Anteaters shut down 49ers for road win

LONG BEACH — The annual push to promote cancer awareness called for casual footwear to be worn nationwide by men’s college basketball coaches Saturday. But there was nothing casual about the effort, particularly on defense, presented by visiting UC Irvine in its 70-48 Big West Conference victory over Long Beach State at the Walter Pyramid.

The Anteaters (9-12, 4-4 in conference) surrendered a season-low 48 points to earn their first conference road victory of the season.

Long Beach State (4-16, 1-7) connected on just 15 of 43 field-goal attempts (34.9%), just three of 18 from three-point range (16.7%), committed 15 turnovers and was outrebounded, 33-21, allowing UCI to post its second-biggest margin of victory this season.

“I thought we played well, with a lot of energy and purpose,” said UCI Coach Pat Douglass, who was one of a dozen coaches from both teams who wore white athletic shoes instead of the normal dress footwear as part of the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches’ joint effort with the American Cancer Society to raise awareness and funds for the fight against cancer.

“I thought [6-foot-7 senior center] Darren Fells was big inside and proved to be difficult to match up with.”

Don Monson, Long Beach State’s first-year coach, was even more decisive when discussing his team’s shortcomings.

“I thought our want-to was there, but we were just overmatched, physically,” said Monson, who saw his team absorb its fifth straight loss, the last three by an average margin of 25.7 points.

Perhaps even more impressive than the first-half performance that allowed UCI to open a 38-21 lead, was its ability to sustain its defensive intensity in the final 20 minutes.

UCI, which had surrendered second-half leads earlier this season in losses to Tennessee of Chatanooga, Utah, San Diego, Sam Houston State and South Carolina, never let the 49ers come closer than 15.

Long Beach State, which strung together a 7-0 run to pull within 29-20, with 3:40 left in the first half, never scored consecutive field goals in the final 20 minutes. Further, the 49ers scored more than two points in a row only twice. They netted four free throws to pull within 53-36 with 11:15 remaining, and converted a three-pointer to follow two foul shots to trim the deficit to 62-46 with 4:47 remaining.

Long Beach State’s inability to make a sustained run had something to do with UCI’s defense, but also was a product of poor second-half shooting, Douglass said.

“They missed quite a few shots they could have made,” Douglass said.

The win, which completes the first round of Big West play for the Anteaters, makes them 2-11 in games played away from campus this season. It also adds to a trend of three straight games — a 67-53 home victory over UC Riverside on Jan. 26, and a hard-fought 69-64 road loss to conference-leading Cal State Northridge on Thursday — in which the Anteaters have managed to put together prolonged stretches of intensity at both ends of the floor. This was not always the case earlier in the season, particularly away from home.

“We’ve been working hard in practice,” said Fells, who led the winners with 17 points and 11 rebounds, including seven offensive boards, which matched the total accrued by the hosts. “We’ve become more and more focused as a team and we’re trying not to get too comfortable when we get a lead.”

The Anteaters led from the outset Saturday, taking the lead for good on Patrick Sanders’ three-pointer just 100 seconds into the contest.

UCI produced a 10-0 run to seize a 29-13 advantage and, after allowing seven straight Long Beach State points, closed the half on a 6-0 surge that was capped by another Sanders three-pointer that beat the halftime buzzer.

Sanders contributed 15 points, while sophomore point guard Michael Hunter scored 16 to pace the winners.

Fells, who came in leading the Big West in field-goal shooting (59%), made six of nine field-goal tries, and was five of six from the line.

Hunter was six for 11 from the field, including four of six from beyond the arc, while Sanders connected on four of eight field-goal tries and was five of six from the foul line.

UCI shot 53.1% as a team (26 for 49), including eight of 16 from threedom.

UCI opens the second half of conference play Thursday at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in fifth place, one game behind four-place UC Santa Barbara, which it visits Saturday.

Sanders, Fells, Hunter and Marcus McIntosh had two steals apiece, while McIntosh had a team-leading five assists.

Big West Conference

UC Irvine 70, Long Beach State 48

UCI – Sanders 15, Fells 17, Hunter 16, DeCasas 6, McIntosh 2, Lauer 8, Bland 4, Rembert 2.

3-pt. goals – Hunter 4, Lauer 2, Sanders 2.

Fouled out – Bland.

LB St. – Lazdauskas 4, Williams 0, Freeman 8, Morris 20, Clady 0, Johnson 7, Plater 6, Peys 3.

3-pt. goals – Morris 2, Johnson 1.

Fouled out – Freeman.

Halftime – UCI, 38-21.

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