The Colleges : UCI Fails to Measure Up Against San Diego State : Aztecs’ 6-10 McMullen Overwhelms Anteaters With 29 Points in 102-88 Victory

There aren’t a lot of talented big men in the Big West Conference this season. . . . which is a very big plus for UC Irvine’s basketball team.

Big guys give the Anteaters big problems.

Take Friday night at the San Diego Sports Arena, for example. San Diego State’s 6-foot 10-inch, 250-pound center Mitch McMullen, who could double for the Russian boxer in Rocky IV, did just about anything he wanted underneath the basket as the Aztecs steamrolled Irvine, 102-88, in front of 3,529 spectators.

It wasn’t a perfect performance for the Aztecs’ main man in the middle, though. He did miss a shot and two free throws, after all. McMullen finished the evening’s workout shooting 13 of 14 from the field and 3 of 5 at the free-throw line for 29 points. He also found time to grab 11 rebounds.

All of which was enough to send Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan back to his game-plan roulette wheel. Now, he says he’s going to put his money back on the full-court press/run-and-gun line. At least that’s what he said Friday night.

“OK, so I’m on the damn merry-go-round,” Mulligan said. “I was vomiting the whole first half. We’re going back to playing the way I want. I don’t give a damn what happens.

“Our biggest problem tonight was they have great athletes and we had nobody who could stop McMullen.”

Pinpointing the Anteaters’ biggest problem on this night was no easy task. But there were lots of candidates:

--How about falling behind, 11-0, for starters?

--How about shooting 28% from the floor in the first half?

--How about letting the other guy shoot 70% in both halves?

The Aztecs made 19 field goals in the first half. Thirteen were layups and another was a 3-footer. They were also 4 for 4 from 3-point range. Not surprisingly, San Diego State led at the intermission, 45-27.

The Anteaters’ first-half passing-game offense resulted in quite a few passes--and very few points.

“I don’t even remember the first half,” Mulligan said. “I don’t want to remember the first half.”

During halftime, Mulligan figured that the time had come to resurect the press--which he had all but discarded after a 109-84 humiliation at the hands of Georgia State in the opener.

The Anteaters responded with a couple of quick steals and a run that cut the Aztecs’ lead to 6 (51-45) with 16:05 left to play.

“Our intensity was down a notch and they turned theirs up two notches,” Aztec Coach Jim Brandenburg said. “They put on the brass knuckles and came after us. Then we had a fight on our hands.”

When involved in a brawl, the Aztecs turn to the big-boy bruiser underneath.

San Diego State regained its momentum in a hurry, too, when McMullen slammed home a two-handed dunk, was fouled, brought the fans to their feet by pumping his fist in the air a couple of times and then made the free throw.

In slightly more than 2 minutes, the Aztecs had regained a comfortable 16-point lead (62-46).

But the Anteaters, scoring mostly at the free-throw line (they made 25 of 35 in the game), cut the deficit to 6 again (79-73) with 6 minutes remaining on a pair of free throws by Kevin Floyd.

Brandenburg put McMullen, who was on the bench after picking up his fourth foul, back in the game at that point. The senior center scored a pair of quick, short bank shots and the Aztecs were leading by 13 just more than a minute later.

“Hey, they had me so scared in the second half,” McMullen said. “They came back so fast, I couldn’t believe it. Luckily, I was able to get in position and my teammates made some great passes to get me the ball.”

If the Aztecs had their way inside, they had just as much success outside. Guard Bryan Williams, who played at Irvine during the 1984-85 season, came back to haunt the Anteaters with an incredible performance.

He was 7 of 7 from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers, 3 of 3 at the line, had 19 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

Backcourt teammate Michael Best was merely 6 of 9 from the field and scored 13.

The Anteaters had 4 players in double figures, but only Mike Labat (16 points) shot better than 50% from floor. Guard Rod Palmer led Irvine with 21 points, Mike Doktorczyk made 10 of 12 free throws and scored 18 points and Floyd had 12.

“Our freshman centers (Brian McCloskey and Elgin Rogers) were a little intimidated tonight,” Mulligan mused later.