Anteaters come up short in first round

ANAHEIM — Against a team playing its first Big West Conference Tournament game in program history, it was UC Irvine that found itself lacking the comfort of precedent Wednesday night.

The No. 5-seeded Anteaters had the basketball with 3.6 seconds left, trailing by one, after No. 8-seeded UC Davis had consumed nearly five seconds by issuing the two fouls that took it to the brink of the bonus at the Anaheim Convention Center.

UCI junior guard Michael Hunter took the inbound pass and darted toward the right wing, eventually pulling up for an 18-foot fallaway jumper that bounced off the rim as time expired.

What would have been UCI’s first game-winning last-second shot of the season instead ended the season for the ’Eaters (12-19).

It was the Aggies (13-18), for whom sophomore guard Mark Payne netted two one-and-one free throws with 8.2 seconds left, that earned a 69-68 victory to advance to tonight’s quarterfinals.

“We haven’t been in that situation a lot,” Douglass said of the final seconds. “That is just kind of a spread-court situation and, hopefully, you can make a play. [Hunter] got the ball and tried the best he could to get a shot up.”

Hunter said he was redirected by a UC Davis big man who hedged on a screen. Hunter, however, said he thought the shot had a chance when it left his hands.

Some might have doubted UC Davis’ chances with 9:22 left, when UCI held a 53-44 lead after starting the second half with a 21-10 surge that included baskets by six players.

But a 10-foot runner by senior first-team all-conference guard Vince Oliver pulled the Aggies even at 59-all with 5:40 left.

UCI regained the lead on a follow shot by second-team all-conference freshman Eric Wise with 2:31 left, only to see the Aggies respond to take a 67-64 edge with 1:22 remaining.

But sophomore guard Patrick Rembert drove the lane and dished to senior Kevin Bland for a UCI layup. Then, after Bland blocked Oliver’s layup attempt with 49 seconds left, Rembert finished a drive with a left-handed layin to put UCI up, 68-67, with 36 seconds left.

UC Davis, having had some chances to win games on its final possession this season, did not call a timeout.

“We’ve practiced that, we’ve been in that situation so much,” UC Davis Coach Gary Stewart said. “If anything, we’ve probably overcoached that situation, because we’ve got about 20 plays at the end of a game. So we have a variety of things to go to, but we got exactly what we wanted.”

What Davis wanted was the 6-foot-7 Payne posting up against the 6-0 Rembert, who was called for a hold as the ball was delivered to Payne.

“We had some matchups we felt were in our favor and we liked the matchup that Mark had and we wanted to go to that,” Stewart said.

Douglass acknowledged the matchup difficulties posed by Payne (six points, making his only field-goal try and all four of his foul shots), 6-8 guard Joe Harden (14 points on six-of-11 field-goal shooting) and 6-3 Oliver (a game-high 20 points on nine-of-16 shooting from the field) against Rembert, the 5-10 Hunter, and 6-2 freshman Derrick Strings, who came off the bench but played more (20 minutes) than any other of the remaining UCI guards.

“We had a difficult time sometimes guarding their post-up with their [three guards],” Douglass said.

Douglass also lamented a lack of free-throw opportunities for his team, which made three of five from the line, both season lows. UCI did not attempt a foul shot until 4:43 remained in the game.

“We only shot five free throws,” Douglass said. “We tried posting up; driving it. We couldn’t manage to draw the foul to get to the foul line. And it was ironic the play with eight seconds to go is on a low-post [foul against UCI].”

The loss was only the second in the last six games for the ’Eaters, who opened the season 1-9.

“It was a tough loss,” Douglass said. “You know at this time of year, you want to continue playing, so we had hoped to advance.

“But Davis beat us three times and if a team beats you three times, you’ve got to say they’re the better ballclub. But I’m proud of my team, as far as the effort to improve late in the year, as we came into the tournament [in which they won three games to advance to the final last season]. I thought we had a chance to play awhile, but in these games, sometimes it’s a lucky shot, or a missed shot here or there, so, we’re going to have to regroup and get ready for next year.”

Bland (15 points and seven rebounds) and Brett Lauer (three points) capped their UCI careers.

Wise had nine points and seven boards and Hunter had 16 points.

Big West Conference Tournament

First round

UC Davis 69, UC Davis 68

UC Davis –Harden 14, Calegari 10, Oliver 20, Payne 6, Carter 0, Brucculeri 10, Lowenthal 3, Silva 3, Boone 2, Oestreicher 1.

3-pt goals – Brucculeri 2, Harden 1, Lowenthal 1, Silva 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

UCI – Bland 15, Wise 9, Hunter 16, Rembert 8, DeCasas 4, Strings 9, Atkinson 4, Lauer 3.

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

Fouled out – None.

Halftime – UCD, 34-32.