nine field-goal attempts overall to seize a 22-9 lead.

UCI, which made just three of 17 from three-point range (17.6%), including just one of 10 after halftime, never got closer than five points, as it fell to 2-2.

The Anteaters play Tennessee Chattanooga (1-2) today at 2:30 p.m. at the same venue in the fourth-place semifinal final of the uniquely bracketed eight-team tournament.

“We got on a roll, early, with our shooting,” said Bulldogs sophomore guard Barry Stewart, who connected on three of the first five Mississippi State three balls.

UCI, meanwhile, got off to a slow start, offensively, missing eight of its first 11 shots from the field.

Junior center Kevin Bland was part of that, missing all six of his first-half field-goal tries and finishing zero for eight from the field. The reigning Big West Conference Player of the Week, playing on his 22nd birthday, finished with two points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal.

Bland, however, was not alone in his shooting struggles. Outside of senior Patrick Sanders, who shared game-high scoring honors with 18 points, the four remaining UCI starters were two of 21 from the field (9.6%). That foursome of Adam Rodenberg (no points in 17 minutes), Bland, Michael Hunter (one for eight from the field) and Chad DeCasas combined for six turnovers, seven assists and eight rebounds.

But seniors Darren Fells and Chuma Awaji came off the bench to jump start the UCI offense. Fells, a 6-foot-8 center and Awaji, a 6-3 guard, combined to make nine of 11 field-goal tries in the opening 20 minutes.

Awaji, who was five for five from the field, mostly on driving layups, matched Fells with 11 points apiece in the first half.

“They kept us in the game,” Sanders said of the Fells and Awaji, who both started the second half. Fells, who sat out the first two regular-season games for what UCI Coach Pat Douglass termed personal misconduct, finished with 15 points, four rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes.

Awaji, who was six of eight from the field, had 13 points in 22 minutes.

UCI closed to within 39-34 on an Awaji layin with 56 seconds left in the first half, but entered the break down, 41-34.

After twice trimming the deficit to five, MSU produced a 10-0 run that put the Anteaters away.

“Our effort was there, we just didn’t make shots,” Douglass said.

Anaheim Classic

First round

Mississippi State 68, UC Irvine 53

MSU – Rhodes 11, Varnado 2, Stewart 18, Gordon 15, Hansbrough 13, Johnson 6, Turner 3.

3-pt. goals – Stewart 4, Gordon 1, Hansbrough 1, Turner 1.

UCI – Sanders 18, Bland 2, DeCasas 3, Hunter 2, Fells 15, Awaji 13.

3-pt. goals – Sanders 1, DeCasas 1, Fells 1.

Halftime – MSU, 41-34.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].