Murphy Scores 27 to Lead UC Irvine to 75-67 Victory

Tod Murphy must have thrown a barbecue for Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. statisticians before the season.

He has to be on a first-name basis with every one.

Why?

Because Murphy had 27 points and 12 rebounds in UC Irvine’s 75-67 win Wednesday night over Cal State Long Beach before a crowd of 927 at Crawford Hall.

Even Murphy couldn’t believe it.

“Twelve rebounds?” he asked, seeming almost embarrassed.

Murphy is a 6-9 forward for Irvine, and he’s the kind of player you don’t notice unless he’s not in the game.

Murphy doesn’t leap very high or run very fast. His jumper has no rotation, making you think he went to Phil Niekro’s Basketball Camp by mistake.

But unlike some UCI players, he doesn’t look ahead to Irvine’s next opponent.

“He’s the most consistent player I’ve ever had,” UCI Coach Bill Mulligan said.

And it’s a good thing. The Anteaters, still riding the high of their 10-point loss to the University of Nevada Las Vegas Saturday, decided to take it easy Wednesday night against the lowly 49ers.

Irvine (7-8 in PCAA and 12-14) opened an early 16-point lead against Long Beach and figured that was it.

But the 49ers had different ideas and cut the Anteater lead to 57-56 with 9:38 to play.

Murphy then quietly took control of the game. He scored inside and then twice from outside to put Irvine up by seven. Murphy, in fact, scored 12 of Irvine’s last 18 points in the game.