Warrior Insider

Brad Greene scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and added a crucial blocked shot in the final 30 seconds tonight to help visiting UC Irvine hold off Hawai’i, 53-51, in Big West Conference men’s basketball action tonight.

The victory at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center improved the Anteaters’ record to 9-4 overall and 5-0 in the Big West. Casdon Jardine scored a team-high 14 points and James Jean-Marie added 12 points and six boards to lead the Warriors, who fell to 4-5, 2-5. 

UC Irvine led, 25-22, after a closely contested defensive first half in which neither team was up by more than five points.

The Anteaters led 29-24 a couple minutes into the second half, but Justin Webster drained a deep 3-pointer from well beyond the top of the key to ignite a 7-2 run capped by Jean-Marie’s two free throws which put Hawai’i ahead, 34-31, with 14:36 remaining.

Austin Johnson then muscled in a layup to help UCI answer back with a 8-0 run culminating in Greene’s layup which made it 39-34 with 11:11 left.

The Warriors got as close as 48-47 after two free throws by Webster with 3:14 remaining, and gained possession trailing 52-49 with 45 seconds left after a free throw miss by Welp. They got the ball inside to Jean-Marie under the basket, but his layup attempt was blocked by Greene and the Anteaters secured the rebound.

Isaiah Lee was then fouled on the next possession and sank both ends of a 1-and-1 to make it 53-49 with 15.1 ticks on the clock. After Jardine scored a layup to cut it to 53-51 with five seconds remaining, Lee was fouled again but missed the front end of a 1-and-1.

Jardine grabbed the rebound and passed to Webster, who dribbled past halfcourt and then launched a 28-foot attempt at the horn, but the shot was off to the left and bounced off the backboard.

More details, including video highlights and interviews, will be posted later.

Big West Conference
Friday’s Results
UC San Diego at Long Beach State, canceled
at Cal Poly 76, CSUN 70
UC Santa Barbara 72, at UC Davis 51
Cal State Fullerton 90, at CSU Bakersfield 84
UC Irvine 53, at Hawai’i 51

Saturday’s Games
UC San Diego at Long Beach State, canceled
CSUN at Cal Poly
UC Santa Barbara at UC Davis
Cal State Fullerton at CSU Bakersfield
UC Irvine at Hawai’i