UC Irvine: 2018-19 Big West Men's Basketball Champions

They met in Fullerton first and then Irvine, and then, Saturday night, they met in the middle.

In Anaheim. At Honda Center. In the finale of the Big West tournament.

Turns out it didn’t matter where the games started because each finished in the same place: with UC Irvine on top.

The Anteaters defeated Cal State Fullerton 92-64 with a blitz from the opening tip led by junior guard Max Hazzard.

With the victory, Irvine (30-5) advances to the NCAA tournament for the second time in school history. The 2014-15 Anteaters were seeded 13th and sent to Seattle, where they lost their first game to Louisville 57-55.

The win also avenged their loss in the Big West final a year ago to the Titans (16-17), who were trying to make consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament.

Hazzard delivered the early punches and freshman teammate Collin Welp the final knockout.

Hazzard had 15 of his 23 points in the first half and Welp 12 of his 23 in the opening 10 minutes of the second.

Fullerton’s Khalil Ahmad, who scored 60 points total in his first two tournament games, missed eight shots to start Saturday and finished with six points.

Hazzard began by making three three-pointers in the game’s first four minutes. He added a driving layup before finally missing another three-point try.

The Anteaters made 10 of their first 13 shots overall and, after barely 10 minutes, had ballooned the difference to 30-12. The Titans closed to within 33-22 on a Kyle Allman Jr. three-pointer 4:46 before halftime.

But Irvine reasserted itself to close on a 9-2 run to restore the 18-point edge — 42-24 — after 20 minutes.

From there, the Anteaters continued to pour it on, burying Fullerton with an overwhelming display of offensive efficiency.

These two schools are conference rivals that share Orange County and equal measures of respect and distaste for one another.

The Anteaters won both previous meetings against the Titans this year, 63-46 in January and 60-53 nearly a month later.

At that point, the schools had played 110 times in men’s basketball. The record for each was the same: 55-55.

Two institutions that sit roughly 23 miles apart couldn’t have been any closer.

In the Big West tournament, however, Fullerton had carved out a sizable gap. The Titans entered Saturday 7-2 against Irvine when the stakes were one-and-done.

In 2018, they knocked off the third-seeded Anteaters as the No. 4 seed 71-55 in a title game Irvine led only once after the first three minutes.

Both these programs arrived at Honda Center riding upward trends established over the past few seasons.

Irvine has claimed the Big West’s regular-season title four times in six years, reached three consecutive tournament finals now and won at least 20 games in six of the past seven seasons for coach Russell Turner.

The Titans have won 10 Big West games in each of the past three years after winning 10 total in coach Dedrique Taylor’s first three seasons at the school.

UC Irvine: 2014-15 Big West Men's Basketball Champions

ANAHEIM, Calif. >> The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors could not close the deal on UC Irvine and the Big West Conference tournament.

UH led for the whole first half and was even with the Anteaters through 30 minutes of play but third-seeded UCI pulled away late to defeat UH 67-58 on Saturday night at the Honda Center.

Now the Rainbows (22-13) wait to hear if they will play in a postseason tournament like the NIT or CIT, or if their season is over.

The Honda crowd of about 3,000 was comprised about two-thirds of UCI fans, but UH had vocal support as well.

Guard Luke Nelson led the second-half Anteater comeback with 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting.

For UH, forward Aaron Valdes scored 14 of his 17 points in the first half. Garrett Nevels scored 14 on 6-for-12 shooting.

UH was swept by UCI home-and-home during the regular season, and the Anteaters did it without their 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye, the tallest player in college basketball. This time Ndiaye was an imposing presence in the paint.

An early 13-point lead dwindled to two in the final minute of the first half. UH settled for a four-point halftime advantage -- which disappeared immediately to start the second period.

The teams battled evenly through the first 10 minutes of the second half. Irvine claimed its first lead, 42-40, on a short hook shot by Ioannis Dimakopoulos.

Point guard Roderick Bobbitt picked UCI's pocket in the open court -- his 100th steal of the season -- and took it in for a layup to tie it back up. Isaac Fleming followed with a strong take as recaptured the lead, 45-43.

Mike Thomas sank a 17-footer from the baseline for a 47-44 UH advantage. But the Anteaters then rolled off eight straight points to take a 52-47 lead.

