UC Irvine Is All Shook Up by CS Long Beach, 100-80

An NBC camera crew was in UC Irvine’s Bren Center Thursday night, working on a feature about Cal State Long Beach player John Hoffman, who has gained a lot more notoriety as an Elvis Presley impersonator than as a basketball player.

His teammates deserved attention for their impersonations on the basketball floor as they did their own version of the Nevada Las Vegas Runnin’ Rebels to storm by host Irvine, 100-80, in a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. game before a crowd of 3,277.

Hoffman, who played the last minute and a half, even pumped in a three-pointer to punctuate the 49ers’ victory.

It was only the fourth time that Irvine (9-8 overall, 4-4 in the PCAA) had lost in the Bren Center. It was by far Irvine’s biggest defeat in the two-year-old facility and the worst setback on the Irvine campus since Coach Bill Mulligan took over the program eight seasons ago.

The 49ers (11-6, 5-3) have won four in a row for the first time in six years.

Their full-court defense forced 10 Irvine turnovers in the first 7 1/2 minutes of the game and they shot 63% from the field.

“From beginning to end, that’s the most consistent game we’ve played,” Long Beach Coach Joe Harrington said after his players celebrated by dumping water over his head. “We executed our offense well, which enabled us to get to our pressure defense.”

Somehow, that description just doesn’t do the 49er performance justice.

Mulligan painted the picture.

“Their press took us out of our game and we completely panicked,” the Irvine coach said. “And that includes me. I was playing guys out of position, trying to find something that worked.

“They played great and we played terrible, and that usually means a rout.”

And a rout it was. The 49ers had complete control from the outset, taking a 21-9 lead. Irvine was never closer than eight after that.

It’s hard to find a 49er who didn’t have a good game, but forward Andre Purry was clearly a standout, scoring 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Reserve guard Rigo Moore, who missed just 1 of his 11 shots, was 4 for 4 from three-point range and finished with a career-high 24 points. Center DeAnthony Langston had 14 points and 5 rebounds. Guard Morlon Wiley, who missed part of the second half because of a bruised left knee, finished with 12 points and 6 assists