Pacific gets its payback

IRVINE — The Big West Conference men’s basketball game Thursday between UC Irvine and visiting Pacific turned out to be a test of memory.

The Tigers appeared to display vivid recall of their 67-42 home loss to the Anteaters on Jan .13, the Tigers’ most lopsided conference loss in 17 years.

The Anteaters, however, failed to recall the reminders Coach Pat Douglass dropped all week in practice that Pacific would not be a soft touch the second time around.

The result was an 89-82 Pacific victory at the Bren Events Center that dropped UCI to 10-13, 4-5 in conference and upped the Tigers’ record to 8-12, 4-3.

What UCI supporters may remember most about the loss was an 11-2 Pacific run that began with 5:57 left in the game and ended with 3:44 left and turned the Tigers’ 64-61 deficit into an insurmountable 72-64 edge.

But what Douglass hopes his players won’t forget is a sluggish opening of more than four minutes in which they missed their first seven field-goal tries.

While UCI slumbered, Pacific went four for four from the field en route to a 9-0 lead.

“We beat them by a big margin up there and I’ve been fighting all week to make sure we were ready to go,” said Douglass, who was concerned that any negative comments about his team would take away from the efforts of a Pacific team coached by his best friend, Bob Thomason. “And, obviously, the energy level we played with was not conducive to a good outcome.”

Douglass said his team came up short in the intangibles and the hustle plays, aspects that he has generally praised his players for, even after losses.

“Let’s give [the Tigers] credit,” Douglass said. “They came down and played hard on loose balls and making key shots. They executed better than we did, rebounded better and got out in transition, when we didn’t get back.

Still, thanks to 11 first-half points by junior reserve guard Chuma Awaji, who went on to score a career-high 19, UCI was within 32-26 at halftime.

Awaji sank a six-foot runner in the lane with 14:29 left in the game, to give the hosts their first lead.

The lead changed hands eight times and the score was tied seven times, but Pacific, the three-time defending regular-season conference champion, spurted ahead, then hit 15 of 18 free throws in the final 3:09 to put the game away.

“I thought Chuma kept us in the game the first half,” Douglass said.

UCI shot 67.9% in the second half (19 of 28, including seven of 13 from three-point range) to finish at 56.6% from the field for the game.

But Pacific shot 55.8% for the game and earned a 35-21 rebounding advantage.

“With the lineup we start, rebounding should not be a factor, because we don’t start a small lineup,” Douglass said. “But we didn’t screen out and chase the ball down.”

No Anteater had more than four rebounds, while all five Pacific starters had at least four. UOP’s starting five totaled 29 boards and all but 11 of the Tigers’ points.

UCI starters, meanwhile, combined for 45 points and 12 rebounds.

Patrick Sanders (16), Nic Campbell (12), Darren Fells (10) and Michael Hunter (10) all scored in double figures for UCI.

Big West ConferencePacific -- Esparza 23, Brown 12, White 15, Vezia 15, HorseChief 13, Johnson 9, Niemeyer 2.

Pacific 89, UC Irvine 82

3-pt. goals -- Vezia 3, HorseChief 1, White 1.

Technicals -- Thomason 1.

UC Irvine -- Templeton 5, Kelley 4, Fells 10, Sanders 16, Hunter 10, Awaji 19, Campbell 12, DeCasas 6.

3-pt. goals -- Awaji 3, Campbell 2, DeCasas 2, Templeton 1, Hunter 1, Fells 1.

Fouled out -- Campbell.

Halftime -- 32-26, UOP.