Anteaters handle Titans

Cal State Fullerton junior guard Tre’ Coggins, the leading scorer in Big West Conference games this season, got his taste of the UC Irvine defense Wednesday night.

And he wasn’t the only Titan who came away offensively famished in the Anteaters’ 72-59 victory in front of 2,211 at the Bren Events Center.

Coggins, who had averaged 26.3 points in three previous Big West contests, including a 41-point barrage against Cal State Northridge, did not manage a shot the first 15-plus minutes. The 6-foot-2 transfer from the Air Force Academy missed all three of his first-half field-goal tries, joining three fellow starters who had were handed zilch in the field-goal department (zero for eight combined) before intermission.

Coggins had a season-low four points and finished one for seven from the field, including misses on all five three-point tries. His lone basket was a 16-footer with a hand in his face, early in the first half and he was held scoreless the final 17:21.

UCI junior reserve guard Jaron Martin, meanwhile, used the trey of a different variety to his advantage, netting six three-pointers on his way to a career-high 22 points to lead the winners.

The victory allowed UCI (16-5) to remain perfect at home (8-0) and in conference play (5-0). The ‘Eaters, ranked No. 14 in the CollegeInsider.com mid-major poll, also moved into sole possession of first place in the conference, as Hawaii (15-2, 4-0) was idle.

Outside of freshman guard Khalil Ahmad, who led the Titans with 21 points, Fullerton’s four other starters combined for 16 points and were collectively four for 16 from the field (25%).

The Titans wound up shooting 36% from the field, which is actually better than Big West foes had managed against UCI this season (31.6% in four previous contests).

UCI, which held an opponent to worse than 40% shooting for the 13th time this season (all wins), maintained its defensive dominance within the Big West. UCI entered the game leading the conference in scoring defense (63.1 per game), field-goal-percentage defense (.374) and blocked shots (5.1 per game). Through Monday, the ‘Eaters came in ranked No. 8 in the nation in field-goal-percentage defense, No. 21 in scoring defense and No. 38 in blocks per game.

“I expect us to play great defense but, in the first half, I didn’t feel like our defense was as good as I expected,” UCI Coach Russell Turner said. “We did a good job focusing on Tre’ Coggins and we knew we had to do that.

“We made some adjustments at halftime and were able to put a run on them, like we’ve been able to do in a lot of games when we’re shutting [opponents] down.

“[Coggins] had 41 points [at home on Jan. 9] and that gets everyone’s attention. Our team did well focusing on where he was and making sure he didn’t get anything easy. [The Titans] were missing one of their best players [Malcolm Brooks, who is averaging 13.1 points per game] and when we can load up on one guy with our defense, that makes it difficult for that guy.”

Martin, as well as double-figure scorers Mamadou Ndiaye (13), Luke Nelson (12) and Mike Best (11), made sure the hosts had far less difficulty on offense.

UCI, which held Fullerton without a field goal for a stretch of 11:10, used an 18-3 surge in just more than six minutes to expand the lead to 67-42, before removing its starters with 5:11 left.

“We did a great job defending the three [Fullerton was four for 18 from threedom for 22.2%), especially on Coggins,” said Martin, who was six for 13 beyond the arc, seven for 14 overall.

Ndiaye was six for eight from the field and matched Best with a team-high six rebounds.

Nelson had five assists, one more than both Young and senior reserve Aaron Wright, as UCI posted a 29-22 edge in bench scoring.

UCI, which has won six straight and nine of its last 10, and has won eight straight against the Titans to narrow Fullerton’s lead in the all-time series to 52-50, gets a six-day break before visiting Cal State Northridge on Wednesday.

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Big West Conference

UC Irvine 72, Cal State Fullerton 59

CSF – Akoh 4, Myles 0, Ahmad 21, Coggins 4, Leslie 8, Allmon 16, Esume 4, Henderson 2.

3-pt. goals – Leslie 2, Allman 1, Ahmad 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

UCI – Best 11, Smith 0, Ndiaye 13, Nelson 12, Young 7, Martin 22, Rivers 3, Dimakopoulos 2, Saprykinas 2.

3-pt. goals – Martin 6, Nelson 2, Rivers 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Halftime – 31-24, UCI.