The University Trojans struggled with offensive rebounds on Wednesday (the Irvine Vaqueros had eight more) and sadly the final score reflected it. University took a 56-52 hit to the loss column at the hands of Irvine. University has not had much luck with Irvine recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.
Several Trojans players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Shervin Moarrefian, who scored 15 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Christian Debarge, who scored 13 points along with seven rebounds.
Leading Irvine to victory were Cooper Stearns and Jaesang An. Stearns dropped a double-double on 14 points and 17 rebounds, while An scored 17 points. Another player making a difference was Taewon Kim, who scored 12 points.
University has been struggling recently, as they've lost three of their last four games, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-13 record this season. As for Irvine, the victory got them back to even at 10-10.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. University will take on Laguna Hills at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Laguna Hills is hoping to put an end to a six-game streak of away losses. As for Irvine, they will look to defend their home court on Friday against Woodbridge at 7:00 p.m. Woodbridge presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Irvine in California (Woodbridge is ranked 128th, while Irvine is ranked 411th).
