by By Sarah Zetlmeisl
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – No. 2 seed UC Irvine earned a 58-51 victory over No. 10 seed Cal Poly in the quarterfinals of the Big West Tournament, Thursday evening at Michelob ULTRA Arena.
UCI (17-9) led by as much as 22 points in the first half before the Mustangs (4-20) would cut the lead to as little as three with 7:23 left in the game. The Anteaters were clutch at the free throw line down the stretch and were able to stave off Cal Poly and advance to the Big West Tournament semifinals.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Collin Welp finished with a double-double, his seventh of the season, recording a team-high 15 points and 10 rebounds
> Brad Greene (Shoshone/Paiute) was just short of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Greene swatted down five blocks and grabbed two steals
> Isaiah Lee finished with nine points on a perfect 3-3 shooting from the floor. Dawson Baker also recorded nine points
> UCI shot 40.4 percent (19-47) from the floor and went 4-of-9 (.444) from long range. The Anteaters held the Mustangs to just 29.8 percent (17-57) shooting from the field and 30.8 percent (8-26) from behind the arc
> UCI held advantages in fast break points (9-0), paint points (20-14) and points off of turnovers (11-8)
> The Mustangs were led by Alimamy Koroma with 17 points and seven rebounds
FIRST HALF
> UCI surged to a 9-2 lead at the first media timeout (16:07)
> A jumper from DJ Davis (13:37) started a 19-2 run for the ‘Eaters that gave them their largest lead of the game, 31-9, with 7:20 to play. Welp had six points in the stretch including a made three, a jumper and a made free throw
> The Mustangs got hot from the three-point line and went on a 13-0 run to cut the UCI advantage, 33-27, with 1:00 to play
> Greene made one of two free throws with :40 seconds left to give the Anteaters a seven-point, 34-27, lead at the half
SECOND HALF
> A made Greene hook shot gave the ‘Eaters a 42-32 lead with 15:43 to play
> Cal Poly used an 8-1 run to whittle down UCI’s lead to three, 43-40, with 9:03 to play
> Two made free throws followed by a driving layup from Welp gave the ‘Eaters a 52-44 edge with 4:20 remaining
> A Cal Poly three-pointer at 3:32 made it a four point game, 52-48
> UCI made six-out of seven of its free throw attempt down the stretch to seal the 58-51 victory
QUOTE FROM BRAD GREENE
“Every year I have had a different role on the team and I always try to do the most with my minutes. Now in my fifth year, playing with a lot of teammates who have not played in a Big West Tournament, I feel like I always need to come out and compete and give it my all so they see that and when they come off the bench they will all be ready to compete when they get a chance.”
