IRVINE — UC Irvine might still be a young, work-in-progress team in 2018, but it yields to no one when it comes to rebounding.
The Anteaters pulled down 42 rebounds in an 80-71 victory over Cal Poly on Thursday night at the Bren Center, padding their nation-leading stats to 865 for the season. They came into the game ranked 13th in the nation in rebounds per game at 41.2.
UCI’s big men overwhelmed a Mustangs team that isn’t exactly small. Sophomore Tommy Rutherford had a career-high 20 points and eight rebounds, Jonathan Galloway added 10 rebounds and two blocked shots, and Elston Jones and Brad Greene combined for 14 points and eight rebounds. The quartet shot 16 for 23 from the field and smothered Cal Poly’s offense for most of the game, usually limiting the Mustangs (just six assists) to one shot per possession.
Eyassu Worku (14), Evan Leonard (12) and Max Hazzard (12) also scored in double-digits as the Anteaters (8-13, 3-2 Big West) shot 51 percent from the field. Cal Poly (6-12, 1-3) got a 24-points, 12-rebound effort from Josh Martin and Donovan Fields scored 18. The Anteaters led by 20 early in the first half before the game got a little sloppy.
“I didn’t even know about our rebounding stats, but we are playing well now,” Rutherford said. “We’ve been emphasizing being aggressive inside. We’re doing a nice job protecting the rim. I feel like any combination (of big men) we put out there can always rebound.”
“They’re all working together to establish a presence inside,” Coach Russ Turner said. “Tommy gets more attention tonight, but they’re all good in their role. Tommy doesn’t need to score 20 points, but I’m not surprised by what we saw.”
Rutherford has played an increasing number of minutes in conference play, but says playing alongside Galloway has had a lot to do with his play.
“He’s a great asset. There are so many things I could say about it. He’s like a big brother the way he’s helped me,” he said.
Galloway, who has more than 500 career rebounds and 100 career blocked shots, was the Big West Defensive Player of the Year in 2016-17, and Turner won’t be surprised if he wins the award again.
“He’s a dominant defensive player,” the coach said. “He does a lot to make us better on offense without being a scorer. There aren’t many guys his size who can defend a guard shooting a three as well as he does inside. It takes a special character to fill that kind of role.”
UCI has won three of its last four and is one of five teams within a game of each other atop the Big West standings. Cal Poly has dropped eight of its last 10.
The first half was played in spurts. Cal Poly led 8-7 when the Anteaters went on an 11-0 run in a span of 1:52, 3-pointers by Hazzard bookending two buckets by Worku, a 3-pointer and lay-in in transition.
The Mustangs came back with their own 11-0 run, Minnesota junior transfer Martin hitting two baskets and Fields posting a 3-point play to retake the lead at 19-18. But the Anteaters outscored the Mustangs 21-8 the final eight minutes of the half for a 39-27 halftime lead. Rutherford had five of UCI’s nine points to close the half on a 9-1 run.
Cal Poly missed 11 of its first 13 shots in the second half and UCI had a 20-point lead six minutes into the half. The Mustangs didn’t get within single digits until the last three minutes of the game.
The Anteaters next play Saturday at 9 p.m. at UC Santa Barbara (13-5, 2-2), which is unbeaten at home.