‘Eaters fall in opener
During a timeout in the latter part of the second half, the public address announcer asked that all veterans in attendance at the Bren Events Center stand up and be recognized for their military service.
UC Irvine Coach Russell Turner would likely have seconded that request for the veteran players in uniform for the Anteaters to better show themselves on the floor.
While their senior leader Luke Nelson, a first-team All-Big West Conference returner, did not play due to a balky hamstring, the few experienced players on the UCI roster were hardly dynamic in a 72-56 nonconference loss to Utah State in the season opener Friday night.
Utah State senior star Jalen Moore, whose 22 points leave him 24 shy of becoming the school’s career scoring leader, equaled the combined scoring total of the UCI starting lineup.
UCI senior Ioannes Dimakopoulos had 10 points to lead those starters, who combined to start just nine games last season.
Senior guard Jaron Martin was one for 10 from the field and had three points, while sophomore Brandon Smith, who started six games as a freshman, was one for five from the field and scored four points.
Junior Jonathan Galloway was scoreless on three field-goal tries, though he had five rebounds and two blocked shots.
Freshman Max Hazzard, who took Nelson’s spot in the lineup, was one for eight from the field and wound up with five points. Hazzard had a team-best six rebounds and also shared the UCI assist lead with three.
“The level of confidence on the floor wasn’t very good and that affected our communication and energy, it appeared, which was disappointing,” Turner said. “I have to remind myself that all the guys we started hadn’t started very much, but I don’t want to make excuses for what appeared to be a breakdown in our competitive level.
“I was really pleased with the [seven freshmen who played], who fought and competed,” Turner said. “We played like a team that was fairly inexperienced to college basketball, because we are. It’s my job to get us better able to perform and function.”
The major difficulty for UCI was shooting, as it was 18 of 61 from the field (29.5%), including eight for 29 from three-point range (27.6%).
Utah State shot 52% in the second half (13 for 25) to finish at 47.2% for the game and made seven of 19 three-point attempts.
Still, the Anteaters led, 15-14, midway through the opening half, before the Aggies scored 11 straight points to spark a 22-3 surge that gave them control for good.
“We got blasted,” Turner said of the Utah State run that helped produce a 40-24 halftime advantage.
The lead swelled to as many as 23 early in the second half.
Freshman Eyassu Worku had 11 points in 25 reserve minutes to lead the hosts, who posted a 41-36 rebounding advantage and had 11 turnovers, one more than the Aggies.
Turner also praised the play of 6-foot-10 freshman Brad Greene, wo has six points and four rebounds and was two for two from the field in seven minutes off the bench.
“I thought Brad was terrific,” Turner said. “He looked like he was pretty sure about what his role was. The other guys looked like they were trying a little bit too hard to do things and were not quite sure of the tempo and pace it’s going to take for our team to be good. We’ve known we might look like that sometimes, but I thought we might have more minutes than we did in which we looked good.”
Turner said Nelson was available to play, but that he was reluctant to have him return too soon and aggravate an injury that may then linger. Turner said he could return as soon as Monday, when UCI plays host to South Dakota State at 7 p.m.
NONCONFERNCE
Utah State 72, UC Irvine 56
USU – Moore 22, Taylor 6, Janicek 10, McEwen 11, Rector 10, Pearre 4, Dargenton 4, Barnaba 3, Merrill 2.
3-pt. goals – Taylor 2, Janicek 1, Moore 1, Rector 1, McEwen 1, Barnaba.
Fouled out – None.
Technicals – None.
UCI – Galloway 0, Smith 4, Dimakopoulos 10, Hazzard 5, Martin 3, Leonard 8, Worku 11, Edgar 7, Green 6, Rutherford 2.
3-pt. goals – Worku 2, Martin 1, Dimakopoulos 1, Smith 1, Hazzard 1, Leonard 1.
Fouled out – Rutherford.
Technicals – None.
Halftime: USU, 40-24.