Valdes ended the run with a deep 3-pointer from the wing to cut it to 52-50 with three minutes left. But it was just about all UCI from there.

UH scorched the nets for the first seven minutes of the game, jumping out to a 20-7 start by hitting on four of five 3-pointers, similar to what the Rainbows did in their semifinal win over top-seeded UC Davis.

Alex Young sank a pull-up jumper to cut it to 31-29.

Valdes hit a tough runner to make it 33-29 and Jankovic stripped Will Davis II at the other end to preserve the four-point halftime lead.

Valdes had 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting and five rebounds in the period. 

UCI Student Wanted In Attempted Murder, Found Dead

Photo by slasher-fun via LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

According to university officials, a 33-year-old, UC Irvine student suspected of trying to strangle his wife on Wednesday was found dead Friday afternoon in San Juan Capistrano, reports KTLA.
Gregory Scott Turner is believed to have committed suicide after a pair of domestic violence incidents this past week. Turner had been at large since his 7-year-old daughter called 911 on Wednesday after reportedly witnessing Turner trying to strangle her mother in their Verano Place apartment. The couple's 5-year-old daughter was also reportedly home during the attack.
His wife, Ketra Batiste was hospitalized and released Friday. It was the second time in a week police were dispatched to the Turner/Batiste residence because of a disturbance. On Dec. 9 Turner was arrested and released following an alleged physical altercation with his wife. According to KTLA, court records did not show criminal charges.

Turner was an undergraduate at UCI studying criminology, and school officials report that Turner confided in a friend that he was suicidal. The couple's daughters are currently in protective custody and will be placed with their mother "in a temporary domestic violence safe house," reports KTLA.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@laist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

Post Number 401 on the Bedlam...and it isn't a happy one

March 24, 2008 was a landmark moment in the history of this blog, as it reached 400 posts. But today, March 27, 2008, should be a landmark moment in the annals of 49er volleyball ignomity. You can't expect to win matches, let alone championships if you let the opponent come from two games down to win in five. I mean, how the fuck is that possible to win anything?

If my guys learned something, it's to go to the nearest place of worship and seek penance. In a hurry. Cause there is no redemption when you let UC Irvine get one step closer to winning this year's edition of the Black and Blue Rivalry Series. In fact, in the words of Lee Corso, "Forget about it!"

And you know what? I have a gut feeling that that won't the last time we choke in five. That's three times SO FAR this year (as of this post) our guys failed to shut the door on our opponents when it goes the distance. This game, obviously, had to hurt, because the match shouldn't have gone the distance in the first place.

If I'm Alan Knipe, any hairs remaining on my head are gone. And I already have Dr. Bosley's number, in case my boys find salvation any way they can get it, cause they weren't going to see the light tonight. Nope, not with the way we played after Game 2; only a black hole.

Pathetic.

Full circle, futility, and a bunch of lucky Ithaca bastards.

I was feeling rather giddy a few days ago, although at the same time, I was slow getting up. I didn'tget the chance to pinch myself until I began to blog this. Hours before, I saw my Long Beach Satte softball team methodically dismantly then-undefeated, #5-ranked Florida, 2-1 in 10 innings. It's not very often that I getr to see any Long Beach team outside of men's volleyball beat a Top 5 opponent, so this win was extra special. As I said, it's going to be monster momentum as they face the Wahine again to start the UNLV Tournament. Hey, evening the score doesn't look too bad, now. They can take that.
After I went to Chipotle to wolf down another burrito from another day at ROP, I did some house-cleaning on campus. Anime Club T-Shirt purchase order processed: check. Tickets from the past couple days of action recorded: check. Materials for UCI bus trip ready: check.And so we were off.
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So, this African marathon guy with a bald spot comes over and tells me I can't use my bat to accompany the foot stomping on our side of the Bren Events Center. He's the black analogue to Micol Coppock. We talked a little bit, his background about his family, it's-not-about-Long Beach State -and-UCI crap, and every other lame [sic] attempt to get some sympathy from me. Well, in spite of an effort that Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire could equal, it went one ear and out the other.
Apparently, this guy has NOT been to our Walter Pyramid. And he does not realize that the atmosphere there is louder than the Bren Events Center by a country mile. At the Myd, this type of stomping is the norm. He'd best stay out of our way because that's how we do it, no matter where we are.
Might as well consider a flight back, if his wife and kids are his biggest priority. Actually, I recommend it. Humph.
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I so hoped the men won their game. I would have forgiven the guy telling me about his life-story. Instead, the Great Hoopspression of 2008 continued for the guys, and I have no love lost for the green card flasher. Maybe not until our men's volleyball team finishes the deal down there on the 27th.
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I think now I should hold off on the Chipotle. When the day ended, I ate three burritos from Chipotle (one carnitas, two carne asada from the bus), a Monster, a Rockstar, a cup of green tea (my throat is going through torture), and a wry smile on my face.
All that was missing was the water. I took care of that when I got home.
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As the day ended, I had mixed feelings. But as the 94 went downtown and the 193 went northbound frm downtown, I just had a gut feelings things were going to look up the next day. Northridge has a nasty five-game win streak against us. It had to fall today. I just had to. In the Gold Mine.

