Brooks Wakes Up UCI Just in Time : Guard Leads Anteaters Over New Mexico State, 86-80

The latest trend at UC Irvine entails a perfectly decent offense, complete with one of the leading three-point artists in the West, abruptly and without warning pulling up dead on its feet.

It has happened in three straight games now, twice enabling opponents to outscore the Anteaters by 20 points in a matter of minutes. It’s a budding tradition. All that’s lacking is a name for it.

Do the Zombie?

Thursday night, Irvine pulled its snore-and-bore routine long enough to blow a 19-point second-half lead to New Mexico State. But in a first, the Anteaters didn’t keep sleepwalking all the way to defeat. This time, they revived just in time to hold on for an 86-80 victory in front of 1,531 in the Bren Center.

Credit Scott Brooks with the wake-up call. His slump had paralleled Irvine’s of late--he shot 38% from the field the previous three games--but against the Aggies, he scored seven critical points in the final 4 1/2 minutes. Brooks wound up with 32 points and Irvine wound up with its fifth Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. triumph.

Irvine (10-8, 5-4) opened a 19-point lead over New Mexico State (8-10, 2-5) with 16:11 left. Brooks hit a three-pointer from the right side, giving the Anteaters a 61-42 advantage.

Less than 10 minutes later, the Anteaters trailed, 71-70.

Led by guard Kenny Travis, who finished with 33 points, the Aggies launched a 29-9 run. Included were scoring bursts of 8-0 and 12-2.

For Irvine, it was a horrid stretch, but it wasn’t anything new. In the last week, the Anteaters were outscored, 20-0, by UC Santa Barbara and 42-17 by Cal State Long Beach.

“Pretty soon,” Irvine center Wayne Engelstad said, “we should be able to recognize these things.”

Correcting them apparently is another matter. With guard Joe Buchanan hospitalized with an abdominal ailment and Coach Bill Mulligan experimenting with different lineups, the Irvine offensive strategy usually is reduced to three words:

Shoot, Brooks, shoot.

For opposing defenses, this simplifies matters tremendously. Brooks had opened the second half with four consecutive three-pointers, so New Mexico State Coach Neil McCarthy scrapped his matchup zone and went man-to-man.

Brooks was temporarily silenced and the Anteater attack went comatose.

Or, as Mulligan put it, while grabbing his throat: “They took away Brooks and the other four guys went, ‘Aargh.’ They quit shooting, they quit rebounding . . . they quit everything.”

When Irvine slipped behind, 71-70, with 6:25 left, Mulligan changed offenses. The object was to free Brooks from the defensive hounding of Blaine DeBrouwer.

The new offense called for Brooks to work off picks set for him at the top of the key. Brooks immediately hit a jump shot and drew a foul, sinking the free throw to regain the lead.

Brooks also had two steals in the final 80 seconds, turning one into a fast-break layin. Brooks finished with 10 field goals in 16 attempts, 7 of 11 from three-point range.

Engelstad added 19 points for Irvine, with forwards Frank Woods and Rob Doktorczyk contributing 11 and 10, respectively. Doktorczyk made his first start of the season, replacing Kevin Floyd, who hobbled through 15 minutes on a sprained ankle.

That was long enough, however, for Floyd to exchange swings with DeBrouwer with 22 seconds left. It was an aborted skirmish, with players from both teams immediately interceding and pulling the combatants apart.

“I wanted to throw (DeBrouwer) in the stands,” Engelstad said.

DeBrouwer, a freshman from Ocean View High School, admitted he was the aggressor.

“When there’s a ball on the ground, I go for it nose-first,” DeBrouwer said. “I jumped down and I guess (Floyd) thought I was a little too aggressive. He tried to throw a punch and I had no option but retaliate.

“I’m not out there to be intimidated or make friends. I’m out there for my team and I’ll do anything to win--whether it’s fair or not.”

Said Floyd: “He came over my head and tried to kick me. I guess he was frustrated.”

DeBrouwer, the man assigned to Brooks, had reason to be.

“He’s impossible to shut down,” he said of Brooks. “It’s like he’s running on a battery. If he gets a step on you, you’re dead. I was so tired, I was asking for a break two or three times in the second half.

“I’ll be glad when he graduates.”