Men’s Basketball: ‘Eaters impress in win

A lopsided victory and some gaudy statistics in its exhibition opener, amounted to so much candy for the UC Irvine men’s basketball team Saturday night.

But Coach Russell Turner said after the 128-92 trouncing of Simon Fraser that there will be plenty of nutritional value from chewing on both the positives and negatives.

Beyond the numbers, the Anteaters, picked to repeat as Big West Conference champions and piqued to make a run at the program’s first NCAA Tournament bid, unleashed a deep, talented and determined roster on the NCAA Division II school from British Columbia, Canada.

UCI, coming off a 23-12 season after which it lost only one senior, opened by making its first six field-goal attempts and 10 of its first 11.

UCI, which used its size advantage and execution to create a virtual layup line against a team intent more on assaulting the tempo than protecting the rim, was 22 for 28 from the field at one point. The hosts shot 71.1% in a first half in which they produced eight dunks, 48 points in the paint, and a 71-33 cushion.

There was some inevitable slippage in the final 20 minutes, but also plenty to substantiate a foundation for those who suggest this is the best roster, top-to-bottom, in the program’s 50-season history.

Junior Dominique Dunning made seven of nine field-goal tries on his way to 16 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, while Jonathan Galloway, a 6-foot-10 freshman from Brentwood, amassed 14 points and 11 rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench. Galloway was seven for 10 from the field.

Senior Will Davis had 14 of his team-high 18 points before halftime and added eight rebounds while making nine of 13 field-goal tries, seven of which were dunks.

Ioannis Dimakopoulos, a 7-2 sophomore, had 12 points and nine rebounds in 15 reserve minutes, while sophomore starter Luke Nelson (12 points and four assists), sophomore reserve Jaron Martin (12 points and five assists), and junior reserve Reed McConnell (11 points) also joined UCI’s parade of double-figure scorers.

Mamadou Ndiaye, a 7-6 sophomore, did not play due to what Turner called a precautionary thing, and senior Travis Souza (ankle) and junior Mike Best were also not in uniform. Turner said all are expected to return as soon as Monday’s practice.

“I thought our guys showed what I expected,” Turner said after UCI shot 61.4% and posted a 72-33 rebounding advantage. “Our team is adaptable and that was evident tonight. We’re a team that plays a slower pace, but it’s not easy to control the pace when a team plays like that [15 of 44 from three-point range, taking 92 field-goal tries, and using a helter-skelter approach on both ends of the floor]. We adapted to what they were doing and I thought we were really effective in the first half. We did what we needed to do, defensively, and it felt to me that even though they dictated the tempo, we dictated the tone and kind of imposed our will in the first half.”

UCI led by as many as 48 and collected 80 points in the paint, as well as 68 bench points. But it was not all chocolate syrup as the ‘Eaters committed 26 turnovers and missed 15 of 34 free throws (55.9%).

“When I’m having a beer a little later, maybe I’ll focus on the positive things,” Turner said. “When I’m at practice on Monday, I’ll focus on the negative things. And every game this time of year is a little bit like that. I’m certainly not too excited about our performance, because I expect us to come in here and play well and win ... And win big. I hope there are more nights like that, but I’m not going to assume there will be. We have to keep working and keep getting better.”

UCI plays host to Chapman University in another exhibition on Friday, before opening the regular season at home against Pacific on Nov. 18 at 3 p.m.

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Exhibition

UC Irvine 128, Simon Fraser 92

SF – Simon 7, Niang 19, Evans-Taylor 17, Cole 16, Harper 5, Westfall 7, Vos 6, Sparks-Guest 5, Delflorimonte 4, van der Mas 3, Pankratz 3.

3-pt. goals – Cole 4, Niang 2, Westfall 2, Vos 2, Evans-Taylor 1, Harper 1, Pankratz 1, Westfall 1, Sparks-Guest 1.

Fouled out – Simon.

Technicals – None.

UCI – Davis 18, Ryan 7, Dunning 16, Nelson 12, Young 7, Galloway 14, Martin 12, Dimakopoulos 12, McConnell 11, Saprykinas 7, Wright 5. Rivers 5, Ray 2.

3-pt. goals – Young 1, Nelson 1, Dunning 1, Martin 1, McConnell 1, Saprykinas 1, Rivers 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Halftime – 71-33, UCI.