Irvine’s 11-Point Lead Vanishes Quickly, USF Beats Anteaters, 79-71

It took nearly the entire game, but UC Irvine’s basketball team finally accomplished what it seemed bent on doing Saturday night.

The Anteaters lost their season-opener to the University of San Francisco, 79-71, in front of 1,622 at Memorial Gymnasium. It was a game in which UCI committed 21 turnovers, shot just 52% from the free throw line and 47% from the field.

And yet, almost in spite of themselves, the Anteaters found themselves leading, 59-48, with 8:50 left in the game.

It was at that point that USF Coach Jim Brovelli used a full-court press and trapping zone half-court defense that forced four consecutive UCI turnovers. In a little more than three minutes, USF had tied the score at 59-59 on center Scott MacDonald’s layup.

“The trap was the difference for us,” Brovelli said. “Defense really turned it around for us in the second half.”

UCI did not score for more than five minutes, and when it did, on Rob Doktorczyk’s tip with 3:08 left, the Anteaters trailed 63-61.

USF came right back with two straight baskets to stretch the lead to 67-61 with 2:15 left, and UCI never got closer than four down the stretch.

“We were really hurt by their fullcourt press,” said Bill Mulligan, UCI coach. “We couldn’t handle their trap. We tried three different things against it. It probably didn’t look like it, but we did try some things against it. We just completely lost our poise.”

USF had jumped out to a 30-17 lead with a little more than seven minutes to play in the first half on the strength of three consecutive three-point shots, two by reserve forward James Bell.

UCI’s offense had done a good job of getting the ball inside in the first 10 minutes--five of the Anteaters first six field goals came on layups and drives.

“They were setting a lot of back picks and no was talking on our team,” said USF forward Joel DeBortoli.

So USF went to a zone, one that the Anteaters couldn’t penetrate, so they were reduced to perimeter passing and poor shots.

With UCI in such disarray, it appeared the game was USF’s for the taking. But just as quickly, the Dons faltered. They scored just six points in the last 4:30 of the first half and UCI rallied, outscoring USF, 12-6, to pull to within 39-35 at the half.

“This was a real streaky game,” Brovelli said. “There were times when we looked dead in the water, and then all of sudden, they looked dead in the water.”

UCI actually shot better than USF in the first half, making 56% (13-23) compared to the Dons 47% (16-34). But UCI’s first half free throw shooting was abysmal, making just seven of 14.

The Anteaters continued to streak in the second half. Led by center Ricky Butler (21 points), forward Jeff Herdman (21) and guard Rod Palmer (16), they outscored the Dons, 24-9 in the first 11:30 of the second half to take its 59-48 lead.

Butler was nearly unstoppable inside, making 10 of 13 shots, but getting the ball to him became increasingly difficult due to a combination of good USF defenseand poor UCI ball handling.

It was with 8:50 left that things fell apart for UCI.

“I think you have to look at the fact that our defense starting taking away a lot of the easy shots they were getting,” Brovelli said. “The changes we made defensively in the second half took that away.”

USF’s MacDonald, a junior college transfer, made an auspicious debut by leading all scorers with 25 and forward Joel DeBortoli added 16.

The 6-8 MacDonald, who shoots left handed, did much of his damage from outside of the key. For example, four of his five first half baskets came from 10 feet or farther.

“That’s my game,” he said. “It felt good from the start, I really didn’t have time to think about this being my first (Division I) game.”

Brovelli said: “I thought Scott looked great. But hey, I love those left handed post players.”

At USF, that’s almost a given. Bill Russell won a couple of NCAA championships at the school.

UCI looked liked anything but a NCAA tournament team. Of course it’s early. But with a tough, balanced conference to play in, Mulligan realizes there are few games that can be given away without some sort of payment.

“It may be nonconference, but its important,” Mulligan said. “You can’t play this way, you can’t do things like this even if it is the first game of the season.”

UCI Notes

Jeff Herdman, who shot 47% from three-point range last season, picked right up Saturday, making four of eight shots from that distance. . . . Justin Anderson, also expected to pitch in with some long range offense, had a forgettable night, going zero for seven from the field. . . . Freshman Dylan Rigdon appears to be the Anteaters’ backup point guard of the moment. He played about four minutes and got one rebound. The other reserve point guard, Brett Pagett, did not play. . . . USF guard Kevin Bell, the smallest man on the court at 5-10, had eight rebounds, which made him second on his team in that category.