Unfortunately, I couldn't be any more wrong. Northridge made it six straight
against us, and I was just sick to my stomach. I hurled my souvenir bat in
frustration, acknowledging that my guys were not going to be championship
material, and that I was revoking their Masters of LSV license.

That was also the first win in the Gold Mine in nearly two decades for the Matadors.

Alan Knipe and crew going to have to wake up and smell the roses. Pathetic sons-of-bitches couldn't get it done, and placate my already obvious lack of sanity. I need to order a straightjacket.

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I just heard that Cornell is the first team dancing into the tournament. Ironically, two years ago we beat these guys in the Walter Pyramid, and this was the same coach that coached this year's edition of the Big Red.

You lucky Ithaca bastards.

NOT an insurmountable margin...right?

As I took Passport D leading back to Transit Mall, I thought, "Six points is not an insurmountable margin." But if our other teams do not pull their weight, it might as well be.

I could see it coming from as far as Mars. After those two games at the Walter Pyramid involving our basketball teams, UC Irvine got some well-deserved leverage, and now we are six points behind the Anteaters in the race for the Black and Blue Rivalry Series surfboard, 15-9. And the Great Hoopspression of 2008 continued.

But, you know what really got me irked, to put it quite frankly? A couple of stupid UCI hooligans for students were standing in our section. Section 111 in the Pyramid is the student section, and these guys were trespassing on our side our the Myd.

So, I went over, and told them, "Hey, what are you doing in our section?"
"We're just enjoying the game here."
"No. You are not allowed to be here. Get out of our section, right now."
"But we're just enjoying the game here."
"I said, get the fuck out of our section. NOW!"
"No, we're just enjoying the-"
"Take this, you UCI motherfucker!"
And all hell broke loose.

Now, let's make it clear here. I was being rather nice to one of these turds, by giving a gentle shove. It could have, and should have, been a sharp kick to the ribs and gut. To the cheers of the Monson Maniacs, I told Dustin Watten, one of the Masters of Le Sexy Volleyball, "These sons of bitches are SOOOOOO going down. And you WILL do it. Understand?"
He, Dan Alexander, Dean Bittner, and the other Masters present at the men's game gave an emphatic, "Yeeeeah!"

After the game, I told my good friend, Cindy Masner, one-time interim athletic director for the Beach and a great advocate for the department, about the unfortunate situation. I also criticized the fact that the Event Staff did not approach these guys, and escort them out, thus avoiding this situation altogether. Finally, I let Cindy know that "...this will be the LAST time you give me that warning, because I have your word that you will prevent such things like this from happening again. You understand?"
She nodded, I thanked her for her cooperation, and I took off. But at the same time, I wondered the possibilities in the other B&B matches.

At least the rugby, ice hockey (I just found out a few minutes ago on LMU's site) and women's water polo teams won today. But Mary Hegarty and Dan "The Taekwondo Man" Monson (that is the new epithet I give him, for his accuracy in kicking the billboard in frustration, and his garb. Hiyaaa!"), bless their hearts, they must have felt like Katrina blew by their houses. More so for poor Mary, God forgive her transgressions.

Such is the politics of sport. And thus, my intention to explore the politics, the red tape, the yin and yang, if you will, in the Sport Management program, GRE and process willing.

