Las Vegas Handles UC Irvine : Despite Distractions and Erratic Shooting, Rebels 15 Points Better

Jerry Tarkanian, who looks on his best day as if he’d just lost a Supreme Court decision, slouched in a chair Thursday night, rubbed his beagle eyes and summed up Nevada Las Vegas’ 100-85 victory over UC Irvine.

“I didn’t think it was a very good game, but it was a win, and I haven’t won anything in a while,” said the UNLV coach, whose decade-long legal battle with the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. ended this week when the U.S. Supreme Court decided the NCAA had the power to order his suspension.

“We’ve had a lot of distractions this week, and I know I wasn’t in the game the way I should have been. I think a team reflects the personality of their coach, and we weren’t mentally or emotionally in this game.”

Good thing for Irvine. The Anteaters (2-5) came into the game--the Big West Conference opener for both teams--trying to avoid humiliation as much as they were trying to win, and after 3 minutes, it looked as if they were going to lose the game . . . and face, too.

The 17,453 fans in the Thomas and Mack Center had barely settled into their seats before the Rebels (3-2) jumped to a 10-0 lead. But Las Vegas--despite obviously superior talent--missed at least two dozen layups or close follow shots, made just 19 of 38 free throws, sent the Anteaters to the free-throw line 44 times and generally sleep-walked their way to the victory.

“We got the ball in low . . . we didn’t score when we got it down there, but at least we got it there,” Tarkanian said, searching for positives.

UNLV’s post players--George Ackles and David Butler (both 6-feet 10-inches) and Moses Scurry (6-7)--made a combined 18 of 37 shots, and all of them were either dunks, layups or very short jumpers.

“We didn’t rebound well, but you have to be in the game to rebound,” Tarkanian said. “And our defense wasn’t any good because you have to be in the game emotionally to play defense.”

Don’t repeat that to the Anteaters. They turned the ball over 29 times against the Rebels’ press and pressure man-to-man defense. It was more than 2 minutes into the game before Irvine finally got a field-goal attempt .

Irvine’s leading scorer, guard Rod Palmer, had about half of his shots blocked or slightly deflected. Palmer was 3 of 17 from the floor. Only Kevin Floyd, who hit 9 of 18 from the field and 11 of 12 free throws to finish with a career-high 29 points, had a good night offensively for Irvine. Forward Mike Labat (12 points) was the only other Anteater in double figures.

The Rebels, whose losses this season were to teams--Arizona and Oklahoma--that advanced to the Final Four last spring, had six players with 10 or more points.

Butler led the way with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Guard Anderson Hunt had 16 points and 7 assists. Scurry had 15 points and 8 rebounds. Guard Greg Anthony had 14 points, 6 assists and 5 steals. Ackles scored 12, grabbed 6 rebounds and had 6 blocks. And Stacey Augmon chipped in 10 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

And everyone kept talking about how horribly they played.

“I think Tark had trouble getting his guys up for us after having seen us play,” Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan said. “They’re quicker than we are. They’re taller than we are. And we weren’t able to run our offense.

“You come in here and you better be able to handle their pressure . . . and be ready to get into a football game.”

The officials had to have been more winded then some of the players, what with all the whistle-blowing. Fifty-five fouls were called and Augmon, Ackles, Labat and Irvine center Elgin Rogers fouled out.

Mulligan, who said on Monday that he had decided on nine players who would play, and even called the other players not in the top nine into his office to inform them of the bad news, used 12 Thursday night.

But all Mulligan’s horses and all Mulligan’s men weren’t enough, even against an uninspired Rebel team.

The game dragged on for 2 1/2 hours, but in the end, the distracted, unemotional Rebels gave their coach a reason to smile for the first time in days.

“I’m happy with the win . . . really,” Tarkanian said.

But he wasn’t smiling.