Runnin’ After Rebels : Fullerton and UCI Go Against All Odds to Challenge Las Vegas in PCAA Race

Already this basketball season, they have conquered NIT I at Madison Square Garden, Memphis State at Memphis State, Navy by 25 points, both wire-service polls . . . and, now, a new challenge awaits the Runnin’ Rebels of Nevada Las Vegas.

The Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. opens play tonight.

Are they worried on The Strip?

Does Jerry Tarkanian use a towel only after he showers?

You can call them the Yawnin’ Rebels.

Las Vegas, which joined the PCAA four years ago and has yet to finish second, is 11-0 and on an entirely different plane this season. The Rebels are No. 1--not only in the conference and the West--in the nation. From sea to shining sea. From Pacific 10 to Atlantic Coast Conference.

And once you’ve risen to a point where you can look down at North Carolina, Louisville, Kentucky and Indiana, what can the names UC Santa Barbara and University of the Pacific possibly mean? They’re talking about a perfect regular season in Tarkland. ESPN, forecasting the two months ahead, described it as “a PCAA schedule the Rebels should blitz through.”

And well they should. The Rebels took one look at David Robinson, the best individual talent in the country, and handed him a 25-point loss. They are averaging 94.6 points a game. Their opponents are averaging 82.

In the PCAA, they are already circling the wagons. Is there any hope?

We bring you to that hotbed of hoopdom, Orange County. Yes, Orange County, where a couple of long shots--but perhaps the PCAA’s best shots--reside.

First, we have Cal State Fullerton. Coached by Tark’s old ace recruiter, George McQuarn. Ranked 19th by the UPI. Owner of a 7-2 record that, with two more judiciously placed baskets, could be 9-0.

Then, there’s UC Irvine. Bill Mulligan’s Runt-And-Gun Special. Home of Scott Brooks, mini-leader of the three-point pack. Owner of upsets over Bradley and Nebraska--and the scariest of scares endured by No. 3-ranked Iowa.

If the rest of the PCAA gained anything from the month of December, it is the knowledge that Fullerton is a legitimate, big-time team with the ability to play with anyone, even Las Vegas. And that Irvine, picked for eighth in the conference preseason poll, is immeasurably better than advertised.

As the coaches of the have-nots put it, to compete with Las Vegas, you have to have the athletes . The inference is that no number of Xs and Os is going to matter against Armon Gilliam, who’s averaging 25 points and shooting 62% from the field, or guard Freddie Banks (19.7 points) or the Rebels’ waves and waves of depth.

Well, Fullerton has some athletes. As a shooter, junior guard Richard Morton ranks with any in the conference. Henry Turner, a 6-7 forward, is shooting 75% from three-point range. Herman Webster is a 6-7 center who held Washington’s 7-foot Chris Welp, the 1986 Pac-10 player of the year, to 19 points. Forward Derek Jones, originally signed by the University of Arizona, is averaging in double figures and is called by McQuarn “one of our biggest recruiting coups.”

Every year, NFL teams mail questionnaires to college sports information directors, asking the question: “Who is the best athlete at your school?” On each questionnaire, Fullerton Sports Information Director Mel Franks writes: “Alexander Hamilton.”

Hamilton is the Titans’ second-string point guard.

This group can play. The Titans lost their opener, without McQuarn, by one point at Texas Tech. They lost by one to UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. They beat BYU at BYU, defeated Washington by 20 and flatly embarrassed Pepperdine.

“What Fullerton did to us, I hadn’t had done to one of my teams--ever,” Pepperdine Coach Jim Harrick said. “UCLA wouldn’t want to play them at their place.”

Fullerton is 5-0 at Titan Gym, which has suddenly been transformed into a pit. That means drawing a red circle around the date Jan. 19--Las Vegas at Fullerton.

“I think Fullerton can play with them--at Fullerton, for sure,” Mulligan said. “And at Vegas, too, if they aren’t intimidated.”

Mulligan and the Anteaters will be able to pass along a scouting report. Irvine opens the 1987 PCAA season tonight in Las Vegas in front of 18,000 screaming red-and-silver Rebel rousers at Thomas Mack Center.

Does Irvine have the athletes? Well, maybe more than most people at first thought. At first, most people looked at all the stunted-growth cases on the Anteater roster, shrugged and proclaimed: “Too small.”

But take a closer look. Brooks played a year at TCU. Point guard Joe Buchanan played two at Notre Dame. Forward Kevin Floyd transferred from Georgetown, sixth man Mike Hess from Texas and center Wayne Engelstad was on the Pac-10’s most-wanted list three years ago.

The credentials, at least, are big time.

Some of Irvine’s results have been too. The Anteaters opened the season with back-to-back stunners at home over Nebraska and Bradley. This week, they had a chance to take Iowa into overtime before breaking down in the final seconds and losing, 105-103. “They took it to us in almost every possible way,” Hawkeye Coach Tom Davis said afterward.

But also sandwiched into a 5-4 preseason were curious losses at Boise State and Montana. Don’t look for those names in the Top 20. Irvine has one as-of-yet-incurable weakness--inside defense--and Boise and Montana both exploited it beyond Mulligan’s worst dreams.

Against Iowa, Mulligan said: “We left two guys basically unguarded (outside) because their talent inside is so much better than ours.” As indicated by the score, sometimes the ploy worked--and sometimes it didn’t.

Still, Mulligan is happy to be where his team is now. At the very least, Irvine has upgraded itself from predictions of eighth place to fourth, depending on how San Jose State comes around in conference.

“We’re better than I thought we would be,” Mulligan said. “If you told me before that we’d be 5-4 going into conference, I’d have said you’re full of it. We were 4-5 last year--and we’ve had a tough nonconference schedule this year.”

Last season’s Irvine team went 17-13, reached the second round of the NIT, beat UCLA . . . and upset Las Vegas. Twice.

Irvine won’t end Las Vegas’ hold on the PCAA this season, but maybe the Anteaters could take a whack at those lofty Rebel thoughts of a 31-0 regular season. As Mulligan proudly points out: “We’re 4-6 against Tarkanian, 3-5 in conference.”

Harrick, who has played and lost to both Irvine and Fullerton, was asked for his assessment of the 1987 PCAA race . . . or, rather, chase.

“Two teams, gentlemen,” he told reporters, holding up two fingers. “That’s it. Two teams.”

He was including Fullerton.

Considering the way things looked a month ago, that’s really more than the PCAA had reason to bargain for.