UCI comes up short

ANAHEIM — Though this game was played at sea level, visiting Nevada brought a little more altitude than the UC Irvine men’s basketball team is used to Tuesday night.

The Wolf Pack deployed seven-foot sophomore JaVale McGee, 6-9 senior Demarshay Johnson and 7-1 backup David Ellis against an Anteaters squad, with its tallest contributor 6-8, more in line with mid-range, mid-major front lines.

And whatever height advantage Nevada claimed over UCI seemed to pale in comparison to the comparative wing spans.

The result was eight blocked shots for the visitors, a 43-20 edge in rebounding, and a 77-68 nonconference victory in front of 1,007.

“We have several players who are just not used to that level of play,” UCI Coach Pat Douglass said, referring to the elevation reached by Nevada defenders.

UCI 6-8 forward Adam Rodenberg had four shots blocked on his way to making just three of 10 from the field, while 6-8 starting center Kevin Bland said he was definitely affected by the length of defenders, though he had just one shot blocked.

“They’re big, tall and athletic,” Bland said of the Wolf Pack frontline players, who altered as many shots as they blocked.

Bland’s first two shots failed to draw iron and 6-6 UCI forward Patrick Sanders, who is used to jumping higher than would-be shot blockers, also had an air ball early, as he opened one for four from the field and was five of 13 on the night.

UCI missed its first five shots, and 11 of its first 15, allowing Nevada to build a 17-9 lead with 11:56 remaining in the first half.

The Anteaters (1-1) countered by making four straight three-point attempts in a span of 95 seconds to take a 21-19 lead and trailed only 36-34 at intermission.

But Nevada (1-1), which played the final 16:12 of the first half without senior NBA prospect Marcelus Kemp, who sat quickly after getting two fouls, opened the second half with an 18-2 run to establish firm control of the game.

In the first seven minutes of the second half, UCI’s three-man front line was a combined one of eight from the field, as three of their shots were blocked.

The Anteaters went scoreless for a span of 6:32, until junior guard Brett Lauer made a three-pointer with 11:29 left in the game that pulled UCI within 54-39.

But UCI, also hampered by its size disadvantage on defense, never trimmed the deficit below nine.

“We didn’t block out very well and they made us pay,” Bland said of the Wolf Pack. “I mean, Demarshay and JaVale had, I don’t know six, seven, eight dunks.”

McGee, the son of former USC women’s great Pam McGee, had five dunks on his way to making nine of 14 field-goal tries (64.3%).His 20 points were 11 more than his previous career high.

Johnson (four of nine from the field with a game-high 11 rebounds) had one dunk, as did sophomore guard Brandon Fields, who finished with a career-high 16 points.

Nevada shot 57.7% in the first half and 56.3% in the second half to finish 33 of 58 from the field (56.9%).

UCI was just 26 of 62 from the field (41.9%), though it made seven of 18 from beyond the arc (38.9%), after missing 10 of 11 three-point tries in its season-opening win.

The shooting and rebounding advantage helped Nevada overcome a 20-9 deficit in turnovers.

Bland, who began extending his range in the second half, had 15 of his team-high 17 points after intermission. His final field goal came on a 15-foot baseline turnaround fall-away on which he put some extra trajectory.

“I’ve never played against guys that tall and long.” Bland said. “It was definitely something I had to adjust to. I turned around to see if I had a shot [on the aforementioned jumper] and [McGee] just kept going up. I was like ‘Uh-oh.’ I just got lucky.”

Bland finished seven of 14 from the field.

Sanders and Rodenberg had 11 points, while sophomore point guard Michael Hunter added 10 to go with a team-high five assists.

Johnson and Kemp scored12 points each to help the Wolf Pack avoid an 0-2 start for the first time since the 1993-94 season.

UCI returns to the Bren Events Center Saturday against Utah State at 7:05 p.m.

Nonconference

Nevada 77, UC Irvine 68

Nevada – D. Johnson 12, McGee 20, Fields 16, Kemp 12, A. Johnson 7, LaGrone 5, Ellis 5.

3-pt. goals – Fields 1, A. Johnson 1, Ellis 1.

UCI – Jsanders 11, Rodenberg 11, Bland 17, Hunter 10, Awaji 5, DeCasas 6, Lauer 6, Harris 2.

3-pt. goals – Rodenberg 2, Hunter 2, Lauer 2, DeCasas 1.

Halftime – Nevada, 36-34.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.