ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) _ Maurice McLemore scored 22 points and Pacific surprised top-seeded UC Irvine 74-58 Friday night to advance to the Big West Conference tournament final.

The fifth-seeded Tigers (18-11) will play second-seeded Utah State (26-5) for the title and an automatic NCAA berth Saturday night. The Aggies scored the game's final 20 points in a 67-48 semifinal victory over Boise State.

The final at Anaheim Convention Center will be a rematch of the 1998 title game, when Pacific lost to the Aggies 78-63.

Irvine, the conference regular-season champion, never got untracked in having its eight-game winning streak snapped in front of a partisan crowd. The Anteaters (25-4) shot 24 percent and trailed by 25 points in the first half.

The Tigers shot 54 percent and hit six 3-pointers to Irvine's one in building their huge lead.

Peter Heizer, Pacific's only senior, added 18 points. The Tigers haven't reached the NCAA tournament since 1997, which was their first appearance in 18 years.

Jerry Green, the Big West's player of the year, was held to nine points. Reserve Malachi Edmond led the Anteaters with 16 points and Sean Jackson added 13.

McLemore scored four of Pacific's first six points of the second half to give the Tigers a 28-point lead.

Irvine took over for the next eight minutes, outscoring the Tigers 24-7, including 10 by Edmond, to get to 52-41 with 10:32 remaining. They never got closer.

McLemore hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to keep Pacific ahead 57-42. A few minutes later, Jono Metzger-Jones buried another 3 and the Tigers led 64-46.