Although Nebraska Is Cold, UC Irvine Is Not, 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?

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

Carmon was referring to the site of UC Irvine’s season-opening loss Saturday. With Bourbon Street and all that jazz, the Anteaters could only sing the blues after an 88-76 loss to the University of New Orleans.

The tune changed Monday night.

Before 7,087 thawing spectators, UC Irvine beat a Nebraska team that had gotten off to a 3-0 start by playing solid defense and getting the ball to Dave Hoppen, its two-time, All-Big Eight center. 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, however, for the 6-11 senior from Omaha to pass Steve Stipanovich of Missouri as the eighth-leading scorer in Big Eight history. But it wasn’t enough to spoil Irvine’s first victory celebration since last Feb. 25, when the Anteaters beat UC Santa Barbara, 84-76.

Said Anteater center Johnny Rogers: “We haven’t won in so long. I can’t remember ever feeling this good after a win.”

Rogers did his part by coming back 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 Irvine hold Nebraska’s sharpshooters to a 48.5 field-goal percentage (33 of 68).

Meanwhile, the Anteaters shot 59% from the field, including 65.5% (19 of 29) in the second half. Irvine also outrebounded the Cornhuskers, 35-25.

Murphy played every minute, and he came within one assist of a triple-double (21 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists).

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