Anteaters Take A Lickin’ From Grateful Vandals

UC Irvine committed numerous crimes against the game of basketball on Saturday, but they were unfailingly gracious while doing so.

Anteaters coach Rod Baker probably set a Kibbie Dome record for earliest congratulatory handshake by squeezing palms with UI counterpart Kermit Davis 15 seconds before Idaho’s mind-numbing 57-40 victory became official.

Idaho, too, was well-mannered. Four Vandals recruited by Joe Cravens, the ex-UI coach who assists at Irvine, trotted to the Irvine bench for pregame and postgame handshakes and hugs with their former coach.

In between, Idaho took full advantage of Irvine’s magical healing powers. The Anteaters are 1-16 and that one might not change for a while.

The Vandals, meanwhile, continue with a recent warming trend. Their third straight conference win, viewed by 4,038, pushes Idaho to 3-5 in the Big West and 10-11 overall. UI visits UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly SLO, two winnable contests, next week.

“I can tell in timeouts when I have to get after ‘em that they’re responding better,” Davis said. “We still have a lot of work ahead, but I can see a definite change in attitude when we play games.”

Idaho didn’t so much as win this game as it courteously watched Irvine undo itself. The Anteaters made 22 turnovers, of every origin imaginable, and their point-per-minute offense was the lowest output against an Idaho team since the Vandals swallowed up Western Oregon 71-39 in 1990. Idaho held Division I Portland to 38 points in 1988, when Davis was on his first term as UI coach.

Meanwhile, Idaho unveiled a new weapon. Football wide receiver Robert Scott, who joined the basketball team roughly two weeks ago, scored seven points, had six rebounds and three assists. He played so well, he earned a second-half start.

That is probably more important than it sounds, because Idaho has managed to bungle several games with a sleepy first 5 minutes.

In this one, Idaho bumped a 24-20 halftime lead to 33-23 as Scott had a bucket and a nice feed to the emerging Kevin Byrne for another hoop.

“I’ve had to learn fast, in the heat of the battle,” admitted Scott, who played basketball in high school. He still doesn’t know all the sets and plays, but he’s instinctive enough to get by. Plus he has a high IQ.

“One thing that makes him a success is he doesn’t worry about scoring and he’s very unselfish. Every time he came in, he changed our whole tempo,” Davis said. To appreciate how quickly Scott is adapting, “it’d be like one of our guys going out and trying to play wide receiver in their seventh game,” Davis said.

Byrne, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, had 11 points.

“A lot of teams are double-teaming (Jason) Jackman, and it leaves me with wide open baskets,” Byrne said.

Jackman had 17 points and five boards. He was recruited twice by Cravens, to UI and to Utah when Cravens was an assistant there. He sought out Cravens afterward.

“I just wished him well. There wasn’t much you can say,” Jackman said. “We just said we’d exchange numbers and stay in touch.”

Irvine was led by freshman Juma Jackson’s 14 points. Irvine’s first 27 points were scored by freshmen. That streak ended when junior Wendell Robinson converted inside with 9:15 remaining.

Idaho kept the Anteaters at arm’s length most of the second half, moving in front 41-27. Irvine climbed back within eight and was within 10 on Brian Johnson’s alley-oop dunk with 4 minutes left. Idaho’s Kris Baumann’s 3-pointer eliminated any lingering suspense.

Irvine shot respectably - 49 percent - but was blunted by ball-handling and passing woes.

Idaho overcame 38 percent shooting with a 33-25 rebounding edge and a 16-4 advantage on offensive boards.

Idaho 57, Uc-Irvine 40

UC-IRVINE (1-16) - Johnson 5-8 1-4 11, Foster 1-4 0-1 2, Carlson 3-7 0-0 6, Parker 1-5 1-2 3, Jackson 5-6 3-4 14, Pugh 0-1 0-0 0, Toscanini 0-0 0-0 0, DelaCruz 0-0 0-0 0, Robinson 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 17-35 5-11 40.

IDAHO (10-11) - Thompson 0-4 0-0 0, Byrne 3-7 5-5 11, Jackman 5-11 7-8 17, Baumann 2-6 0-0 6, Turner 5-14 0-0 10, Scott 3-5 1-3 7, Elliott 1-4 0-0 2, Harris 2-4 0-0 4, Wendt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-55 13-16 57.

Halftime-Idaho 57, UC-Irvine 40. 3-Point goals-UC-Irvine 1-5 (Johnson 0-1, Parker 0-2, Jackson 1-2), Idaho 2-9 (Thompson 0-1, Byrne 0-1, Baumann 2-4, Elliott 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds, UC-Irvine 25 (Carlson 7), Idaho 33 (Scott 6). Assists-UCIrvine 7 (Parker 3), Idaho 10 (Scott 3). Total fouls-UC-Irvine 14, Idaho 16. A-4,038.

, DataTimes