6-12 (1-3)
UC Irvine
8-13 (3-2)
Second-Half Comeback Comes Up Short for Cal Poly at UC Irvine
1/18/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
IRVINE – Junior forward Josh Martin (above) produced his sixth career double-double with a career high 24 points and season high 12 rebounds, but the Cal Poly men's basketball program – after trimming a 20-point, second-half deficit to as few as seven twice – dropped an 80-73 decision to UC Irvine Thursday evening inside the Bren Center.
Junior guard Donovan Fields added 18 points and senior guard Victor Joseph finished with 16 for Cal Poly (6-12, 1-3), which trailed UC Irvine (8-13, 3-2) 56-36 with 13 minutes to play before whittling the deficit to 71-63 with two-and-a-half to go. Late field goals from Martin and Fields both brought UC Irvine's lead down to seven points, but that was as close as Cal Poly drew.
UC Irvine, which led Thursday's game for the final 28 minutes, shot 51.6 (33-for-64) percent from the floor and outrebounded the Mustangs, 42-29.
Cal Poly closes its three-game road trip on Saturday, Jan. 20 with a 4 p.m. matchup at CSUN. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
Thursday's game featured five lead changes inside the opening seven minutes, but UC Irvine used three-pointers from sophomore guards Max Hazzard and Eyassu Worku on successive possessions to kickstart an 11-0 run and forge an 18-8 lead 12 minutes before the break.
Cal Poly, however, hit back with an 11-0 run of its own to grab its final lead of the evening at 19-18. The Anteaters reclaimed the lead for the remainder of the night after scoring on three of their next four possessions. After a Martin layup trimmed Cal Poly's deficit to 30-26 four minutes before the break, the Mustangs were outscored 9-1 to close the half.
UC Irvine stretched its lead to 20 points twice early in the second half before Cal Poly mounted its comeback. Facing the 56-36 deficit, the Mustangs received one of Joseph's two three-pointers before Fields – ranked sixth among NCAA Division I players with a 93.3 percent free throw mark – knocked down a pair. Two more Fields free throws brought the gap down to 13 points before a three-pointer from junior forward Luke Meikle allowed Cal Poly to close to a 58-48 gap with 10 minutes remaining.
