LONG BEACH — The UC Irvine men’s basketball team will take a win any way it can get one these days.
Even an ugly one like Thursday’s.
The Anteaters turned the ball over early and often against Long Beach State in their Big West Conference matchup, but they made up for it on the defensive end in a 69-58 victory at the Pyramid.
UCI led from start to finish, but committed 15 of its 22 turnovers in the first half.
“We weren’t good enough at the most basic fundamentals that you have to be good enough at to win against good teams in the first half,” UCI coach Russell Turner said. “And we weren’t good down the stretch either, but we were good enough to find a way to win, so I’m pleased with that.”
Kyle Evans had 14 points and 11 rebounds for his third straight double-double, and the national leader in blocked shots (3.35 per game) blocked five more.
“He’s a presence,” Turner said of Evans. “He’s a heck of a story in how much he’s improved. I think our program is a great fit for him, and I feel terrific about that because he’s such a high-character kid.”
Derin Saran added 13 points, Harrison Carrington also scored 13 off the bench and Jurian Dixon added 11 points for UCI (18-9 overall, 11-4 Big West), which went the night tied for first place with Hawaii.
Gavin Sykes scored 16 points and Petar Majstorovic had 13 points and 10 rebounds for LBSU (8-19, 4-11), which has lost eight in a row.
UCI, which came in third in the nation in field-goal percentage defense (37.8%), held LBSU to 31.8%.
The first half was one to forget for both teams.
The Anteaters not only committed 15 turnovers, but they missed four of five free-throw attempts.
LBSU shot 27.6% from the field in the opening 20 minutes, committed 11 turnovers and missed all eight of its 3-point attempts.
UCI was careless with the ball right from the start, turning the ball over three times in the first three minutes. The Anteaters were able to open an early 12-6 lead as Long Beach missed 11 of its first 12 shots.
“I don’t want to act like we weren’t ready. I thought we were ready,” Turner said. “We defended at a really high level in the first half, but we sometimes just looked like a young team because we are a young team.”
The Anteaters reached double digits in giveaways with 8:32 still left in the first half, but they managed to score five straight points to take their biggest lead at 17-10 on a 3-pointer by Carrington with 6:55 left, the only 3-point shot either team made before halftime.
LBSU managed to even the score at 18-all on an inside basket by Shay Johnson Jr., but UCI answered with six straight points before eventually taking a 24-20 lead into the half.
UCI guard Andre Henry, who made all eight of his shots and scored a season-high 19 points in an 86-65 win against visiting Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, appeared to injure his shoulder in the final minute of the first half, but he returned for the second half and finished with four points.
Jovan Jester Jr. scored on a fast-break dunk to give the Anteaters their first double-digit lead at 36-26 with 16 minutes left in the game.
Long Beach missed its first 10 attempts from 3-point range before Majstorovic hit one on the next trip down the floor, but LBSU couldn’t get any closer than seven before the Anteaters re-established a double-digit lead at 41-31 on a 3-pointer off an inbounds pass by Saran.
UCI expanded its lead to 15 with 7:16 left and LBSU couldn’t get back within single digits until the final minute.
“I’m grateful that we won,” Turner said. “I do think our big guys were better, more assertive in the second half. That’s important for us because in the first half we were super soft inside.”
The Anteaters beat Long Beach, 74-64, in their first meeting on Jan. 8 at UCI.