Anteaters Freeze Nebraska, 87-80

UC Irvine forward Troy Carmon could find only one problem with the Anteaters’ 87-80 win over Nebraska Monday night in Bob Devaney Sports Center. But it was a biggie.

How does a team go out and celebrate its first victory in more than nine months when going out means braving temperatures ranging between 5 degrees below zero to 10 above? Even if the Anteaters were to get all dressed up for the weather, they’d have no place to go on a Monday night in this heartland.

“I just wish this had happened in New Orleans,” Carmon said.

Carmon was referring to the site of Irvine’s season-opening loss Saturday. Bourbon Street and all that jazz before them, and all the Anteaters could do was sing the blues that resulted from a 88-76 loss to the University of New Orleans.

The tune changed Monday night, even if it did have to be played indoors. In front of 7,087 thawing spectators, the Anteaters beat a Nebraska team that had gotten off to a 3-0 start by playing solid defense and getting the ball to center Dave Hoppen, its two-time, All-Big Eight Conference selection.

All Hoppen did in the first three games of 1985-86 was average 24.7 points and shoot 71.1% from the field. The Cornhuskers had shot 52.2% as a team, and had held opponents to a 37.5 shooting percentage.

With UCI forward Tod Murphy fronting him in an effort to deny him the ball, Hoppen scored a season-low 16 points. It was enough for the 6-foot 11-inch senior from Omaha to pass Steve Stiponovich of Missouri as the eighth-leading scorer in Big Eight history, but it wasn’t enough to spoil UCI’s first victory celebration since last Feb. 25, when the Anteaters beat UC Santa Barbara, 84-76.

Said Anteater center Johnny Rogers, whose name stirs a few memories in these parts: “We haven’t won in so long. I can’t remember ever feeling this good after a win.”

Rogers did his part by rebounding from a poor shooting performance in the opener to hit 10 of 19 shots from the field, and contributing a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds. His defensive play, along with that of Murphy’s, helped the Anteaters hold Nebraska’s sharpshooters to a 48.5 field-goal percentage (33 of 68).

Murphy played every minute, and it’s not difficult to understand why. He came within one assist of a triple-double (21 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists), prompting teammate Wayne Engelstad to suggest a new nickname for Murphy after the stat sheet was circulated through the UCI dressing room. “Magic Murph,” Engelstad said.

Nebraska’s cold shooting wasn’t contagious. The Anteaters shot 59% from the field, including a scorching 65.5% (19 of 29) in the second half. Irvine also outrebounded the Cornhuskers, 35-25.

“That’s more like the team we’ve coached for six weeks,” UCI Coach Bill Mulligan said. “Much more than the New Orleans game.”

The Anteaters fell behind, 39-31, when Hoppen tipped in an offensive rebound with 2:20 remaining in the first half. Five seconds later, Nebraska forward Bernard Day-the Cornhuskers’ second-leading scorer and rebounder-picked up his third foul. Hoppen followed with his third foul when he attempted to block a Murphy shot inside with 57 seconds left in the half. Nebraska escaped with a 43-40 halftime lead, but the Cornhuskers were forced to be foul-conscious in the second half.

“Personally, I knew we would win at halftime,” Carmon said. “When that guy (Hoppen) had three fouls, I knew we had it won.”

Rogers scored in the lane at the 18:17 mark to give UCI its first lead of the second half, 46-44. Nebraska could never regain the lead from there.

Junior guard Scott Brooks had back-to-back steals which led to four straight points and a 50-46 Anteater lead.