’Eaters school Tigers

IRVINE — Technically, it’s still called the scouting report. But with a generation of history between UC Irvine men’s basketball coach and Pacific head man Bob Thomason, a refresher course is all that is needed when outlining one another’s schemes before the two Big West Conference rivals collide.

UCI defended as if it needed only the CliffsNotes while building a 30-15 halftime lead Thursday at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters then squandered the advantage and trailed three different times in the second half, only to right themselves and come away with a 52-51 triumph.

The win gives UCI (5-11, 3-1 in conference) four wins in its last six games and moves Douglass’ determined bunch into a tie for second with Cal State Northridge, one game behind Long Beach State.

“We knew the [scouting report] really well,” UCI junior guard Michael Hunter said. “We came into this game with a lot of their plays and the coach yelling to us from the [sideline] really helped us a lot. We really knew our assignments tonight.”

UCI held the Tigers (9-6, 2-2) to just three first-half field goals in 22 attempts (13.6%). The UOP starters were just one for 11 from the field in the first 20 minutes.

Still, UCI needed a 6-0 run in the final 1:53 before intermission to produce its 15-point cushion.

“Defensively, that was about as good a half as we’ve had here,” Douglass said. “I’m sure they had some shots they thought they could have made, but for us and where we are in our development, our play in the first half was a great step forward for us.”

The Anteaters, however, appeared in backpedal mode out of the break, as UOP made six of its first eight field-goal tries and eventually rode a 16-2 run capped by a three-pointer by Bryan LeDuc (a career-high 20 points) to a 36-35 lead, its first since 2-0.

“We knew they were going to come out in the second half and really get after us,” said Douglass, who considers Thomason, a former college teammate at UOP, his closest friend. “And maybe we backed off a little defensively.”

The Anteaters, however, refused to back down for long.

Derrick Strings netted a three-pointer after Kevin Bland penetrated and kicked, to put the hosts up, 44-41, with 5:15 left.