Men’s college basketball: Consumption

Richard Dunn

BREN EVENTS CENTER - In the form of payback, Utah State

University’s Aggies thwarted another UC Irvine celebration in the final

seconds of a Big West Conference men’s basketball thriller.

With Utah State’s Brennan Ray sticking closely to UCI All-American

candidate Jerry Green on the game’s last play, the Aggies’ defense forced

him to pass to an open Mike Hood, whose three-point attempt kissed the

back of the rim and bounced free as Coach Stew Morrill’s Aggies held on

to defeat UCI, 62-61, before an Anteater homecoming crowd of 5,150.

Prior to Hood’s last-second attempt, Utah State (18-4, 10-3 in the Big

West) stopped UCI with 0:18 left when 6-foot-7 junior forward Desmond

Penigar blocked Green’s shot. Ray controlled the ball for Utah State, but

Ronnie Ross missed two free throws with 11.9 seconds remaining to give

the ‘Eaters new life.

“That was a huge win for us,” Penigar said. “They counted us out, but

now we’re tied for first place (in the Big West).”

The Anteaters (17-7, 10-3), who struggled through their worst first

half of the season with only 19 points, rallied in the second half, but

came up empty this time.

The last time these two teams squared off Jan. 10 in Logan, Utah,

Green converted a buzzer-beating shot to shock the Aggies and end their

31-game school-record home winning streak, the third-longest streak in

the nation at the time.

“Jerry shouldn’t have made that shot at our place and he wasn’t going

to make it here,” said Penigar, who came up to help Ray defend Green at

the end.

“My guys showed me something different tonight (than in the 67-66 win

at Utah State),” said UCI Coach Pat Douglass. “I don’t know if it was

nerves, or if it was the crowd, or what. It looked like we hadn’t

practiced all week.”

UC Irvine, which made 8 of 25 (32%) from the field in the first half,

including 1 of 7 from three-point range, had a quiet first half as the

Aggies raced to a 35-19 intermission lead. It didn’t look good for UCI,

considering Utah State owns a 75-4 record over the past six years when

leading at halftime.

“I don’t know ... maybe it was crowd, maybe it was our intensity, but

we came out flat,” said Green, who finished with 16 points, but only 2 of

13 from the field. “You could tell (the Aggies) were determined from the

beginning of the game.”

Green, 12 of 12 from the free-throw line (10 of 10 in the second half), also said Hood “had a great open look and missed it” at the end.

Added Hood: “The defender sagged on Jerry, and he passed to me and I

took the shot. It was a little long.”

After what Green did to the Aggies last month, Morrill was not about

to let him do it again.

“We switched on him,” Morrill said. “Jerry Green was not going to get

an open look and we did a fabulous job on him.”

In the first half, UCI struggled getting the ball inside to 7-foot

sophomore center Adam Parada, who attempted only two shots in the opening

20 minutes and missed both.

“We should’ve thrown it down to Adam more, instead of taking threes,”

Green said.

It puzzled Douglass, as well.

“They ran the same zone defense as the last time we played them,”

Douglass said. “I don’t know why there was such a difference this time

offensively in the first half.”

Utah State, led by guard Tony Brown’s 25 points (20 in the first half

on 4-of-5 shooting from three-point territory), enjoyed a 16-0 scoring

run in the first half.

After Jordan Harris (team-high 18 points) gave UCI an early 6-2 lead,

the Anteaters 7:18 without scoring as the Aggies built their 18-6 lead.

Harris finally scored with 9:54 left in the first half to end the

drought.

After UCI pulled to within 21-14, the Aggies spurted again, 14-5, to

close out the half.

“Up there (in Logan) we didn’t play good defense, but tonight we did,”

Brown said.

The Anteaters chipped away in the second half as the momentum shifted.

The decibel level reached a zenith from the standing-room only crowd late

in the game.

Harris canned a three-pointer with 3:05 left as UCI cut the deficit to

58-51 -- its smallest since the first half -- and Hood nailed a trey with

2:02 to play, after Green fumbled the ball and Hood picked it up beyond

the arc.

With UCI pressing, Aras Baskauskas came up with a backcourt steal and

layup with 1:55 remaining, slicing Utah State’s lead to only 58-56.

“Balls were bouncing around all over the place in the second half,”

Douglass said. “We had our chance.”

Penigar scored on a tip-in after his own miss with 1:17 left to give

Utah State a four-point lead, then Penigar blocked a shot by Parada and

the Aggies came up with the ball, forcing UCI to foul Brown, who promptly

netted two free throws with 1:03 on the clock, giving the visitors a

62-56 edge.

Green made two free throws for UCI, then Hood made a steal and UCI

called timeout with 0:43 left. Parada converted a three-point play on a

putback and foul shot with 0:35 remaining as the hosts crept to within a

point.

Ray missed the front end of a one-and-one with 0:32 left, but Penigar

blocked Green’s shot on UCI’s ensuing trip down the floor.