UC Irvine Rises Up, Downs San Jose

UC Irvine, the groundhogs of college basketball, dug another deep hole Saturday night, but this time the Anteaters managed to burrow out and bask in the light of a victory for a change.

The Anteaters trailed San Jose State, 10-3, before rallying for a 71-62 Big West victory over the Spartans in front of 1,166 at San Jose Civic Auditorium.

Irvine (4-8 overall and 1-2 in the Big West) gained its first road victory since winning here last Feb. 15. The struggling Spartans fell to 5-10 and 1-5 in conference.

“Both of these teams desperately needed a win,” Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan said. “We were fortunate enough to get it. Every time we come up here, it’s a war. I’m absolutely delighted with the win.”

Coming into the game, Mulligan was more worried about his team’s mental state than its ability to run, jump, shoot and defend.

“This whole thing has become a mind game with us,” he said while relaxing in a hotel Jacuzzi before the game. “We need to take a psychiatrist on the road with us.”

“The Dok” was in Saturday night, but it was 6-foot 9-inch senior Mike Doktorczyk, not an analyst, who got the job done for Irvine. Doktorczyk led Irvine with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and, perhaps most important, he made 8 consecutive free throws in the final 7 minutes.

It’s not especially difficult to understand how the Anteaters won this game. They were 25 of 26 at the free-throw line and made 6-of-11 3-point attempts. Add that to the fact San Jose State guard Steve Haney, who came in with a 19-point-per-game average, managed just 4 points and you get an Irvine win.

But this was not your standard Anteater victory--if there is such a thing when you’ve only won 4 games all season. Irvine’s top 3 scorers--Doktorczyk and guards Kevin Floyd and Rod Palmer--were a combined 12 of 31 from the field. Palmer finished with 16 points and Floyd had just 11.

Forward Jeff Herdman, who had not started since the first game of the season, earned his starting spot back and made the most of it. The 6-6 sophomore from Mission Viejo made 6 of 7 shots from the floor--including 3 of 3 from 3-point range--and tied his career high with 15 points. He also had 5 rebounds.

And the Anteaters excelled in a couple of facets of the game that they often choose to ignore . . . like rebounding and defense.

The Anteaters, who have been outrebounded by an average of 5 per game, beat the Spartans on the boards to the tune of 34-21, including a 19-9 first-half margin that helped them take a 34-31 lead at the intermission.

Irvine also managed to hold San Jose far below the 96-point average opponents have been scoring this season. And the Spartans’ 45% field-goal percentage, while certainly respectable, was considerably less than Irvine’s opponent average of 52%.

“We worked our butts off on the boards,” Doktorczyk said. “Santa Barbara killed us on the boards last Saturday so we’ve really been working on it.

“I told Kevin (Floyd) at halftime that we couldn’t let this game come down to the wire.”

Irvine led by as many as 13 early in the second half, but the Spartans cut the lead to 4 (55-51) with 3:47 remaining. The Anteaters made 12 free throws without a miss and Floyd scored on 2 coast-to-coast driving layups to seal the victory.

“If Irvine hadn’t shot quite so well at the line and on 3-pointers, it might have been a different story,” Spartan Coach Bill Berry said. “I’m not sure what to say about us except that we’re going to have to make some changes.

“Our effort was pretty good, but we forced some shots and missed some layups.”

Forward Dietrich Waters led San Jose with 19 points and 6 rebounds. Reserve Tony Farmer (12 points) was the only other Spartan in double figures. Haney’s off night left a huge void in San Jose’s offensive attack.

“Steve just sort of took himself out of the game emotionally,” Berry said. “They did an OK job of defending him, but he was just flat tonight. There were a lot of times he passed up shots. We need him to shoot.”

Palmer was guarding Haney most of the night and admited that he was surprised as anyone the San Jose guard attempted just 7 shots and only a single 3-pointer. Haney had attempted 94 3-pointers before Saturday night.

“I was expecting him to shoot the lights out. . . . any time he wanted from anywhere on the floor,” Palmer said. “We knew they were going to use a lot of double picks to free him up, and I just tried to beat him to the spot. But I was really surprised he didn’t shoot more.”

Indeed, it was a somewhat strange game. But Irvine isn’t complaining. The Anteaters get the rare opportunity to enjoy a road victory. . . . for one day, anyway. Monday night, they travel to Logan, Utah to meet Utah State, a team that was also celebrating Saturday night. The Aggies defeated previously unbeaten UC Santa Barbara, 78-65.