Irvine Has No Trouble Beating San Jose State

UC Irvine’s basketball team had to play Thursday night without senior center Mike Doktorczyk, the team’s leading scorer in Big West Conference action, who is nursing a thigh injury.

Of course, San Jose State had to play without its 10 best players.

The result was a 91-69 Big West victory for Irvine--the Anteaters’ only real laugher this season--in front of 2,279 in the Bren Center.

Irvine, which has won three consecutive games, is 9-11 overall and 6-5 in conference play. The Spartans, who have lost five in a row since 10 scholarship players quit the team after demanding Coach Bill Berry be fired, fell to 5-16, 1-11.

“We were just starting to play well, to jell, and I was worried about losing Doktorczyk,” Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan said. “Then I looked down at (Berry) and he doesn’t have anyone. It makes it kind of hard to feel sorry for yourself.

“I think he’s doing a magnificent job with what he’s got.”

Actually, Berry’s collection of athletes from other sports and walk-ons made the mistake of losing by just four points (58-54) to Cal State Long Beach Saturday night and that was enough to convince the Anteaters they could lose this game if they didn’t play reasonably well.

“I didn’t relax until we were up by 19 with 5 minutes to go,” Mulligan said. “I kept envisioning the headline, ‘San Jose Wins One.’ ”

As it was, Irvine allowed the Spartans to shoot 55% from the field in the first half. But the Anteaters shot 59%--thanks in part to guard Rod Palmer’s five-of-five three-point shooting--and Irvine led at the intermission, 51-43.

All five Anteater starters scored in double figures. Sophomore power forward Ricky Butler, who had his third consecutive 20-point-plus performance, led the way with 23 points and seven rebounds. Palmer, who made all six three-pointers he attempted, finished with 20.

Point guard Kevin Floyd added 13 points and 4 assists. Forward Jeff Herdman had 12 points and 6 rebounds. And Rob Doktorczyk, starting in place of his injured brother, added 11 points and 9 rebounds.

“They got lost a lot in their zone defense and that created some open shots for us,” Palmer said. “But you’ve got to give them credit for playing hard.”

At least San Jose’s makeshift team features balanced scoring:

--The football team--represented by starting forward/tailback Johnny Johnson, the Big West Conference’s leading ground-gainer last season--chipped in four points.

--A basketball activities class--represented by Fred Woertman--added two more.

--And former student manager George Metcalf scored four points . . . and then made someone else hand him a water bottle.

Representatives of the baseball and track teams were shut out. Dwain Daniels (22 points) and former Mission Viejo High School standout Tom Desiano (20)--two players who did not walk out--both had career highs for the Spartans.

“We played well in spurts,” Berry said. “We’re improving every game and that’s the important thing. We stayed within ourselves in the first half, but we got out of sync in the second half and started to stray a bit.

“Depth hurt us a little. We’ll have one more player for our next game, but he had to work tonight. Irvine seemed really prepared. I guess we’re not going to sneak up on anyone anymore.”

Butler, who made eight of 11 field goals, pretty much had his way underneath, but he had to work to get open.

“I think a couple of those football players were having flashbacks,” said Butler, referring to the physical play under the basket.

For the first time this season, Mulligan was able to clear his bench toward the end of a victory and walk-ons Abraham Tang and Read Fenner each managed to get a point.

Tang, from Bishop Amat High School, has been on the team less than two weeks. Injuries to Etop Udo-Emma and Troy Whiteto opened a spot for a practice player.

Tang, who got a rousing ovation when he made a free throw, was the postgame guest on the campus-station radio broadcast. He strolled back into the locker room afterwards and announced: “Don’t worry, I mentioned all you guys.”

Mulligan was the only one who seemed unable to revel in the victory.

“A couple of weeks ago, I said all that losing wasn’t as bad as terminal cancer,” he said. “But there’s a lot of pressure that goes with winning.”

It’s a type of stress the Anteaters haven’t had to deal with often enough this season.