The Long Way Home
The 11-week conference season begins with some surprises.
You didn’t think opening night would go according to chalk, did you? Three road teams won. Three of the conference’s five top 100 NET teams lost. Long Beach State won its first Division I game of the season. UC Irvine remained unbeaten after a brief scare and is off to its best start in 42 years. Cal Poly’s game? Threes or 33 turnovers. CSUN and UC Santa Barbara could not defend their home courts, which is likely a must this season.
UC Irvine 82, CSU Bakersfield 66
IRVINE, Calif. — Bent Leuchten scored 13 of his 15 points in the final 13 minutes, rallying the Anteaters (9-0, 1-0) to the win over the Roadrunners (4-5, 0-1). UC Irvine trailed 52-49 but ended the game on a 33-14 run. Justin Hohn led the ‘Eaters with 19 points and 8 assists, while Jurian Dixon came off the bench to score 17 points on 9 of 13 shooting along with 3 steals. Jemel Jones scored 24 points to lead all scorers and Corey Stephenson added 18 for CSU Bakersfield, which turned the ball over 20 times.
UC San Diego 84, UC Santa Barbara 76
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones scored 22 points and Nordin Kapic added a season-high 19 as the Tritons (7-2, 1-0) held off the Gauchos (6-2, 0-1). Hayden Gray had 4 steals as UC San Diego forced 18 turnovers while giving up the ball just 7 times. The Tritons also secured 15 offensive rebounds. Stephan Swenson scored 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the 3-point line and Jason Fontenet II added 17 points and 12 rebounds for UCSB, which was playing its first non-Quad 4 game.
UC Riverside 68, CSUN 64
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — Barrington Hargress scored 27 points and made 4 steals to carry the Highlanders (5-4, 1-0) past the Matadors (6-3, 0-1). With CSUN clinging to a one-point lead, Hargress scored on a layup and added a free throw with 19 seconds remaining to give UC Riverside a 2-point edge. Hargress stole the ball with 9 seconds left, with Niyi Olabode knocking down two free throws for the final margin of victory. Scotty Washington scored 23 points for the Matadors. The game had nine lead changes.
DAVIS, Calif. — The Aggies (4-4, 1-0) took advantage of injuries to Cal Poly guards Jarred Hyder and Isaac Jessup, harassing the Mustangs (5-5, 0-1) into 33 turnovers to end a two-game losing skid. UC Davis fell behind 9-0 but rallied back by terrorizing the Cal Poly backcourt. The Mustangs still led at halftime but had turned the ball over 20 times already. UC Davis used a 19-0 run to put the game away. TY Johnson had 6 of UCD’s 18 steals. Connor Sevilla led the Aggies with 17 points. Owen Koonce scored 19 points for Cal Poly, making four 3-pointers.
Long Beach State 73, Cal State Fullerton 56
FULLERTON, Calif. — Devin Askew scored 16 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and recorded 3 steals as the Beach (2-8, 1-0) ended an 8-game losing streak emphatically with a win over the Titans (2-7, 0-1). Cal State Fullerton finished 1-for-14 behind the 3-point line.