Men’s Basketball: UCI big men key win
Former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson rode “40 minutes of hell” to an NCAA men’s basketball title.
At UC Irvine this season, Anteaters Coach Russell Turner is unleashing 35 feet of ferocity on opponents, in the form of five revolving big men who average seven feet tall.
Starters Mamadou Ndiaye (7-foot-6) and Will Davis (6-8), are backed up by 6-10 John Ryan, 7-2 Ioannis Dimakopoulos and 6-10 Mike Best to provide 35 feet of frustration and, to a large degree, futility for foes.
The combination all but negated Pacific’s sizable inside presence, including 7-0 center Sami Eleraky, to help UCI tame the Tigers, 68-50, for a nonconference home win Sunday in front of 1,783 at the Bren Events Center.
The UCI post patrol, which averaged a mere 15.6 minutes per man, combined for 40 points, 20 rebounds and four blocked shots, while making 16 of 24 field-goal attempts (66.7%), its only three-point try, and seven of eight from the foul line to help the Anteaters improve to 2-0 and claim their first win against a Division I opponent.
Davis, a senior, led the bigs brigade with 12 points, four rebounds and two assists in 30 minutes, while Ndiaye, a sophomore, chipped in seven points, three rebounds and two blocks.
Ryan, a senior who is displaying eye-popping productivity off the bench this season, had 10 points and six rebounds in 10 minutes, while Best, a junior, had six points, six boards and two blocks in 10 minutes.
Dimakopoulos had five points and one rebound in six minutes, converting both of his field-goal attempts, including a connection from three-point range.
Eleraky and his starting front-court mates, 6-10 senior Gabriel Aguirre and 6-3 sophomore David Taylor, were a combined zero for eight from the field, with a mere 10 collective rebounds to go with their three combined turnovers.
“We’re hard to score against,” said Turner, whose squad, now 2-0, held UOP (1-1) to 34% shooting (16 for 47 from the field), including just 29.6% in the second half. “You go out there with Mamadou [who set a Big West Conference record with 106 blocks last season] and try to think about getting a shot off in the paint. And also with Will [a school-record 174 career blocks], or Mike Best or John Ryan. I don’t think John Ryan or Mike Best, or Ioannes get the credit they deserve. Look how long those guys are. They are long and they are playing hard and they are fresh. We’re not easy to face. I think in some ways, that affects us offensively when we have the ball inside. We’re almost looking for our own shot blockers [that they face in practice].
“We have two real good big guys starting in Will and Mamadou, but all three guys we brought off the bench tonight, I thought, had a real big impact on the game. Tonight, I’m recognizing the big guys. Some other games, it will be the perimeter players.”
As a group, UCI allowed just one UOP starter to produce a field goal, with the four other than guard T.J. Wallace missing all 11 of their shots from the field.
Wallace had a game-high 19 points, making seven of 11 from the field, including four of six from threedom. Take away Wallace’s proficiency and UOP shot 25% from the field (nine for 36).
Sophomore guard Alex Young was also pivotal for UCI. He produced a team-best 13 points and also led the winners with eight rebounds and five assists.
Turner praised his players’ ability to not look past Pacific toward arguably the biggest game on its schedule this season, Wednesday at No. 2-ranked Arizona.
“If I tried to not make a big deal out of it, [the players] would think I was crazy,” Turner said of the date in Tucson. “Everyone around here has been talking about this [Arizona] game for a long time. What I was pleased with about [Sunday’s game], is that we focused on this opponent and got the job done. I told [the players] after the game: ‘Now. Now, everybody has been talking about it, so now we can go challenge those guys.’
“It’s another huge step up in level and the environment is not one that our guys have ever experienced and that will be a really difficult challenge or them,” Turner said of the Arizona game. “Let’s face it, its not likely that we can go in there and win. But this team has a belief that if we can defend, we’ll have a chance and that’s pretty good.”
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Nonconference
UC Irvine 68, Pacific 50
UOP – Aguirre 0, Taylor 0, Eleraky 2, Wallace 19, Bowles 3, Robinson 14, Lampkin 6, Kobre 4, Ursery 2.
3-pt. goals – Wallace 4, Robinson 3, Kobre 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
UCI – Davis 12, Ndiaye 7, Young 13, Nelson 7, Souza 3, Ryan 10, Best 6, Dimakopoulos 5, Saprykinas 3, Wright 2.
3-pt. goals – Wallace 4, Robinson 3, Kobre 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
Halftime – 33-22, UCI.