When Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann was trying to decide whether to lobby for the Buckeyes to get into the Maui Invitational, he solicited advice from coaches who had been there.
They told him about the top-notch hotels on the beach, the tropical weather, the memorable student-athlete experience, the team bonding, the high level of competition, the crazy atmosphere inside 2,400-seat Lahaina Civic Center.
“My only downside,” Holtmann said, “is I had heard the toll it takes when you get back. That was my only hesitation in doing it — the jet lag and the effect it has on your team when you get back.”
It’s real, the Maui hangover.
The Aztecs experienced it Tuesday night, needing a Micah Parrish corner 3 with 2.4 seconds left to beat UC Irvine 72-69 in what is known in the business as a “buy game,” meaning the Aztecs paid the visitors in the mid-five figures to play at Viejas Arena without a return date next season.
It also avoided ending their win streak against the Big West at 32 games.
The No. 24 Aztecs led 68-67 on an Adam Seiko 3, then got the ball back inside a minute to go but Nathan Mensah’s jump hook wouldn’t go down. The Anteaters didn’t call time out and worked the ball to Dawson Baker, who calmly drained a short baseline jumper — 69-68, 13.6 seconds left.
After a timeout, the Aztecs ran a play for Matt Bradley on the left elbow. He swept and drove left, drawing help and kicking to Parrish in the left corner.
Swish.
The Anteaters called timeout and ran a “home run” play, where they throw 70 feet to a big man stationed at the opposite free throw line and try to tip it to a shooter. The Aztecs broke it up, and Adam Seiko was fouled. He made one of two free throws, but at .8 seconds left, DJ Davis didn’t have enough time to get up a tying 3 before the buzzer.
SDSU coach Brian Dutcher talked in the days after returning from Maui about his deep concern for this game, seeing the effects of last week on his team in practice and knowing that the Anteaters had already gone to No. 21 Oregon and led by 27 before winning 69-56.
“This is not what I wanted coming back from Maui,” he said.
The Aztecs compensated for a lack of sharpness with an elevation of effort, forcing turnovers on UCI’s first three possessions and four of the first five. With 5:48 left in the first half, they led 28-19 and Parrish had a breakaway dunk off a steal to push it to double figures.
And he missed.
The Anteaters closed the half on an 11-4 run, and soon UCI coach Russell Turner was telling his bench: “We got a game. Let’s go.”
The visitors finally pulled even with 13:20 to go when Darrion Trammell fouled Justin Hohn attempting an off-balance corner 3, and Hohn made all three free throws. Three minutes later, they had their first lead since 5-3 after DJ Davis converted a three-point play.
The game plan for the Anteaters was to exploit SDSU’s size advantage — UCI typically plays with one big and four guards — by pounding the ball inside. And they did, with Nathan Mensah scoring 18 points.
The problem: When the Anteaters collapsed, the Aztecs couldn’t make them pay from the perimeter, shooting 3 of 18 behind the arc before Keshad Johnson, Seiko and Parrish made 3s in the closing minutes.
Another problem: SDSU couldn’t stop the Anteaters at the other end, allowing them to answer with easy baskets. At one key stretch late in the second half, they scored on seven of 10 possessions, most of them baskets created by dribble drives from the perimeter. Davis, a high school teammate of Lamont Butler, had 28 points. Baker added 14.
But the defense finally stiffened, and the 3-balls finally started falling.
Hangover averted.
Notable
Official Larry Spaulding went down late in the first half with a leg injury that looked a lot like a pulled hamstring. He needed assistance getting to his feet and off the court, leaving Keith Kimble and Gerry Pollard to work the remainder of the game as a two-man crew … Seiko missed practice Monday with an illness but suited up and played … Freshman Miles Byrd and walk-on Cade Alger continue to be sidelined after suffering leg injuries minutes apart in Maui in the Sunday practice before Monday’s games … The student section had all 2,500 tickets claimed in advance … UC Irvine’s JC Butler suffered a cut over his right eye after a collision with Butler in the first half and had to leave the game because of blood on his jersey and didn’t return until five minutes into the second half after getting stitches.
____
