Defensive Assistant Andy Andreas Quits UC Irvine Basketball Post

Andy Andreas, a volunteer assistant coach for UC Irvine’s basketball team who was brought in by Coach Bill Mulligan this season to help the Anteaters’ defense, has resigned.

Andreas, who has more than 30 years of coaching experience and was an assistant to Bobby Knight at Indiana, is a defensive specialist who seemed shellshocked after Irvine allowed 255 points in its final two nonconference games.

“I’ve never sat through a week like this,” he said after consecutive losses to UCLA (116-100) and Bradley (139-119). “We’ve got ourselves in an awful mess (defensively).”

Andreas was unavailable for comment Tuesday, but Mulligan said the parting was amicable.

“Yeah, he quit last Sunday night,” Mulligan confirmed. “There were no problems, though.”

The Anteaters opened Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. play Monday with a new defensive posture . . . and an 81-78 loss to UC Santa Barbara. Irvine (5-5) was trying to contain the Gauchos instead of playing the gambling, pressure defense it has employed all season.

Was the new, softer approach to defense a factor in Andreas’ decision?

“Might have been, but he didn’t say so,” Mulligan said.

Irvine is allowing an average of 93.5 points a game.