Seattle adds a notch against UCI

IRVINE — The UC Irvine men’s basketball team had nine days to bask in the glow of its first victory, before returning to the abyss of a 1-7 season that may have hit bottom Tuesday night.

The Anteaters’ late comeback attempt against visiting Seattle came up short in a 55-52 nonconference loss, before 1,081 at the Bren Events Center, most of whom, like UCI Coach Pat Douglass, left scratching their heads about whether this UCI unit will ever amount to much.

“This one is kind of hard to swallow,” said Douglass, who was fighting a losing postgame battle to conceal his frustration. “It’s a tough loss. These are the games you’ve got to get. It’s not going to get any easier in [the Big West Conference].”

UCI’s one win in its first eight games (Dec. 7 at Pepperdine) is the second-worst start in the program’s 44-season history. Only the 1996-97 squad that opened 0-13 on its way to a 1-25 season has experienced more early futility.

What’s more, Seattle in the first year of a transition to Division I that will be complete when the Redhawks (7-4) are eligible for the NCAA Tournament in the 2012-2013 season, made a little recent history of its own Tuesday. The Redhawks, who won at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 60-59, on Sunday, had not won back-to-back road games against Division I schools since the 1978-79 campaign.

And while the hosts hit back-to-back three-pointers to shave a 51-44 deficit to a single point, then had a Derrick Strings steal to take possession with a chance at the lead with 40 seconds remaining, there was nothing fluke about the Seattle triumph.

“They were able to execute what they wanted to execute and get the ball to players in positions that they wanted to,” Douglass said of the visitors, who made 11 of 19 second-half field-goal attempts (57.9%) and finished shooting 52.6% from the field. “We’re trying to take away some of the easy buckets, but still we give up 52% ... They’re a well-coached team, they got the ball where they wanted to and they battled hard. They were the better team.”

Irvine continues to display a procession of personnel that, beyond freshman Eric Wise and senior Kevin Bland, has struggled with consistency.

Wise, limited to eight first-half minutes due to foul trouble, finished with a game-high 17 points and matched Bland’s nine rebounds for game-high honors, despite playing just 25 minutes. He was six of 12 from the field — the only Anteater not worse than 50% — and five of eight from the foul line.

Bland had seven points, nine rebounds and a team-best three assists in 33 minutes, while junior point guard Michael Hunter had nine points, four rebounds, and two assists in 35 minutes.

Hunter’s third three-pointer with 1:00 left pulled the hosts within 51-50. But, after the aforementioned steal by Strings, Hunter, on the ensuing possession, delivered a lazy pass toward the wing that Seattle’s Mike Boxley picked off and turned into a layup with 22 seconds remaining.

Hunter’s subsequent three-point attempt failed to hit the rim and Boxley added two double-bonus free throws with eight seconds left to secure the win.

“We’re staying positive, but this is a game we thought we should have won,” Wise said.

UCI, which had a minus-11 average rebound margin coming in, posted a 31-26 edge on the boards. But the Anteaters were just six of 21 from the field after halftime (28.6%) and finished 37.3% for the game. And their 13 turnovers were one more than the Redhawks.

“It’s not just one player,” Douglass said of the UCI woes, adding that he is particularly disappointed with bench play at the center and power forward positions (junior Zack Atkinson’s two points and two rebounds in 15 minutes the lone contribution from a three front-court reserves). “One player will make a miscue, then another player will make a miscue and it adds up ... We just didn’t string together possessions, which is what you have to do.”

Douglass also reported bad news on junior guard Darren Moore, who is out for the season with a partial tear of a patellar tendon. Moore averaged 5.7 points in six games, including four starts.

Having failed to show much thus far, UCI visits the “Show Me” state for three games, beginning Friday, in a tournament at Missouri State.

Nonconference

Seattle 55, UC Irvine 52

Sea – Wright 6, Powers 7, Burl 10, Boxley 8, Gweth 3, Swanson 9, Broussard 6, Harris 4, Olson 2.

3-pt. goals – Burl 1, Powers 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

UCI – Wise 17, Bland 7, Hunter 9, Lauer 5, Strings 5, Rembert 5, DeCasas 2, Atkinson 2.

3-pt. goals – Hunter 3, Lauer 1, Strings 1, Rembert 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Halftime – Sea, 25-22.

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