UC Irvine Breaks Into the Victory Column

UC Irvine proved one thing in its 85-79 victory over Bucknell in the first round of the Disneyland/Freedom Bowl tournament Friday night in the Bren Center:

The Anteaters showed they could turn in a solid all-around game, after all.

Irvine will face Tennessee Chattanooga, an 86-81 winner over Navy in the first game, for the championship at 8 tonight. Bucknell plays Navy in the consolation game at 6 p.m.

The victory came not a moment too soon for Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan, who watched his team get pressed into a loss in the opener at the University of San Francisco last Saturday, then shoot itself in the foot in a loss to Stanford Monday. Irvine shot 38% against Stanford.

Mulligan had figured on winning each of those games.

Friday, the Anteaters suffered through a lapse or two on their way to their first victory of the season.

But nothing seemed to throw them too far off track.

They fell behind by 15 points in the first half, but rallied to take the lead, 40-38, by halftime.

Center Ricky Butler fouled out with 6 minutes 24 seconds left, but that didn’t hurt Irvine too much.

Irvine shot well, especially down the stretch as it pulled away.

Irvine took the lead for good, 77-76, on a jumper in the lane by Justin Anderson, who had 19 points.

Anderson, one of the Anteaters’ best outside shooters, was one for 12 from the field coming into the game.

“He can shoot,” Mulligan said. “I want to stick with him, but I was starting to get nervous.”

Anderson’s poor shooting was one reason Irvine came into the game shooting just 43%.

“We haven’t shot that well all year,” Mulligan said.

Butler, a burly, 6-foot-7, 255-pound junior, was a force inside at times, lumbering around defenders for short jumpers.

He had 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Jeff Herdman also had 19 for Irvine.

Herdman and Anderson made key free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.

Herdman also came up with what turned out to be the biggest basket of the game.

After missing a jumper on an out-of-bounds play, Herdman wrestled the rebound away from Bucknell’s Mike Joseph and scored on a short bank shot.

That gave Irvine a relatively safe 81-76 lead.

Joseph had 22 points to lead Bucknell. Forwards Greg Leggett and Mike Bright added 19 and 14, respectively.

“They were a really good offensive team,” Mulligan said. “There are no easy teams in this tournament.”

Bucknell opened up a 30-15 lead midway through the first half and it appeared the Bison would put the game out of reach early.

Irvine seemed listless at times in the first half, throwing the ball away repeatedly and missing easy shots.

But Mulligan turned to two freshmen, neither of whom figured prominently in the Anteaters’ plans when the season began, for a spark. Ben Rishwain, a walk-on guard, got Irvine moving with a layup that cut Bucknell’s lead to 30-19.

Jeff Von Lutzow, a forward Mulligan had hoped to redshirt, added a steal and a driving dunk, cutting the Bison lead to 35-30.

Irvine took the lead, 40-38, on a pair of free throws by Herdman with four seconds left.

It was the Anteaters’ first lead since it was 10-9 with 16:10 left. But as it turned out, it wasn’t their last.

Anteater Notes

Irvine shot better than 50% for the first time this season. The Anteaters were 30 of 57, including six of 12 from three-point range for 52%. Even their free throw shooting, which was 57% against Stanford, improved. They made 19 of 30 for 63%. . . . Rob Doktorczyk was the only Irvine starter who didn’t score in double figures. He had just three points. In addition to Justin Anderson (19), Ricky Butler (18) and Jeff Herdman (19), guard Rod Palmer had 15 points. He also had seven assists and five rebounds. . . . Sophomore Nick Marusich, who played at Servite High School, is a 6-7 center for Navy. He had two points in 12 minutes in Navy’s loss to Tennessee Chattanooga. . . . The Moccasins were led by center Terry Brent, who had 29 points and 11 rebounds. Eddie Reddick had 22 for Navy.