‘Eaters school Tigers

IRVINE — Technically, it’s still called the scouting report. But with a generation of history between UC Irvine men’s basketball coach and Pacific head man Bob Thomason, a refresher course is all that is needed when outlining one another’s schemes before the two Big West Conference rivals collide.

UCI defended as if it needed only the CliffsNotes while building a 30-15 halftime lead Thursday at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters then squandered the advantage and trailed three different times in the second half, only to right themselves and come away with a 52-51 triumph.

The win gives UCI (5-11, 3-1 in conference) four wins in its last six games and moves Douglass’ determined bunch into a tie for second with Cal State Northridge, one game behind Long Beach State.

“We knew the [scouting report] really well,” UCI junior guard Michael Hunter said. “We came into this game with a lot of their plays and the coach yelling to us from the [sideline] really helped us a lot. We really knew our assignments tonight.”

UCI held the Tigers (9-6, 2-2) to just three first-half field goals in 22 attempts (13.6%). The UOP starters were just one for 11 from the field in the first 20 minutes.

Still, UCI needed a 6-0 run in the final 1:53 before intermission to produce its 15-point cushion.

“Defensively, that was about as good a half as we’ve had here,” Douglass said. “I’m sure they had some shots they thought they could have made, but for us and where we are in our development, our play in the first half was a great step forward for us.”

The Anteaters, however, appeared in backpedal mode out of the break, as UOP made six of its first eight field-goal tries and eventually rode a 16-2 run capped by a three-pointer by Bryan LeDuc (a career-high 20 points) to a 36-35 lead, its first since 2-0.

“We knew they were going to come out in the second half and really get after us,” said Douglass, who considers Thomason, a former college teammate at UOP, his closest friend. “And maybe we backed off a little defensively.”

The Anteaters, however, refused to back down for long.

Derrick Strings netted a three-pointer after Kevin Bland penetrated and kicked, to put the hosts up, 44-41, with 5:15 left.

Hunter, who made all four of his field-goal attempts and had just one turnover and 10 points in 30 minutes, followed with a steal and a layin. Then after a UOP turnover, Hunter converted the first of two free throws for a six-point cushion.

Pacific erased that over the next 2:09, but senior guard Brett Lauer canned a three-pointer while being fouled from the right corner and converted the four-point play with 1:22 left to put UCI back on top.

UOP pulled even once again and UCI called timeout with 26 seconds left, 14 on the shot clock, to draw up a little scheme of its own.

“The plan was to get the ball in the corner and look for Eric [Wise] inside,” said Hunter, who found Wise on the block with a pass from the corner, then watched the 6-foot-5 freshman draw a foul with 15 seconds left.

Wise hit the first of the one-and-one for the winning margin and UOP missed a three-pointer and a would-be tip-in on its next possession.

“I’m pretty relaxed [at the foul line with the game on the line],” said Wise, who made two free throws with three seconds left in overtime to salt away UCI’s home win over Cal State Fullerton Jan. 3. Wise led the winners with 12 points.

Wise single-handedly outscored the UOP starters, who managed just nine points on four-of-20 shooting, zero for five from three-point range. Chad Troyer, UOP’s leading scorer coming in (11.2 per game), was zero for nine from the field in 18 scoreless minutes.

UCI made six of 10 three-point attempts, while UOP was five for 17 beyond the arc.

UOP had just eight turnovers and won the rebounding battle, 31-28, but finished at 34.8% from the field, nearly 10 points worse than UCI.

Big West Conference

UC Irvine 52, Pacific 51

UOP – Brown 2, Ford 0, Willard 3, Kirby 4, Troyer 0, LeDuc 20, Smith 9, Doran 9, Neufviille 2, Neimeyer 2.

3-pt. goals – LeDuc 2, Doran 2, Smith 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

UCI – Bland 8, Folker 4, Wise 12, Hunter 10, Lauer 7, Strings 8, Rembert 3.

3-pt. goals – Lauer 2, Strings 2, Hunter 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Halftime – UCI, 30-15.