UC Irvine 55, UC Santa Barbara 50

3/14/2008 9:22 PM

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -Darren Fells had 14 points and nine rebounds to help UC Irvine upset top-seeded UC Santa Barbara 55-50 in the semifinals of the Big West Conference tournament Friday.

Big West first-team selection Patrick Sanders was held to just four points, but had 10 rebounds and made two free throws with three seconds left for fifth-seeded Irvine, which never trailed.

Fifth-seeded UC Irvine (18-15) earned its third trip ever to the finals of the tournament and first since 1994.

The Anteaters will continue their quest to receive the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament while Santa Barbara (23-8) will play in the postseason NIT.

UC Irvine guard Patrick Rembert made five free throws in the final two minutes and finished with 12 points to help keep the Anteaters ahead for good.

Santa Barbara's James Powell made a 3-pointer with 28 seconds remaining to cut Irvine's lead to 52-50, but the Gauchos got no closer.

Santa Barbara guard Alex Harris, a co-Big West player of the year, made seven free throws for seven of the team's final points and finished with a game-high 17.

After Rembert made a one of two free throws to put Irvine up 53-50, Harris missed a jumper with about seven seconds remaining and Sanders was fouled, setting up his free throws with three seconds on the clock.

On Santa Barbara's final possession, Harris missed another long jumper before the buzzer sounded.

The Anteaters out-rebounded the Gauchos 38-26 and held them to 23.5 percent shooting from 3-point range. Santa Barbara's second-leading scorer, Chris Devine, had eight points and 11 rebounds when he fouled out with 6:49 left in the game.

Irvine swept the regular-season series against Santa Barbara, which finished in a three-way tie for first in the Big West.

Irvine's physical defense held Santa Barbara to shoot 28.6 from the field in the first half helping the Anteaters take a 24-17 at the break.