Irvine Wins Big One at Pyramid

The ball rested on the lip of the rim, if only momentarily, and all of Long Beach State’s hopes--and UC Irvine’s fears--lay there too.

When the ball rolled off the rim and fell to the floor, Irvine left content. Long Beach point guard Rasul Salahuddin barely missed a 25-foot three-point attempt at the buzzer Monday night, allowing Irvine to escape with an 84-81 Big West Conference victory before 4,789 at the Pyramid.

“It was just a little short,” Salahuddin said. “I was pretty deep, but I thought it was going in. I guess I just didn’t get enough rotation on it.”

The victory put the Anteaters, 13-7 overall and 9-3 in the conference, back in first place. They now hold a half-game lead over the 49ers (14-8, 9-4), who began the game with a six-game conference winning streak.

Anteater guard Brian Keefe tied a career high with 29 points, making seven of 10 three-point tries. Irvine tied a school record with 15 three-point baskets and shot 68.2% on three-pointers.

James Cotton, the Big West’s leading scorer, didn’t play for the second consecutive game because of a prostate problem.

Irvine held a 73-56 lead with 5:46 left.

From there, Salahuddin, who had a career-high 24 points with seven assists and five steals, led the charge. He keyed the late run with his defense and made three of eight three-point tries down the stretch.

“I’ve never seen a Long Beach State team just lay down, and I didn’t expect to see it tonight,” Irvine Coach Rod Baker said. “I knew they would keep competing.”

As they have throughout much of their previous streak, the 49ers started strong. However, the Anteaters, relying on three-point shooting and Raimonds Miglinieks’ passing, raced back.

The Anteaters outscored the 49ers, 24-1, over the final 7:26 of the half and led, 41-33, at halftime.

Miglinieks finished with 12 points and six assists before fouling out.

Everything worked well for Long Beach early in the first half. Playing inspired defense, Long Beach took a 23-9 lead on a jumper by guard Eric Brown with 10:30 to go in the half.

Salahuddin was the key to the run with three steals and several good decisions that ended in fast break layups and dunks. A jumper by Salahuddin gave Long Beach a 26-12 lead with 9:51 remaining before halftime.

At that point, the 49ers’ players felt every bit the Big West’s best group.

Then it all stopped. Long Beach didn’t score another point for more than four minutes.