Feb. 14, 2008

Box Score

Irvine, Calif. - The Pacific men's basketball team fell to 17-7, 8-3 in the Big West Conference with a 74-59 loss at UC Irvine on Thursday, Feb. 14. The Anteaters improved to 11-13 (6-5 Big West) with the win.

The Tigers took an early 5-2 lead, but the Anteaters came back with an 8-2 run to take a 10-7 lead with 16:24 left in the first half. With the Tigers trailing 17-11, junior Steffan Johnson (Kent, Wash.) hit four straight three-pointers in a 12-8 spurt to get the Tigers within two (25-23) with 8:43 remaining. A 12-3 run from UC Irvine took the lead to 37-26 with 4:25 remaining. The Tigers would outscore the Anteaters 11-6 the rest of the half. Junior Chad Troyer (Seattle, Wash.) hit a three-pointer at the top of the key as the first half ended to cut UC Irvine's lead to 43-37 at the break.

The Tigers were able to cut the UC Irvine lead to 46-44, after a 7-3 run to open the second half. Pacific had a chance to tie or take the lead on the next possession but were unable to convert and the Anteaters extended the lead back to 53-44 with a 7-0 run and the lead did not fall below five the rest of the way.

Both teams shot well in the first half, with the Anteaters out-shooting the Tigers 53.6%-52.0%. In the second half, the Tigers outshot UC Irvine 31.8%-28.0%. The Anteaters out-rebounded Pacific 34-29, including 12 offensive boards. The Tigers had 15 turnovers, which led to an 18-3 UC Irvine advantage in points off of turnovers.

Johnson led the Tigers with 17 points, while Troyer had 14 points.

Patrick Sanders led the Anteaters with 25 points.

Pacific is next in action with a game at Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 7400 p.m. The game will be televised by Fox Sports Prime Ticket.