UP’s Francis Lopez. Photo from UAAP Media.

MANILA (UPDATED) — The University of the Philippines (UP) dismantled Ateneo de Manila University in their UAAP Season 87 men's basketball showdown on Wednesday.

The Fighting Maroons handed Blue Eagles head coach Tab Baldwin his worst defeat in the league after a 75-47 beatdown in their men's basketball Round 2 clash at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Francis Lopez led the Diliman-based squad with 20 markers and five boards, while following him was Quentin Millora-Brown who had an 11-point, 10-rebound game.

This is the ninth win of the Final Four-bound Maroons in 10 games so far, but despite being assured of a spot in the playoffs, UP coach Goldwin Monteverde is confident that his squad is not feeling any complacency and are instead laser focused on their goal of redemption. 

"For us naman, since Day 1, yung hunger andyan na talaga," said the champion mentor. "So wala namang complacency. Siguro minsan, siyempre tao rin, may times na things wouldn't fall sa gusto mo. Pero may nangyayari na ganun, it makes us stronger and it develops character," he added.

Monteverde also hailed Coach Tab despite being the tactician who handed the Ateneo head coach his biggest defeat in the UAAP since taking over the program in 2016.

"For me, with the program that Coach Tab has, you cannot relax," he said of Baldwin. "During the course of the game, it's not like things will just fall into place, you should react. Competing against him, I try to really learn."

And the Maroons indeed did not relax against Ateneo as when they were only ahead by 11 at halftime, the Maroons zoomed past their Katipunan rivals with a 15-to-nothing run to start the third quarter for a 54-28 lead.

This then grew to as many as 30, 75-45, after a Jacob Bayla basket at the 1:11 mark of the fourth, and this not only allowed UP to improve to 9-1 but also boosted their chances of a twice-to-beat incentive in the Final Four.

On the other hand, the Blue Eagles plummeted to 3-8 after they absorbed their fourth straight loss against UP dating from last year.

No player from the Ateneo side scored in double digits, and they were also limited to only shooting 26.9% from the field (18/67 fg), and outrebounded (51-42).

Chris Koon had nine points, while Shawn Tuano and Andrew Bongo followed with eight and seven, respectively. 

THE SCORES: 

UP 75 – Lopez 20, Millora-Brown 11, Bayla 8, Stevens 7, Torres 7, Abadiano 6, Fortea 5, Belmonte 5, Alarcon 4, Cagulangan 2, Felicilda 0, Briones 0, Torculas 0, Ududo 0, Alter 0, Walker 0.

Ateneo 47 – Koon 9, Tuano 8, Bongo 7, Bahay 6, Porter 4, Balogun 4, Espina 3, Lazaro 2, Espinosa 2, Dela Cruz 2, Quitevis 0, Reyes 0, Gamber 0, Asoro 0, Edu 0.

Quarterscores: 17-15, 39-28, 66-40, 75-47.