‘Eaters surge to victory

IRVINE — UC Irvine men’s basketball coach Pat Douglass, in his 27th year leading a college program, has become a tad set in his ways. And one of the things he is stubborn about is demanding focus on every possession, spanning two twenty-minute halves.

But in Friday night’s nonconference season opener against visiting Loyola Marymount, the UCI players gave him enough quality in the first half to overcome the lack of sustained quantity in that department.

“We’ve shown signs of playing well, but we haven’t sustained it,” Douglas said after the Anteaters hit 15 of their first 18 field-goal attempts en route to a 36-13 lead barely more than 14 minutes into the contest. UCI was up, 39-15, with 3:21 left before intermission, then virtually cruised to a 74-61 triumph that seemed to please the 823 in attendance at Crawford Court.

“Tonight, at least, we sustained it longer. Now, Tuesday night [when they meet Nevada at the Anaheim Convention Center], we’re going to have to sustain it for even more possessions.”

The Anteaters unleashed 16 minute of thunder on the Lions, locking down defensively and knocking down shots, both in transition and the half-court offense.

Senior Patrick Sanders, who led the team with 18 points in its 73-71 exhibition win Tuesday at Crawford Court, made his first four field-goal tries against LMU, most on mid-range jumpers. He was also two for two from the foul line to hit double figures with 8:28 left in the first half.

Kevin Bland, a 6-foot-8 junior who redshirted last season, and Adam Rodenberg, a 6-7 junior community college transfer from Iowa, also had little trouble sinking shots early.

Sanders finished the first half four of five from the field, while Bland was four of six and Rodenberg was three of six. Throw in sophomore point guard Michael Hunter (two of three) and sophomore guard Chad DeCasas (one of two) and the starting lineup shot 63.6% in the first half.

As a team, the hosts were 16 of 27 for 59.3% and also forced 14 Loyola Marymount turnovers to just five in the opening half.

UCI was a modest 12 of 25 in the second half (48%) to finish at 53.8% from the field for the game (28 of 52).

“We were making shots,” Douglass said of the first-half burst, which included a 13-0 run after the Lions closed to within 10-9 with a three-pointer a little more than six minutes in.

The 13-0 run was capped by a Hunter three-pointer, the only one of the night for the Anteaters, who were just one for 11 from beyond the arc.

After Loyola scored with 9:05 to go in the first half on a putback, UCI reeled off eight straight points, courtesy of four different players.

Shuffling in their man-to-man defensive stances, UCI held the Lions to just one field goal over a stretch of 11 minutes, five seconds, ending with 2:35 left before the break.

Hunter, Rodenberg and Bland, who fouled out having played just 23 minutes, finished with 14 points apiece and Sanders had 12 to pace the winners, who improved to 32-11 in openers.

Sanders had a game-high nine rebounds, while Rodenberg had five boards.

Loyola lost to Cal State Dominguez Hills, 84-68, in its exhibition game.

Nonconference

UC Irvine 74, Loyola Marymount 61

LMU – Turner 4, Deadwiler 15, Sutton 8, Diederichs 8, Johnson 9, Deric 13, Sweezy 2, Ziri 2.

3-pt. goals – Deadwiler 1, Johnson 1.

UCI – Sanders 12, Rodenberg 14, Bland 14, Hunter 14, DeCasas 4, McIntosh 6, Awaji 6, Harris 4.

3-pt. goals – Hunter 1.

Fouled out - Bland.

Halftime – UCI, 41-23.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].