Men’s Basketball: Nelson, Martin help UCI advance
ANAHEIM — How teams deal with postseason pressure is telling. How players respond is often the difference between elimination and advancing.
As the pressure intensifies in the Big West Conference Tournament on Thursday, the UC Irvine men’s basketball team relied on senior guards Luke Nelson and Jaron Martin to provide comforting insulation.
Martin scored 17 of his 19 points after halftime and Nelson, the Big West Player of the Year, had 14 of his 19 before intermission to help ensure a 76-67 quarterfinal win for the Anteaters at Honda Center.
UCI (20-13), which became the first Big West school since Utah State in the early 2000s to post five straight 20-win seasons, advances to meet Long Beach State in Friday’s semifinals at 6:30 p.m.
Martin, a first-team all-conference performer, was six for eight from the field in the final 20 minutes. He sank unorthodox runners in the lane, mid-range jumpers and one three-pointer to help UCI earn its sixth straight Big West quarterfinal triumph.
“When teams pressure you, they can take you out of the sort of controlled game we are very efficient in,” UCI Coach Russell Turner said. “But when teams pressure up into Jaron, they are putting themselves at risk. He exploited them tonight by being a playmaker at the rim. He has done that for us consistently all season and throughout his career.”
Martin finished seven for 13 from the field, while adding five rebounds, three assists and one steal. He had only one turnover in 32 minutes.
Nelson was five for 11 from the field, two for seven from three-point range, while producing five rebounds and five assists in 32 minutes.
Nelson (seven for eight) and Martin combined to net 11 of 12 foul shots, as UCI canned 17 of 19 to overcome subpar three-point shooting (five for 23 for 21.7%).
“Those two senior guards were incredible,” Riverside Coach Dennis Cutts said of Nelson and Martin. “It’s not like we broke down; they just made a couple plays. They do that. They make you pay for mistakes. Usually when you get on a run, you can bother teams. We didn’t bother either one of those guards. Jaron was incredible in that second-half spurt.”
Junior Jonathan Galloway had a game-high 13 rebounds to help UCI post a 45-28 rebounding advantage and the conference regular-season champions bothered the Highlanders (7-21) defensively, particularly in the first half.
Riverside was one for its first 11 from the field and shot just 29.6% in the opening 20 minutes.
“We did defend and we did rebound,” Turner said. “We’re going to win ugly a lot of nights, especially when we don’t shoot well from three. We’re the No. 1 three-point shooting team in the league [36.4% coming in], so that’s an unusual night for us.
“We were as good from the free-throw line as we were below average from three,” said Turner, whose team swept Riverside in three games this season and has won 11 of the last 12 meetings with the Highlanders.
Riverside, which lost its final eight games, pared a 45-31 deficit early in the second half to 55-52 with 8:50 remaining. But 7-foot-2 UCI center Ioannis Dimakopoulos hit two buckets in the lane and Galloway added a layin to help the ‘Eaters rebuild the cushion.
The Highlanders were 16 for 32 from the field in the second half, including six for 11 from threedom (54.5%).
Turner said pressure is not a concern at this time of the season.
“I don’t believe our guys feel pressure,” Turner said. “We understand this situation. These guys are veterans. We played a championship game Saturday at home [a 79-49 win over then-co-leader UC Davis] and we’ve approached each game this year as if it were a championship game, because the regular season is important for us. This tournament is an extension of what we do.”
Martin said he enjoys the high-stakes postseason environment.
“I just want to lead,” Martin said. “That’s my role as a senior, to get these guys calmed down and try to figure out the best way to win. [Down the stretch], I just needed to score a little more. I’m trying to do what I have to to win, whether scoring or playmaking.”
Big West Conference Tournament
Quarterfinal
UC Irvine 76, UC Riverside 67
UCR – Johnson 22, Rosser 5, Larsson 0, Martin 12, Thomas 5, Murray 11, Dijkstra 10, Thames 2.
3-pt. goals – Murray 3, Martin 2, Johnson 1, Rosser 1, Thomas 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
UCI – Galloway 8, Smith 5, Dimakopoulos 6, Nelson 19, Martin 19, Rutherford 6, Worku 5, Edgar Jr. 4, Hazzard 2, Greene 2.
3-pt. goals – Nelson 2, Martin 1, Smith 1, Worku 1.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
Halftime – 38-28, UCI.
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5
