Irvine Picks a Bad Time to Go Against Long Beach

Tired and undermanned, UC Irvine’s basketball team could have picked a better time than tonight to play Cal State Long Beach.

Such as, say, 1984-85 or 1985-86.

This used to be a breather on the Irvine schedule, which is just what the Anteaters now need after playing seven games in 14 days--the last two without point guard Joe Buchanan. The last two seasons were last-place ones for Long Beach, with the 49ers finishing 2-16 in 1984-85 and 3-15 in 1985-86.

But tonight, at Long Beach’s University Gym at 7:30, the 49ers will take the floor as the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn.’s second-place team. A surprising 4-1 in conference, Long Beach trails Nevada Las Vegas by a half-game and is off to its best PCAA start since 1981, when the 49ers won seven of their first eight games.

Long Beach has won four straight, beating Utah State at Provo, Utah, before scoring home victories over Fresno State, Pacific and New Mexico State. In Saturday’s 80-75 victory over New Mexico State, reserve forward John Hoffman scored 16 points in the final 7:11 of play.

That same span has a familiar ring to Irvine (4-3, 9-7). Saturday, at UC Santa Barbara, the Anteaters went 7:11 between baskets in the second half. At the same time, the Gauchos outscored Irvine, 20-0, en route to a 93-75 victory.

Buchanan remains hospitalized with abdominal pain that doctors have still been unable to diagnose. Sunday, doctors reported Buchanan’s white blood-cell count, which had been abnormally high, dropped. Today, another round of tests has been scheduled.

Without Buchanan, the bulk of responsibility in the backcourt has fallen on Scott Brooks--and Brooks is showing signs of fatigue. He has scored 11 and 15 points in his last two games, converting just 10 of 26 shots (38%).