Irvine’s New Lineup Same as the Old Ones in Overtime Defeat

UC Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan tried out his sixth starting lineup Thursday night against Loyola of Chicago and, quite frankly, it began no better than the previous five.

For a half, No. 6 was downright dreadful.

The Anteaters, with two freshmen and a gimpy point guard starting, were scoreless for the first three minutes before freshman Jeff Von Lutzow made a layup.

But Mulligan did a little tinkering and came up with an effective combination in the second half. Irvine rallied from 12 points down to force overtime, then fell flat, 78-72, before 1,437 in the Bren Center.

It was the second consecutive loss for Irvine (2-7).

Keir Rogers had 35 points and Keith Gailes 28 to lead Loyola (3-3). Every time Irvine would come close, Rogers or Gailes would get a key basket or free throw.

As it turned out, the Ramblers needed every one of their points. No other Loyola player scored more than six points.

“Every time we got it going, somehow Rogers ended up at the line,” Mulligan said.

Irvine had no one to turn to in the stretch. After tying the score, 66-66, the Anteaters missed two chances to win in the final seconds of regulation.

Rod Palmer’s eight-footer in the lane was too short. Justin Anderson rebounded, but his off-balance try bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

In overtime, Loyola scored first on Rogers’ free throw and never trailed.

His three-point play (a layup and free throw after a steal at midcourt) put the game out of reach, 72-67.

Gailes added four free throws and Danny Stevens two in the final minute to seal the victory.

Von Lutzow and Anderson each had 17 to lead Irvine.

By halftime, Irvine trailed by seven and was lucky it wasn’t down by more. The Anteaters’ top two scorers, Jeff Herdman and Ricky Butler, didn’t have a point between them and Palmer, making his first start since spraining his knee Dec. 2 was one of eight from the field.

Herdman finished with just seven and Butler, who fouled out with 32 seconds left in regulation, 10. They each average 15 points a game.

Palmer’s knee may be healed, but his jumper was hurting Thursday night. He was a miserable four of 19 from the field (21%) and had 10 points and eight assists.

“I’m mystified, absolutely mystified,” Mulligan said.

Things got better in the second half as Mulligan tinkered with his lineup and finally found an effective combination.

Still, he said later that Will Rey, in his first season as Loyola coach, outcoached him.

“I got outcoached and they beat us with two great players (Rogers and Gailes),” Mulligan said.

Irvine’s customary poor shooting and penchant for turning the ball over also contributed to the loss.

The Anteaters shot 37.5%, 34.5% in the first half, from the field. They also had 18 turnovers, one more than their average.

Only once, in a 85-79 victory over Bucknell, has Irvine shot better than 50% this season.

“Every time we threw it away, they came down and scored,” Mulligan said. “We just didn’t get real good shots.”

By contrast, Loyola shot 53.2% and had only 11 turnovers.

But the Ramblers started slowly, too, and led just 4-2 with 15:44 left in the first half.

But that changed as soon as Rogers got his jump shot warmed up. Rogers, who had 16 points in the first half, made a three-pointer to start Loyola on a 15-0 run and a 16-point lead.

Von Lutzow’s dunk with 8:50 left finally broke the streak.

Irvine began to snap out of its offensive slumber, cutting the lead to 25-22 after Rob Doktorczyk’s layup.

But Loyola pushed the lead back up to 30-23 by halftime.

Irvine finally made it close late in the game.

Doktorczyk’s layup tied the score, 63-63, with 2:14 left.

A free throw by Craig Marshall, Irvine’s other freshman starter, put the Anteaters ahead for the first time, 64-63. Gailes hit a free throw at the other end to tie it.

A jumper by Palmer from just inside the three-point line put Irvine back ahead, but Gailes made two free throws with 57 seconds left.

Neither team could score and the game went into overtime.