UCI Is 0-11 at Fresno After Loss

For Mike Doktorczyk, UC Irvine’s freckle-faced sophomore forward, innocence was lost Monday night in one horrific final minute at Selland Arena.

This was Doktorczyk’s first visit to Fresno, and all he knew about the traditional Anteater burial place was what he had read (Irvine’s 0-10 record at Selland) and heard (rumors about some maelstrom known as the Red Wave).

But they say there’s no substitute for experience--although Doktorczyk now may argue that point to his final breath. Committing two critical miscues in the waning seconds, Doktorczyk contributed mightily to the Anteaters’ latest failure here, a 66-65 loss before a sellout crowd of 10,132.

Background to a breakdown:

Irvine had just taken a 65-64 lead on Scott Brooks’ arching three-point field goal and regained possession when Fresno’s Jervis Cole was called for traveling. With 1:05 left, the Bulldogs called time out.

When the teams reconvened, Doktorczyk was standing at midcourt, ready to inbound the ball.

Cole pressured Doktorczyk, who pumped left, hesitated and finally threw right. The pass was intended for Irvine guard Joe Buchanan, but it never got there. Fresno’s Mike Mitchell deflected the ball off Buchanan’s hands and out of bounds.

With 1:04 left, the Bulldogs had the ball back.

With 39 seconds left, Leo Walker sank his sixth basket in six attempts, giving Fresno a one-point lead. For Irvine, ample time remained to set up a good shot--but, again, Doktorczyk came up less than ample.

A right-hander, Doktorczyk drove left and, with 16 seconds to play, put up a layup that banked hard and high off the glass. “A terrible shot,” Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan called it.

The missed shot bounded away from Anteater center Wayne Engelstad, and Fresno rebounded. A few ticks of the clock later, the Bulldogs had evened their Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. record at 1-1 and Irvine remained oh-for-ever at Selland Arena.

“This was one of the toughest losses I’ve had to take, because all I read here was ‘Irvine 0-10,’ ” Mulligan said. “I can deal with losing, but I can’t deal with guys who don’t do what I tell them.”

In the Irvine locker room, Mulligan grew livid about Doktorczyk’s two costly plays.

“I’ve never gone so goofy in a locker room in my life,” he said later. “I jumped on one of our kids . . . and I feel bad about it now.”

So did Doktorczyk. He spent several minutes sitting in silence, his head buried in a towel. He broke that silence by jerking a shoe off his foot and rifling it against the wall.

Engelstad, dressing nearby, tried to be sympathetic.

“Everyone was screaming and yelling,” Engelstad said. “I would’ve hated to be in his shoes, taking the ball in.”