UC Irvine Defeats Fullerton, 76-70 : Floyd Scores 24 as Mulligan Gets a Big Win Over Titans

While Cal State Fullerton players met behind closed doors Thursday night in Titan Gym, UC Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan was aglow.

Mulligan looked like a man who just had a giant burden lifted from his shoulders. Or was it a giant monkey off his back?

Irvine’s 76-70 Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. victory before 3,354 spectators left Mulligan feeling considerably better about himself, especially after six straight losses to the Titans.

Irvine, continuing a surprising uprising, is 4-2 in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. and 9-6 overall. Fullerton, with Coach George McQuarn home trying to recover from bronchial pneumonia, lost for the fourth time in the last five games and fell to 1-3 in the conference, 8-5 overall.

Trailing, 32-29, at halftime, Irvine outscored the Titans, 20-5, over the first seven minutes of the second half to take a 49-37 lead. Fullerton, not a good come-from-behind team, pulled within six points but could get no closer.

Sophomore forward Kevin Floyd, a transfer from Georgetown who came to Irvine with a reputation as a defensive specialist, had a career-high 24 points, and senior guard Mike Hess, filling in for ailing Joe Buchanan, had 13 points and 6 assists to lead Irvine to a win that was an instant addition to Mulligan’s most-cherished list.

“It’s right up there,” Mulligan said. “The two at Vegas, the one in Pauley Pavilion (over UCLA) and this one.”

This one is up there because it means Mulligan will no longer have to hear about the Titans’ complete domination of this series over the past two seasons--and also because it came against a Fullerton team that showed such promise in starting the season with a 7-1 record.

The Titans seemed to have an entirely different personality then. They played with confidence. They played with intensity. Now, they appear timid and unsure of themselves.

“I can’t put a finger on it,” said Fullerton assistant coach John Sneed, who assumed the coaching duties in McQuarn’s absence. “After the UOP loss (Jan. 5), we took a giant step backward, and we haven’t been the same since.”

Henry Turner led Fullerton with a career-high 25 points. Guard Richard Morton continued his search for his missing jump shot, going 4 for 14 to run his PCAA shooting totals to 20 of 62.