The UC Irvine Men’s Basketball team (14-9) was defeated by the Cal Poly Mustangs (6-20), 65-54, at the Mott Athletics Center on March 3.
Cal Poly opened the game with intense momentum that the Anteaters struggled to match. Cal Poly hustled on the court for offensive rebounds and quick swings for confident, open shots.
The Anteaters failed to use their post players to their advantage and kept the ball primarily at the top of the three. With minimal driving and passing, UCI continued to turn the ball over and remained scoreless.
Irvine redshirt sophomore guard Ofure Ujadughele boosted his team by stepping up defensively. He blocked the Mustang offense’s vision and shifted quickly with the passes. Ujadughele fought on the floor, eager to gain possession over the ball.
Due to Irvine’s lack of boxing out, the Mustangs didn’t have to struggle with second chance points. The Anteaters relied solemnly on extending their arms for rebounds, but the offense constantly snatched up the ball, claiming the shot for themselves.
Cal Poly mapped out the court and knew exactly where their teammates would be for each pass. Mustang sophomore guard Brantly Stevenson drove in to penetrate the defense, dumping the ball back out to junior guard Trevon Taylor for a wide-open three.
With seven turnovers before the half, UC Irvine decided to slow down their offense’s pace. The Mustangs took the opportunity to easily snatch the ball from their hands and get simple points off fastbreaks.
The opening half ended in favor of Cal Poly, 32-25. The Mustangs kept a field goal percentage of 38%, while Irvine trailed behind at 29%.
Entering the second half, Irvine is lowered in the paint, allowing the Mustangs to pass the ball out to junior forward Alimamy Koroma to shoot for three.
As the half continued, the Anteaters were able to slow down the Mustangs’ scoring and catch up. Ujadughele gathered the rebound and took off, passing the majority of players and laying the ball up smoothly for a three-point difference with 12 minutes to go.
Unfortunately for the ‘Eaters, the close deficit did not last very long. Cal Poly drew fouls and approached the freethrow line, where they shot 17/17.
Irvine remained in a man-to-man defense and created space between the offensive players, allowing them to shoot instead of getting easy points inside. Anteater junior forward Austin Johnson tried to protect the basket by blocking shots, which only resulted in fouls.
Cal Poly maintained the same energy and aggressiveness from start to finish. Overall, their talent in the paint helped secure their win, 65-54.
Koroma led the Mustangs, racking up 27 points and seven rebounds. Mustang sophomore guard Camren Pierce who scored 11 points. The Anteaters’ sophomore guard Dawson Baker gathered a total of 18 points.
Jazlyn Flores is a Sports Intern for the 2022 winter quarter. She can be reached at jazlynpf@uci.edu.