UC Irvine Falls Flat in Colorado : College basketball: Still without their top two point guards, Anteaters find no relief in a 98-83 defeat.

Football fever has swept across the University of Colorado campus.

The Orange Bowl is only 2 1/2 weeks away and locals can’t wait until the No. 1-ranked Buffaloes play Notre Dame for a chance to win the national championship.

Maybe that’s why only 2,234 watched Colorado play UC Irvine Wednesday in the 11,199-seat Events Center.

Then again, maybe the folks in Boulder have seen Irvine play this season.

Irvine, hobbled by injuries to its point guards, couldn’t keep pace with Colorado and lost, 98-83.

The Anteaters (1-5) are off to their worst start since the school began playing basketball in 1965. Colorado is 7-1 and off to its best start in years.

Irvine didn’t play any better a mile high than it has at sea level this season.

The Anteaters’ offense was sluggish, they committed a season-high 24 turnovers, 13 in the first half, and they shot less than 50% from the field for the third consecutive game.

“I think our offense is not executing anything right now,” said Jeff Herdman, who led Irvine with 20 points.

“You can’t blame that all on injuries. (We’re doing) nothing. It’s unbelievable.”

Point guard Rod Palmer missed his second game in a row with a sprained knee. Backup Ben Rishwain is sidelined by a broken index finger.

Irvine missed Palmer dearly, but neither Herdman, who also had 13 rebounds, nor Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan would use it as an excuse.

“It hurts us,” Mulligan said. “We’re supposed to bring it up by committee. (But) they lose their poise and do whatever they want.”

Mulligan tried Mike Labat, a forward, and shooting guards Craig Marshall and Dylan Rigdon at point guard, but no one was effective.

“We just had all those turnovers in the first half and they all seemed to result in baskets,” Mulligan said.

Irvine stayed close until Colorado guard Stevie Wise hit a three-point basket that gave the Buffaloes a 29-20 lead with 6:12 left in the half. The lead grew to 44-31 by halftime.

Wise put the game out of reach by hitting three three-pointers to begin the second half, the last giving Colorado a 53-33 lead. The Buffaloes led by as many as 28 points late in the game.

Wise had 29 to lead Colorado. Center Shaun Vandiver added 16 and Rodell Guest 13.

Certainly, Colorado’s press had something to do with the Anteaters’ woes.

Wise and fellow guard Reggie Morton swarmed the Irvine guards continually. Wise had two steals on the press early, setting the tone for the game.

“We couldn’t handle their press and couldn’t get into our offense,” Mulligan said.

Colorado Coach Tom Miller also thought the press was a key.

“We rattled them,” Miller said. “Stevie and Reggie did a good job applying pressure. We couldn’t sit back and let them dictate the tempo.”

Colorado had little trouble solving Irvine’s zone defense in the first half. The Anteaters sagged in on Vandiver, who came into the game averaging 24.9 points.

That part worked fine. Vandiver did not dominate the middle, but when he got double-teamed inside he passed the ball outside to Wise for open jumpers.

Wise made 12 of 17 shots, including five of eight from three-point range.

“We knew Stevie Wise could really shoot the ball,” Mulligan said. “We tried a zone and tried man-to-man. We tried to stop Vandiver in the zone, but Wise kept knocking them down all night.”

It all added up to another trying night in what has already become a frustrating season for Irvine.

“Right now, we’ve got to start playing harder,” Herdman said.

Anteater Notes

Justin Anderson had 18 points, 13 in the second half, off the bench for Irvine. He made seven of 10 from the field. Rob Doktorczyk and Jeff Von Lutzow had 11 each, the only other Anteaters in double figures. . . . Irvine plays host to San Diego State at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Bren Center.