Irvine’s Blue and Gold Game: There’s a Change of Color to It

The annual Blue-Gold intrasquad men’s basketball game at UC Irvine Thursday night could have been given a different tag--perhaps Black and Blue?--when you consider the state of this year’s basketball team.

Sophomore point guard Mike Labat missed the game because of a sprained ankle. Labat, who has a good chance of starting, will likely miss next Wednesday’s exhibition against the Malbas Club of Sweden. Junior forward Mike Doktorczyk sat out with a sprained neck. And, at least six other players have been hampered with nagging injuries.

Coach Bill Mulligan wasn’t about to take any chances, so the Blue-Gold game was shortened to two, 15-minute halves. Because of the short game and the injury situation, Mulligan really didn’t have the chance to gain any significant insight into his team’s status as the Blue defeated the Gold, 80-64, in front of about 200 in the Bren Center.

“We finished fourth (in the PCAA) last year and I think we’re as good as we were last year,” said Mulligan, whose team was picked to finish in a tie for eighth place by the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. coaches this week. “It’ll be tough to replace (Scott) Brooks, but I think we’re going to try to do it by committee.”

Senior Wayne Engelstad, one of the PCAA’s top returning players, led the Blue with 29 points, 17 in the first half, and senior Frank Woods had 13. Junior Kevin Floyd scored 23 for the Gold, and freshman Jeff Herdman had 14.

Brett Pagett, a 6-foot, 165-pound point guard at Los Alamitos High School, signed a national letter of intent to attend UCI Thursday. Pagett and his father, Dana Pagett, Rancho Santiago College coach, sat next to Mulligan during the game.

Although the signing period runs through next week, Mulligan said Pagett’s letter of intent would complete Irvine’s recruiting effort this fall.