Moore enough for UCI

IRVINE — With 12:49 left in the game, a brief physical skirmish broke out between players from both teams that resulted in a pair of technical fouls.

But for the UC Irvine men’s basketball program, which had lost four straight and seven of its last eight, including a 13-point nonconference setback at Cal State Bakersfield Wednesday, push had come to shove well before tipoff of Saturday’s rematch with the Roadrunners at the Bren Events Center.

The result was an inspired effort that produced a 76-63 triumph for the Anteaters.

“It was a tough loss,” UCI junior guard Darren Moore said of Wednesday’s 68-55 defeat at Bakersfield. “I think that was a loss that hurt everybody in the locker room and motivated us to come out today and prove that we should have beaten that team the fist time.”

Moore appeared particularly motivated, as he was very active on both ends of the floor from the outset.

“I thought Darren Moore was a big difference at the start of the game, as far as his effort,” Douglass said. “He really brought us a lot of energy. He had nine rebounds and 16 points in 25 minutes. It was too bad he got in foul trouble.

Moore fouled out, in part due to getting one of the aforementioned technical fouls, when he responded forcefully after being pushed by Bakersfield’s Bryan Emanuel following a battle for a rebound.

After Moore was pushed, he charged back at Emanuel and into a crowd of players from both teams. A brief encounter occurred, but nothing other than the initial push appeared to take place.

Coaches from both teams intervened and the officials elected to administer a double technical, one each to Emanuel and Moore.

Moore later was fouled hard on a breakaway, with Bakersfield’s Donavan Bragg, who swiped down hard on Moore’s arm from behind, knocking him off stride around the three-point line, being whistled for an intentional foul.

Moore netted both free throws to finalize his scoring output. Moore was five for 10 from the field and made five of six foul shots before exiting with five fouls with 6:04 left.

“When [Moore] brings it, he’s an effective player and I really thought he brought his ‘A’ game tonight,” Douglass said.

“I wanted to be aggressive,” Moore said. “We played them earlier in the week and I wasn’t that aggressive. I was kind of passive. I wanted to let the game come to me today and be aggressive with my shot.”