Fresno State Takes Its Turn Against UC Irvine : College basketball: After losing by 23 points in their first meeting, Bulldogs pay back Anteaters, 88-75.

There was one word Fresno State’s Dave Barnett kept uttering in almost every huddle: Payback.

UC Irvine beat Fresno State by 23 points in their first meeting this season, and the Anteaters did it with a bundle of three-pointers.

The Bulldogs returned the favor Thursday in Selland Arena with an 88-75 Big West Conference victory in front of 9,714, extending Irvine’s record in Fresno to 1-14.

Barnett, a Fresno State senior guard, made five of eight three-pointers, finishing with 22 points and a triple-double, the third against Irvine this season. He had 10 rebounds--a career-high--12 assists and four steals.

“I thought Barnett had a magnificent game,” Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan said.

When it was over, Barnett slumped to the floor in front of the scorer’s table, exhausted.

“We paid ‘em back pretty good,” he said.

Fresno State (9-10, 4-6 in conference) hit 12 three-pointers, tying a school record, and shot 55% from beyond the arc.

Irvine (8-14, 3-7), which made 15 three-pointers in the first meeting, was 13 of 26 this time. However, that wasn’t enough to counter Fresno State’s balanced offense.

Even Irvine’s 27 trips to the free-throw line, compared with a mere five by Fresno State, couldn’t make up for the difference; the Bulldogs made 14 more field goals.

Fresno State’s Wilbert Hooker made five of 10 three-pointers, scoring 17 points, and Carl Ray Harris, a 6-2 guard who already has set a school-record for dunks in a season, added 17 points.

Harris had three dunks against Irvine--including one monster-smash with Gerald McDonald between him and the rim--to raise his season total to 28.

Fresno State’s Tod Bernard, whose 21-point average is fourth in the Big West, didn’t start after twisting both ankles in practice Wednesday, but he came off the bench to score 12 points.

“It was a very disheartening performance on our part,” Mulligan said.

Irvine got 23 points inside from Ricky Butler, and 23 points outside from Jeff Herdman, but the formula failed elsewhere.

Dylan Rigdon, who scored a career-high 31 against the Bulldogs last time, was held to seven points on two-of-eight shooting.

“The big key last time was that they were doubling down on Ricky (Butler), leaving me open,” Rigdon said. “This time, they covered down with Gerald’s (McDonald) and Craig’s (Marshall) guys, and stayed on me and Jeff. Plus, I didn’t have a very good shooting night.”

Fresno State got taken in by the dilemma of defensing Irvine in the first game, feeling caught between helping on Butler or focusing on Herdman and Rigdon. Herdman had 23 of his 24 points in that game in the first half, and Rigdon had 22 of his 31 in the second.

“They’ve got three great offensive scorers--Herdman, Rigdon and Butler,” Fresno State Coach Gary Colson said. “They killed us down there.”

This time, Colson told Harris to stick close to Rigdon and Bernard to stick with Herdman.

“We told Carl Ray and Tod: You can’t help (on defense),” Colson said.

Inside, Fresno State fouled Butler when it saw no other option. He made six of 10 field goals, but only 11 of 18 free throws.

Fresno State led at halftime, 50-42, and by as many as 18 in second half.

The Anteaters cut a 16-point Bulldog lead to 10 on back-to-back three-pointers by Herdman with about five minutes left. An NBA-range three-point attempt by Herdman shortly afterward would have gotten the Anteaters to within eight, but it went in and came out.

Then Rigdon was called for an intentional foul while trying to fight over a screen, and Fresno State made both free throws. The Bulldogs scored on the possession to pull ahead by 15.

“The two previous times downcourt, they ran picks and I thought I got drilled,” Ridgon said. “They didn’t call it, so I tried to fight over him (Pat Riddlesprigger). I tried to hit him, but he tried to hit me.”

Mulligan took Rigdon out after that play.

“I’ve never seen Rigdon do that,” Mulligan said. “It’s not his personality.”