Wise, Folker help UCI assert itself and win

IRVINE — In a conference in which breaking even, to this point, has equated to better than most, a clean slate is coveted, well, equally.

But it was the UC Irvine men’s basketball team that took utmost advantage of that opportunity Saturday, spurting past visiting UC Santa Barbara and holding on for a 57-55 Big West Conference-opening win at the Bren Events Center to break with the lead pack.

But after 20 minutes against the Gauchos, UCI sophomore star Eric Wise, with four points and just four field-goal attempts at the time, needed a fresh start of his own.

“I should have done it in the first half,” Wise said of his heightened offensive aggressiveness. His willingness to, as Coach Pat Douglass put it, “take it upon himself in the second half,” produced 17 of his game-high 21 points to help UCI improve to 7-6.

“In the second half, I just think I was more aggressive,” Wise said. “I started attacking the zone and looking to score more. In the first half, I was looking to pass.”

Wise kicked the ball when double-teamed before intermission. Afterward, he said he beat the double-team to the punch.

“I was just trying to create for my teammates, before the double-team came, and go one-on-one,” said Wise, who scored 11 of the Anteaters’ first 15 points after the break, allowing them to expand a 27-24 halftime cushion to 42-34 with 12:41 left in the game.

A follow shot by sophomore Adam Folker upped the advantage to 47-36 with 8:46 left and UCI relied on its feisty defense to hold off the Gauchos (5-6), who from then on were never closer than four, until netting a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Folker, who came off the bench to collect a career-high 14 rebounds in 20 minutes, had a pair of putbacks to end the first half, helping UCI close with a 7-0 run.

After a three-pointer by UCSB scoring leader Orlando Johnson to open the second half, UCI answered with a 10-0 run that included a pair of Wise jumpers from the high post.

“He did a nice job of isolating, getting some jump shots; stepping back and hitting a couple of shots,” UCSB Coach Bob Williams said of Wise, the reigning Big West Player of the Week who has scored 75 points the last three games. “You’re not going to shut him down for a whole game. He’s going to get stuff going. He’s a very good, effective basketball player.”

Douglass said afterward that it wasn’t the UCI coaches who got Wise going at halftime, though Wise said he got some words of encouragement to assert himself more at the offensive end.

A push was also needed for UCI at the defensive end, where the Gauchos pushed around the hosts for most of the first half.

“We wanted to stand our ground in the second half,” Wise said of his team’s post defense.

Williams also credited UCI double-teaming the post with limiting the Gauchos’ post scoring after the break.

Folker, whose six points were one shy of his career high, was also key in that department, Douglass said.

‘[The Gauchos] were attacking our center position, so I thought [Folker] came in and did a really good job off the bench,” Douglass said. “He was big; really big on the boards.”

Wise appreciated the help down low.

“[Folker] always rebounds when he comes in,” Wise said. “That’s what he does.”

UCSB still managed a 30-18 scoring advantage in the paint, but Douglass and Wise said UCI matched the visitors’ defensive intensity.

“We’ve kind of struggled to defend, but our effort was there, defensively,” Douglass said.

Added Wise: “That may have been our best defensive game, and rebounding-wise.”

Senior guard Michael Hunter had 16 points, four steals and three assists to help UCI win and fellow guard Patrick Rembert hit all four of his foul shots in the final 26 seconds to help stave off UCSB’s comeback.

UCI, which plays four games in eight days to open conference play, is at home Monday against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at 7 p.m.

Big West Conference

UC Irvine 57, UC Santa Barbara 55

UCSB – Nunnally 8, Cerda 9, Johnson 19, W. Brew 6, Roemer 5, Pastorek 3, Devenny 2, Powell 2, Weiner 1.

3-pt. goals – Roemer 1, Johnson 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

UC Irvine – Wise 21, Atkinson 1, Hunter 16, Moore 5, Wilder 4, Folker 6, Rembert 4.

3-pt. goals – Hunter 4, Moore 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Halftime – UCI, 27-24.