UC Irvine has Moore than enough

SAN DIEGO — UC Irvine senior Darren Moore received some national media attention this week for his elaborate Spiderman tattoo. But with a career performance in leading the Anteaters to a 90-82 nonconference victory at the University of San Diego on Wednesday, the 6-foot-3 guard needed only his play to resemble a super hero.

Moore, who came in leading the ‘Eaters in scoring, rebounding, steals and field-goal percentage, amassed 30 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, four assists and he made all nine of his shots from the field, including a trio of three-pointers.

Moore was five for five from the free-throw line until his first miss with 4:29 left in the game and he finished nine of 12 from the foul line.

He did endure some scorn from Coach Russell Turner after a comment he made at the free-throw line in the final minute earned him an unsportsmanlike technical foul. But even that, which Turner said afterward should be instructive, became a positive for UCI.

“I’m proud of my guys, to a man,” Turner said after his team improved to 4-3 and won their second straight road game. “But I’ve got to give a lot of credit to my senior co-captains tonight [Moore and Patrick Rembert, who had 18 points and was three of four from three-point range].

“Moore getting 11 rebounds [one shy of his career high, but enough for his third double-double of the season], that was a heroic effort,” Turner said. “It’s tough to get 30 points on nine shots, but he did it tonight.”

Moore, who has helped pick up the slack with the absence of junior star Eric Wise, who has missed four straight games with a hip flexor strain), was beaming afterward.

“It feels great man,” said Moore, who is now averaging 18.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and is among the national leaders in steals at 3.3 per contest. “I’m overwhelmed right now. It’s fun to come in here and get one. Those wins on the road are the best wins for a team. It builds confidence and it builds energy.”

San Diego (1-5) built a 31-26 lead with 5:41 left in the first half, but UCI scored the next 10 points and ended the half on an 18-4 run to take a nine-point lead.

UCI led, 64-48, with 11:44 left, but USD closed to within 72-70 with 4:01 remaining.

But Moore’s driving layup began a 10-0 run for the ‘Eaters, who then closed out what Turner called their best 40 minutes of the season.

UCI finished 31 for 57 from the field (54.4%) to help overcome deficits in rebounding (37-32) and turnovers (20-19).

“Sometimes I think [Moore] hides, but he didn’t do that tonight,” Turner said.

“We needed big plays and he made them.”

Moore, who said he has more tattoos than he can count, said he does not have any Super Man art.

“I’ll stick with Spiderman for now,” he said.

Nonconference

UC Irvine 90, San Diego 82

UCI – Losonsky 8, Moore 30, Rembert 18, Starring 7, Wilder 5, McNealy 9, Strings 7, Flowers 4, Simek 2.

3-pt. goals – Moore 3, Rembert 3, Starrin 1, Wilder 1, McNealy 1.

Fouled out – Wilder, Losonsky.

Technicals – Moore 1.

USD – Rancifer 10, Fuller 0, Manresa 18, Ginty 13, Norris 11, Dorr 13, Mackie 9, Gabriel 8.

3-pt. goals – Ginty 3, Rancifer 2, Mackie 1, Dorr 1, Norris 1.

Fouled out – Rancifer, Ginty.

Halftime – UCI, 44-35.