Tigers dump Anteaters

Douglass also expected more from his offense, which finished 19 of 54 from the field (35.2%). UCI (9-12, 3-6) made just two of 12 three-point attempts (16.7%).

“It was a combination of [the Tigers] being well-prepared and what we couldn’t do,” Douglass said.

“It sounds strange, but sometimes we don’t go hard, offensively. Most teams go hard offensively and don’t go hard defensively ... We tried a lot of different things, but we just weren’t clicking.”

UCI senior guard Michael Hunter, who was four for 14 from the field and one of five from three-point range, shared team scoring honors with junior guard Darren Moore with 11.

Sophomore walk-on Jonas Lalehzadeh, who made his first career start, made both of his field-goal tries and finished with four points, though he fouled out having played 11 minutes.

“We started a bigger wing [the 6-5 Lalehzadeh], because we knew [Pacific’s] size would be a problem,” Douglass said. “We put smaller guards in there to play offense, then we couldn’t match up with them, defensively.”

Big West Conference

Pacific 61, UC Irvine 50

UOP – Ford 12, Willard 5, Nunnally 10, Smith 11, Young 4, Neufville 7, Huddleston 6, Eveland 4, Lamar 2.

3-pt. goals – Huddleston 2, Smith 1, Neufville 1.

UCI – Wise 9, Folker 5, Moore 11, Hunter 11, Lalehzadeh 4, Losonsky 4, Strings 2, Atkinson 2, Rembert 2.

3-pt. goals – Hunter 1, Moore 1.

Fouled out – Lalehzadeh.

Technicals – Coach Douglass 1.

Halftime – UOP, 39-27.