Irvine’s Second-Half Rally Isn’t Enough, 78-70

Midway through the first half Saturday night, it appeared the colossal collapse was complete. UC Irvine, a team that had seemed to pull it all together just a month ago, was 23 points behind and it appeared the Anteaters would end their regular season with not so much as a whimper.

At least they went down with a growl and a yelp.

UC Santa Barbara, which had frolicked to a 37-14 first-half lead, made 12 of 14 free throws in the final two minutes and hung on for a 78-70 Big West Conference victory in front of 5,000 in the Bren Center. It was Irvine’s fifth consecutive defeat at home.

The loss means Irvine (11-16 overall, 8-10 in the conference) will finish in eighth place and play the winner of today’s University of the Pacific-San Jose State game in the first round of the Big West tournament at Long Beach Arena at 9 p.m. Wednesday. Santa Barbara (20-7, 11-7) takes third place and meets Long Beach on Thursday at 4 p.m.

Many in the sellout crowd were Gaucho fans . . . and many more probably wished they were in the first half. But the Anteaters battled back and twice closed the gap to one--at 64-63 and 66-65--late in the game.

Gaucho guard Carlton Davenport drove the middle and tossed in a high-arched five-footer to put Santa Barbara ahead, 66-63, with 2:47 remaining. It was the last field goal of the game for the Gauchos, but they made the free throws they needed to win.

“I thought Irvine played with tremendous intensity, heart and determination in the second half,” Gaucho Coach Jerry Pimm said. “They deserved to get back in the game.

“It was a very physical game and I think Irvine wanted it that way, to stop the clock and hope their free throw percentage was better than ours. But we got the ones we needed.”

Santa Barbara finished the game with three starters--forward Paul Johnson, center Eric McArthur and guard Davenport--on the bench with five fouls. And backup center Gary Cray was ejected early in the second half for a flagrant foul when he threw an elbow at freshman Elgin Rogers.

The Anteaters started the game without sophomore power forward Ricky Butler, who has been the main man underneath for Irvine in recent weeks. Butler suffered a severe thigh bruise in practice Friday and wasn’t even in uniform.

It was senior night for Irvine and, in the early going, the two Anteater seniors--center Mike Doktorczyk and guard Kevin Floyd--either felt compelled to personally make up for the loss of Butler or were under the impression that seniors had a license to free-lance on their night.

Floyd scored Irvine’s first six points and finished with 17, but he also shot two airballs, dribbled the ball off his shoes a couple of times and tried to take the ball to the hoop on a one-on-three solo flight.

Doktorczyk made just one of six first-half shots and finished four of 13--including zero for five on three-pointers--but he made all 16 free throws he attempted and scored 24 points.

“We just let them take it to us in the first half,” Doktorczyk said. “Our defense was pretty weak. Coach (Bill) Mulligan challenged our manhood at halftime.”

Irvine responded, but the Anteaters still shot just 42% in the half (39% for the game) and came up short when Santa Barbara made its free throws. Forward Mike Doyle, who led the Gauchos with 25 points, was four for four from the line down the stretch.

Still, had Irvine not made the run, the Anteaters might as well have mailed in the rest of the season.

“I don’t know, a loss is a loss,” Floyd said. “Well, I guess it’s better that we pulled ourselves up. But I had my mother and father and brother, all the people I love, in the crowd.

“My father’s gonna take off work to watch us play in the tournament and I’m gonna kill myself to make sure we don’t lose. We’ve got to win four in a row to do anything.”

It won’t be easy. Assuming the Anteaters and Fresno State--the seventh-seeded team--win Wednesday, Irvine, as the lowest remaining seed, will get to play Nevada Las Vegas on Thursday night.

“We were trying to get away from playing Wednesday night,” Mulligan said in reference to the two qualifying games pitting No. 7 against No. 10 and No. 8 vs. No. 9. “We dug ourselves a hole tonight just like we dug ourselves a hole by losing five straight at home.”