UC Irvine Holds Off Fullerton : Butler Has a Night to Rekindle Memories of Magee for Anteaters

Ricky Butler lost a year of eligibility because of Proposition 48 and gained about 30 pounds in the process. He started the season as a third-string power forward, endured the fat jokes--(“Hey Ricky, if you can’t guard him, eat him!”)--and slowly worked his way into the starting lineup.

Thursday night at Cal State Fullerton, the 6-7 sophomore--who is down to 254 pounds--from Ocean View High School turned in the kind of performance that until now had only been a vision in Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan’s dreams.

Butler tied his season-high (17 points) in the first half and hit a leaning 9-foot jumper over three defenders with 37 seconds left in the game to propel the Anteaters to a 77-73 Big West victory over Fullerton in front of 3,202 in Titan Gym.

Irvine is 7-11 overall and 4-5 in conference. Fullerton dropped to 8-10, 3-6.

“Ricky Butler killed us in the middle,” Fullerton Coach John Sneed said. “I’ve never seen him play that way before.”

Butler, who finished with a game-high 23 points and 7 rebounds, made 9 of 13 shots, 5 of 8 free throws . . . and Mulligan smile.

“Ricky’s going to be another Kevin Magee,” a beaming Mulligan said, referring to the former Irvine star who averaged 26 points a game in two seasons with the Anteaters. “He’s going to be a big-time player. Everybody’s going to be around him from now on.”

The Anteaters, who had been winning or losing (mostly losing) on their perimeter shooting, didn’t take a jump shot until almost 7 minutes had expired.

“Coach said there was a hole inside of their matchup (zone) and we weren’t supposed to shoot outside until the post had touched the ball twice,” said senior Kevin Floyd, who, for the third consecutive year, had a magnificent game in Titan Gym. “We were tempted, but we jammed it in.”

The Titans switched to a man-to-man defense in the second half with a lot of help on Butler. That freed Floyd to create a bit and few do it better. Floyd, who made 7 of 8 from the field and all 4 of his free-throw attempts, finished with 18 points and 3 assists. Center Mike Doktorczyk also had 18 points for Irvine before fouling out with 1:11 left.

The Titans got the bulk of their offense from more-expected sources. Guard Mark Hill, who made 5 of 10 3-pointers, and forward Cedric Ceballos, who Mulligan calls the “best pro prospect in the league,” both had 22 points.

“It was a typical Irvine game, a real battle,” Sneed said. “I was pleased with our defense in the second half, but the tempo got too fast for us. I was especially proud of Mark Hill, who was under the weather with the flu but played great.

“I don’t think we lost confidence tonight. We feel good about this loss.”

Irvine shot 55% from the floor on the evening, including 4 of 4 from 3-point range. Fullerton was 45% from the floor and made just 12 of 21 free throws, a statistic Sneed is sure to point out.

With Butler scoring 10 of Irvine’s first 18 points, the Anteaters jumped out to a 9-point lead (18-9) with 12:37 to play in the first half. But the Titans rallied behind Ceballos and trailed by just 3 (37-34) at the half.

The change in defense gave Fullerton an early advantage after the intermission and the Titans got their biggest lead of the game, 53-47, on a driving 6-footer and ensuing free throw by Wayne Williams with 11:49 remaining.

But the Anteaters came back to outscore Fullerton, 16-3, and never trailed again, although the game was tied at 66-66 and 69-69. Floyd made all 4 free throws in the final 2 1/2 minutes, including both ends of a one-and-one with 10 seconds left to seal the victory.

Floyd, who seldom gets much praise for his defense, drew the unenviable assigment of guarding Ceballos, who is 2 inches taller. He didn’t exactly shut him down, but he made him work for every point.

“I’ve been guarding mostly perimeter guys this year, so it was a little different underneath,” Floyd said. “Maybe I didn’t do the best job ever on him. I was getting tired. I just tried to make sure he was getting tired, too.”

The Titans, meanwhile, had decided the only way to stop Butler was by committee. He drew a crowd every time he got the ball in the second half.

“I’m starting to get my confidence and the feel again,” Butler said. “I’ve really been working and I’ve lost a few more pounds in the last couple of weeks. The guys got me the ball tonight and I got lucky a couple of times.”

The Titans had cut the Irvine lead to 1, 73-72, when Butler made his move to the basket, pivoting around both John Sykes and Derek Jones to pop in the high-arching jumper with 37 seconds left.

“Rod (Palmer) had thrown it into me once and I tossed it back,” Butler said. “I heard Mulligan screaming at me from the bench to take it to the hole. So the next time I got it, I went.

“They had been throwing them out of the house (blocking shots) all night, so I put a little extra height on that one.”

The result was a high time for the Anteaters and only their second victory on the road this season.