Anteaters Smothered by Boise State Defense

UC Irvine didn’t exactly scare Boise State Thursday night--hard to frighten anybody when you’re 1-14. But the Anteaters might have startled the Broncos a little by scoring the first eight points.

But midway through the first half, Boise State realized UCI didn’t have the size, depth or shooters to compete for 40 minutes. The Broncos’ stifling zone defense sparked a 20-0 run that began late in the first half and led to a 67-46 victory Thursday night in front of 6,112 at the Boise State Pavilion.

“It’s very frustrating not to be able to maintain leads,” said UCI guard Lamarr Parker, who scored a game-high 21 points. “We have to be able to break through the pressure and the mental fatigue for 40 minutes. So far we haven’t been able to do that.”

The Anteaters’ battle with mental and physical fatigue wasn’t helped by the absence of center Andrew Carlson, who sprained his left ankle Tuesday and missed the game. The altitude of 2,800 feet didn’t help either.

UC Irvine (1-15, 1-6) built leads of 8-0 and 17-9 on the strength of its offensive rebounding and the penetration of Parker, who scored seven of the Anteaters’ first 17 points. The Anteaters consistently beat Boise State (9-8, 4-3) to loose balls and outrebounded the Broncos, 18-12, in the first half.

“I think we surprised them more than we surprised ourselves,” UCI’s Wendell Robinson said.

But Boise State’s smothering defense began to take its toll with five minutes left in the half as the Broncos’ ran off the last 10 points of the half to take a 30-23 lead. Boise State extended its defense even further in the second half and suddenly an entry pass from the wing became an adventure for the Anteaters.

“They really fooled around with that zone,” UC Irvine Coach Rod Baker said. “They did different things out of it. When we changed the ball in the first half, we got open shots.”

But there wasn’t much ball reversal in the second half and there were barely any shots. On consecutive possessions, UCI failed to get off a shot before the shot clock expired. Boise State’s shooters, who were frigid in the first half, warmed up in the second and began hitting three-pointers. The Broncos finished with eight three-pointers in 24 attempts to UCI’s one in four attempts.

When Parker finally broke the eight-minute scoring drought with a driving layup, the game was effectively over as Boise State had built a 40-23 lead.

“I don’t think we were strong enough with the ball and I don’t think the people were making themselves available enough to catch the ball,” Parker said.

UC Irvine starters Brian Johnson, who had a career-high 12 rebounds, and Juma Jackson combined to score only 14 points and committed nine turnovers. Robinson, who replaced Carlson in the starting lineup, made one of eight shots and finished with five points.

Parker played a team-high 36 minutes but he was huffing and puffing in the locker room.

“Boy I was sucking wind,” he said. “I thought it was my asthma. I forgot where I was at.”

By the end, Anteater sophomore Boris Reznik scored the first two points of his career. At various stages of the second half, UCI played with three walk-ons.

“Our walk-ons played pretty damn well for walk-ons,” Baker said. “That’s the best part of all this. No matter how frustrating it is not to win, it’s never because of the effort.”