DISNEYLAND FREEDOM BOWL TOURNAMENT : Irvine Misses Chance as Time Runs Out

An aggressive, brash UC Irvine team took the Bren Center court for the Disneyland/Freedom Bowl tournament championship game against Tennessee Chattanooga Saturday.

The Anteaters, brimming with confidence after their first victory of the season Friday, ran out to a quick lead.

But things changed dramatically late in the first half. Point guard Rod Palmer sprained his right knee trying to take a charge against the Moccasins’ Derrick Kirce with 4:43 left and sat out the rest of the game.

Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan replaced him with Dylan Rigdon, a freshman from Mater Dei High School.

The Anteaters were never the same after that. If anything they played harder, but still lost, 74-72.

Irvine fouled guard Eric Spivey with 10 seconds left in the game. He missed the front end of the one-and-one and the Anteaters rushed the ball upcourt.

They worked the ball to streak-shooting guard Justin Anderson, who drove toward the basket. He tossed up an off-balance 15-footer as he crashed into a couple of Tennessee Chattanooga defenders.

The shot was off the mark but the Bren Center crowd of 2,281 cheered wildly, anticipating a foul that would put Anderson on the line with two seconds left.

But Anderson was called for charging, and Tennessee Chattanooga hung on for the victory.

“We ran what we call a made shot (fast)break,” Mulligan said. “(Rob) Doktorczyk throws it to Rigdon. He’s supposed to drive. And we have (Jeff) Herdman and Anderson on the wings.”

It worked perfectly to that point.

“Justin’s going to put it up or drive,” Mulligan said. “He just ran over the guy. It was a good call.”

The loss drops Irvine to 1-3. Tennessee Chattanooga is 4-0.

In the consolation game, Bucknell defeated Navy, 67-66, on forward Greg Leggett’s 10-foot jumper at the buzzer.

Despite losing, Mulligan was encouraged by the way the Anteaters played without Palmer, who averages 16 points and five assists.

“We were more emotional in the second half,” Mulligan said. “We were ready to play.”

Without Palmer, who will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging examination Monday, Mulligan turned to his bench and got a big lift from three freshman, including Rigdon.

Rigdon, who scored two points and had three rebounds in 21 minutes, Craig Marshall (five points) and Jeff Von Lutzoq (two points) had “a real baptism” as Mulligan put it.

Ricky Butler led the Anteaters with 23 points and 13 rebounds, both season highs. Butler, a 6-foot-7 center, has played well since taking off the heavy bandage that had been protecting his broken hand.

“He’s been fine since he got that garbage off his hand,” Mulligan said.

Anderson added 12, Herdman had 11 and Doktorczyk 10 for the Anteaters.

Kirce, named the tournament most valuable player, led the Moccasins with 23 points. His two free throws gave Tennessee Chattanooga a 74-70 lead with 27 seconds left.

Anderson scored on a follow shot with 13 seconds left, then the Anteaters fouled Spivey, whose miss gave them one last chance at sending the game into overtime.

“Not having Palmer hurt us,” Mulligan said. “But you have to adjust. People look in the paper and they see we lost, 74-72.”

Irvine trailed by only 35-32 at halftime despite shooting 38% from the field. They improved to 46% for the game.

Until Palmer was injured, the Anteaters had played well.

They slowed Terry Brent, who was averaging 21.5 points coming into the game to lead the Moccasins in scoring.

He had just six at halftime, 13 for the game, and was not a factor late in the game.

Irvine led by as many as five points, the last time after Butler’s follow shot made it, 18-15.

Tennessee Chattanooga rallied to take the lead, pushing its advantage to 35-29.

But Anderson’s three-point basket just before halftime cut it to 35-32. The Moccasins had one last chance to score, but reserve guard Tyrone Enoch, apparently unaware time was running out, dribbled out the final seconds without trying to shoot.

“We shot poorly from the free throw line,” Mulligan said of the Anteaters’ 60% mark. “He had too many turnovers (18). Things like that hurt.”

So, too, did not having the steadying influence of Palmer for more than half the game.

Anteater Notes

Rod Palmer was not the only injured Anteater Saturday. Reserve guard Ben Rishwain, a walk-on who’s become something of a cult hero to the Bren Center fans, broke the index finger on his left hand in the first half. . . . The all-tournament team: Justin Anderson and Ricky Butler of Irvine, Terry Brent of Tennessee Chattanooga, Greg Leggett of Bucknell and Eddie Reddick of Navy.