Old-school triumph

IRVINE — Coach Pat Douglass saw his UC Irvine men’s basketball team go old-school against his old school Wednesday night.

The Anteaters, trailing, 38-35, at halftime, after the Roadrunners had their way with the hosts’ defense, turned up the heat on defense, which led to some easier second-half shots, en route to an 85-72 nonconference win before 933 at the Bren Events Center.

“Once we started to get some stops, then we got a little bit of a lead,” said Douglass, who coached Cal State Bakersfield to 257 wins and three NCAA Division II national championships in 10 seasons, before moving to UCI after the third NCAA crown in 1997. “I was proud of the way we came out in the second half and battled back. And we were very effective going inside.”

Freshman center Eric Wise led the winners (6-12) with 20 points, making six of nine field-goal attempts and eight of 10 foul shots. He also added six rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes.

Senior forward Kevin Bland also sparkled, posting 14 points and 10 rebounds, while sharing the team lead with four assists and adding two steals.

“I thought Bland had one of his better ballgames,” Douglass said. “He stepped up a little bit tonight and that was good to see.”

Bland said the Anteaters’ second-half surge, which produced 50 points on 18-of-30 shooting from the field (60%), including four of six from three-point range, began with defense.

“In the first half, [the Roadrunners (5-14)] were knocking down shots and penetrating on us,” said Bland, who had averaged 6.4 points and 5.0 rebounds in his previous five games and had not scored more than 11 points since a 21-point, 13-rebound windfall against Utah on Dec. 27. “They were getting wide-open looks. At halftime, coach said to just make them tough shots, at least. We scored 50 points in the second half and that was just playing good defense, then getting out and running [23 points off 12 Bakersfield turnovers for the game]. Our defense is turning into offense. And, now that we’ve learned that, guys are getting more excited about defense.”

Bland, as well as some timely three-point shooting to close the first half and open the second by Patrick Rembert and Michael Hunter, respectively, also did much to elevate the excitement for the sparse crowd. Bland’s breakaway dunk off a Bakersfield turnover with 14:23 left in the game capped a 7-0 UCI run that gave the ’Eaters a 49-42 lead.

Hunter’s second three-pointer in a 48-second span put UCI on top, 42-40, with 17:40 left, giving the visitors their first deficit of the game.

Rembert connected twice from threedom in the final minute of the first half to help UCI close with an 8-2 run and trim what had been as much as an 11-point Bakersfield lead.

The Roadrunners, who have beaten Big West Conference members Cal State Northridge and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, dropped one-point games to UC Davis and UC Riverside, and also lost in overtime to Pacific, led by 10 for most of the first half, thanks to netting 13 of 26 field-goal tries, including half of their 10 three-point attempts.

“They’re a very formidable team that has played everyone tough,” Douglass said of his former school. “They executed well and created good shots.”

Hunter finished with 17 points and four assists and is averaging 15.4 points in his last five games.

Rembert scored 11, giving UCI at least four players in double figures in back-to-back games for the first time all season.

“Overall, offensively, we ended up playing pretty well,” Douglass said. “We shot the three well, took care of the ball and shot a good percentage.”

Nonconference

UC Irvine 85,

Cal State Bakersfield 72

CSB – Blakley 18, Brown 4, Johnson 11, Johns 11, Emanual 6, Bragg 10, Latunde 10, Lee 2

3-pt. goals – Johnson 2, Emanual 2, Blakley 1, Johns 1.

Technicals – Latunde 1.

UCI – Bland 14, Folker 7, Wise 20, Hunter 17, Lauer 9, Rembert 11, Strings 7.

3-pt. goals – Hunter 3, Rembert 2, Lauer 1, Strings 1.

Technicals – Wise 1.

Halftime – CSB, 38-35.

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