‘Eaters advance to semis

ANAHEIM -- One day after erasing an 18-point first-half deficit, the UC Irvine men’s basketball team proved it could build and even extend an early advantage of its own Thursday night.

The No. 5-seeded Anteaters seized a 22-9 lead on the way to a 28-18 first-half advantage and held on for 70-52 victory over No. 4-seeded UC Santa Barbara in the quarterfinals of the Big West Conference men’s basketball tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The Anteaters (15-17) will meet top-seeded Long Beach State (22-7) in the semifinals tonight at 6:30. It’s a rematch of last year’s semifinals, won by the 49ers, 75-73, on a last-second three-pointer by Aaron Nixon, this year’s Big West Player of the Year.

UCI has split with the 49ers this season and Anteaters Coach Pat Douglass said he would eagerly take a rematch with the 49ers after his team fell at Long Beach, 85-80, in the regular-season finale March 1.

It’s the first time in Douglass’ 10-year tenure at UCI that the Anteaters have won more than one game in the Big West Tournament.

UCI, which came in 12-1 when leading at halftime, added to that trend against the Gauchos (18-11).

UCI senior Nic Campbell displayed his sense of urgency in the opening seconds of the second half. He drilled a three-pointer with 19:18 left, then dived on the floor to force a tie-up, before connecting again from threedom with 18:41 remaining to boost the Anteaters advantage to 34-18.

After freshman point guard Michael Hunter sank a three-pointer to answer one by UCSB’s Cecil Brown, Campbell added his third three ball of the second half to put UCI up, 40-23.

Hunter connected again from beyond the arc with 15:57 left to give the Anteaters a 43-26 lead and Darren Fells scored a transition layup to make it 45-26 with 15:35 left.

UCI continued the onslaught, eventually prompting Santa Barbara Coach Bob Williams to erupt in frustration at the officials. Williams was called for a technical foul after screaming at the officials with 7:51 remaining. He continued his tirade for at least a minute.

UCI upped the lead to as many 24 on its way to its third biggest margin of victory of the year. The ‘Eaters won, 66-42, at Pacific on Jan. 13 and defeated Harvard at home, 81-48, on Dec. 28.

Hunter finished with a team-high 16 points, two shy of his career high. He made six of 11 field-goal attempts and led the winners with three assists.

Kelley added 15 points on six-of-12 shooting and Campbell wound up with 12 points.

UCI, which Douglass said came out nervous and anxious Wednesday against Riverside, appeared considerably more relaxed against the Gauchos.

Santa Barbara, on the other hand, appeared sluggish. They shot just 29% from the field before intermission (eight of 27) and committed nine turnovers before the break.

UCI converted 12 of 30 field-goal tries (40%), including a gift basket with one second left when the Anteaters converted a turnover into a Darren Fells layin to up the halftime lead to double digits.

All-conference UCSB starters Chris Devine and Cecil Brown were a combined zero for eight from the field in the first 20 minutes and starter Glenn Turner missed his only field-goal attempt before intermission.

UCI senior Mark Kelley, who led the late comeback against Riverside, had eight first-half points to lead the designated visitors Thursday.

Perhaps the most anxious moment for UCI came with 4:35 left, when Fells was helped from the floor after appearing to sprain his left ankle.

UCSB finished 18 of 57 from the field (31.6%), while UCI made 24 of 52 field-goal attempts (46.2%).

Alex Harris, the conference’s leading scorer this season, led the Gauchos with 22 points.

Big West TournamentQuarterfinalUC Irvine -- Hunter 16, Kelley 15, Campbell 12, Sanders 9, Awaji 7, Fells 6, McIntosh 3, DeCasas 2.

UC Irvine 70,

UC Santa Barbara 52

3-pt. goals -- Campbell 3, Hunter 3, McIntosh 1.

Fouled out -- Campbell.

Technicals -- None.

UC Santa Barbara -- Harris 22, Powell 9, Elliott 6, Joyner 5, Turner 3, Brown 3, Devine 2, Bidias a Moute 2.

3-pt. goals -- Powell 2, Harris 2, Brown 1, Joyner 1.

Fouled out -- None.

Technicals -- Team.

Halftime -- 28-18, UCI.