UC Irvine Can’t Shake Its Cold in Loss to Fresno

UC Irvine took its shot-in-the-dark act on the road Sunday.

And the cold-shooting Anteaters fared no better than they have at home, losing to Fresno State, 67-57, before 9,796 at Selland Arena.

The Anteaters entered the game shooting 43% from the field, and hadn’t been above 40% in the past three games. And when it seemed as if the Anteaters couldn’t shoot much worse, they do.

Irvine (2-10 overall, 0-3 in Big West Conference) made 16 of 51 field goals for a season-low 31.4%. The Anteaters were a woeful six of 22 (27.3%) in the first half.

By contrast, Fresno (6-6, 1-2) shot 51.2% from the field, including 55.6% from three-point range.

And on a night when Irvine seemed to play well enough otherwise, the Anteaters suffered their fifth consecutive loss.

“You can’t win the way we’re shooting,” Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan said. “Their defense made it tough for us to get into our offense.”

Despite missing all manner of shots--layups, short jumpers and three-pointers to name a few--Irvine actually had a good chance to win.

The Anteaters didn’t let Fresno run away, trailing 31-26 at halftime. Irvine took the lead 4:05 into the second half.

“We were in big trouble tonight, there’s no question about that,” Fresno Coach Ron Adams said.

The Anteaters couldn’t break away either, as Fresno’s chest-to-chest defense kept the Bulldogs close.

The biggest lead Irvine could muster was 39-35 after Ricky Butler’s basket with 13:38 left.

When the Bulldogs’ Tod Bernard made a jumper from inside the three-point line with 7:53 left, Fresno had tied the score, 47-47.

About then, Irvine hit the skids.

“I thought we all got tired at the same time,” Mulligan said.

Indeed, Irvine seemed to be moving in slow motion in the final seven minutes.

A 14-4 run by the Bulldogs, in which Bernard had seven of his 20 points, put the game out of reach.

His biggest basket was a hurried-looking, 22-foot three-pointer that pushed Fresno’s lead to 55-50.

Pat Riddlesprigger added 18 points, making 12 of 16 free throws, and Wilbert Hooker had 12 for the Bulldogs.

Jeff Herdman led Irvine with 20 points, but he made only five of 18 shots. Butler, who made five of eight shots and was the only Irvine player to shoot better than 50%, scored 14.

“We’re not playing well right now,” Mulligan said. “It’s just a tough year.”

Still, there was chance for a victory with seven minutes left.

“They were giving us the game,” Herdman said. “It was our game. We should have won.”

Anteater Notes

Irvine plays at the University of the Pacific Tuesday. “We’re 19-0 against Pacific since I’ve been at UCI,” Coach Bill Mulligan said. “Happy new year.”