IRVINE, Calif. >> One of its worst offensive droughts of the season Saturday night led to Hawaii’s most one-sided defeat so far.
The Rainbow Warriors recorded only two points on free throws during a span of 9 minutes, 41 seconds in the first half — and made just one basket in the final 11 minutes of that half — during UC Irvine’s 84-56 rout in Big West Conference play in front of 2,359 at the Bren Events Center.
The margin of defeat was the worst in Eran Ganot’s two-year tenure as head coach. It was a point shy of matching UH’s largest Big West defeat of 29 at Cal Poly on Jan. 24, 2013.
Just as in their 67-64 loss Thursday night at Cal State Fullerton, the ’Bows (6-9, 0-2 Big West) quickly built a large lead before their offense sputtered. But Saturday night’s game featured one important, devastating difference.
“For the first time this year, our defense let us down,” Ganot said. “It was pick-a-shot for them.”
The Anteaters (9-9, 2-0) shot a season-high 57.1 percent, 62.5 percent in the second half. Ioannis Dimakopoulos and Jaron Martin scored 12 points apiece, with John Edgar Jr. adding 11 points off the bench.
Irvine relied on exploiting matchup advantages. The Anteaters field four forwards ranging from 6-foot-8 Tommy Rutherford to the 7-foot-2 Dimakopoulos.
“They do a good job of attacking with shooters around their inside attack, and they’ve got a quartet of bigs who are really good,” Ganot said. “We can help with our matchup deficiencies to provide a little better support inside.”
Yet for the first three minutes, UH held the upper hand. Behind Gibson Johnson’s seven points, the ’Bows built a 9-2 lead with 2:52 gone.
“We’ve talked a lot recently about getting off to good starts,” Ganot said. “This is the fourth or fifth straight game we’ve done that. We put ourselves in position to get off to good starts and we haven’t handled it well.”
Irvine responded with a 7-0 spree to force a 9-9 tie. Luke Nelson and Martin converted 3-point shots 29 seconds apart before Nelson made the second of two free throws to end the surge.
Matt Owies, who led UH with a season-high 13 points, made a 3-pointer with 11:03 before halftime to put the visitors ahead, 16-13. Then came the collapse.
The ’Bows would not score again until Johnson made two free throws in the bonus with 7:04 left in the first half. Before Johnson’s foul shots, the Anteaters used an 11-0 blitz to take a 24-16 lead.
“We’re not going to get many free throws when we’re jacking up 3s,” Ganot said of UH’s 2-for-18 shooting from deep in the half. “We compounded a problem by losing composure. A couple of missed shots, a couple of turnovers, a couple of second-chance points and we lost our composure. You know, missing some good shots shouldn’t be a green light all of a sudden to take some bad shots.”
Irvine extended its advantage to 35-18 before UH tallied its next basket, Ido Flaisher’s lay-in with 1:22 remaining in the half. But the hosts scored the final four points of the half in creating a 39-20 halftime lead.
The Anteaters made eight of their final 12 field-goal attempts in the first half, while the ’Bows missed 21 of their final 25.
UH’s offensive problems played into Irvine’s hands. The Anteaters entered the game leading the Big West in the lowest field-goal percentage allowed (39.0 percent) and the lowest percentage allowed from 3-point range (33.8 percent) while ranking second in the fewest average points allowed (66.8 per game).
“They’ve really embraced their man defense a lot more this year,” Ganot said. “But their biggest change has been their focus on the glass. You don’t win championships if you don’t rebound, and they’ve gone from a solid rebounding team to the best rebounding team in our conference.”
Irvine outrebounded the ’Bows, 39-28, while generating 11 second-chance points and another 22 points off turnovers. Johnson finished with 11 points and grabbed a team-high five rebounds. Sheriff Drammeh contributed 10 points.