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That is the last time, I try to stomp a drink can before tossing it into the Recycle Bin. In an unexpected demonstration of physics (and an inability of my left foot to get all that can), my Rockstar Zero Carb can (contents already downed..oh, by the way, it has been ages since I chugged one of those bad boys down. No really. It has.) flew out of the seat and onto the floor. The Event Staff thought I threw it into the floor. Make a note of that, Jo-Ryan, to just drop the can, unstomped, into the bin.
"Roger. 10/4. Thank you."

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Also at the women's game, a young girl, came up to me, and poked me a bit. I wanted to give her a high five, and to my surprise, she didn't know how to do it. (Either that, or she is making a really serious case to become a Zot when she grows up.) I told the parents, "You are going to have to tell your kid to have some respect." If I have to power to give a tall broad a sharp kick to the gut, unfortunately for the little girl, I can send her flying like a soccer ball several feet with a simple swing of my right leg.

I kid you not.

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And I just found that the Great Hoopspression of 2008 was not restricted to Long Beach State. If the Sisters of Mercy would polish the 49er ladies off the floor, against Long Beach City College, it should be declared a Holy Day of Demolition. And the Viking men's aren't spared damage either. As if losing to John Featherstone's Noble Men of Murdock wasn't bad enough, both Vikings hoops teams lose to the El Camino Warriors.

Ouch.

The Beach is back.

So we are currently, as of this post, all square at 9 in the B&B battle for the surfboard. We swept Irvine, 3 games to nil. What made this satisfying for our crew was that in Game 1, UCI was never able to get a game point of their own, while we had to go to 36 to finally take it. Paul otman never missed a beat, getting 8 of his 17 kills in that game. Ironically, he is 88 away from reaching the 1,000-kills club. Go figure. I reckon he will come close to after our first tangle with the Waves.

The Anteaters were effectively taken out of the match in Game 2, thanks to the heroics of one Tommy Pestolesi. When he got onto the court, down 27-23, the Threefold Law came into effect. I asked the question during coach Alan Knipe's last timeout of that game: You can make two choices: 1. Make this a best-of-three, or 2. Rally back and put their backs against the wall. To my delight, Tommy, on behalf of the guys, chose Choice 2. Good decision.
Down 27-23 due to two hitting errors and an ace by the Zots, Pestolesi got the Beach back through Irvine imploding off the serves with three straight aces, a kill, and a couple of hitting errors from the visitors in blue. Hey Kari, you are welcome to fall in and transfer here with your big bro...if you want to.

Mentally, and physically, UCI never recovered from the 49er rally. This was where the leadership of the seniors from last season were missed. With most of the team returning for my guys, we took advantage. A funny thing happened at the end of the game. I flung my shirt off after the sweep...and by sheer luck, it landed on Kevin Cape's head. Now, Kevin had a great, if not illustrious, career at Long Beach State, and now he was standing in the student section with me. I've already graduated, and I STILL am making some memories here at the Beach, for good or for bad.

Next up is UCLA at the Pauley. If we can improve on our consistency...roll up, and as Lord of the Dance Michael Flatley likes to say, fasten your seat belts, 49er Nation, because we're The Beach, we're The Beach, and The Beach is back (sorry Elton John), and the Magical Redemption Tour is up and running. All aboard!

An ordinary day? More like a day of mourning

It really sets you off your comfort zone when you've got really good things get outweighed by really bad things. That happened today.

While the only good thing that happened was our men's basketball team exacting revenge over UC Irvine 86-80 on Senior Night, at the same time, three crappy things happened.

First, our women's tennis team, who everyone thought would run the tables, saw their season turn into disarray, losing to...wait for it...UC Irvine, 4-3. When I got home, I learned that my older sister forgot to tape the game, AND not tell me beforehand that she couldn't do it, so I could transfer the duties to my mom.

As if things weren't bad enough, danbooru, an image-hosting site that features moe images of every persuasion, was dead. Long like akibakko. Ultimately, the lack of servers, combined with traffic beyond control, was danbooru's undoing. Akibakko.net is now its successor. May she (it means Akiba[hara] girl) reign as the moe image hosting site of the Web from this point forward. Rest in peace, danbooru. You will not have died in vain as we mourn your loss. *plays Taps*