Irvine Wins Battle That Means Little

Say this for UC Irvine: The Anteaters have never stopped playing hard.

They haven’t been very well, but the Anteaters have never stopped hustling.

Saturday night, playing a game that seemed to mean little, the Anteaters’ persistence paid off with an 80-76 victory over Utah State before 7,016 in the Spectrum.

The game meant nothing in the Big West Conference standings to either team. And it showed, particularly in the first half when the Aggies outshot the Anteaters by a dismal 38.5% to 36.5% and had 13 turnovers to eight for Irvine.

The Anteaters had clinched last place with a loss to San Jose State Thursday. Utah State could finish no higher than fifth place even with a victory.

It was hardly Irvine’s best effort of the season. But the victory was a nice way to end the regular season, the Irvine players said after the game.

It wasn’t a stretch to say that this was Utah State’s worst effort, coming as it did two days after an emotional, 84-82, loss to second-ranked Nevada Las Vegas.

“I thought we played fair and they played poorly,” Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan said. “I’m just elated to get a win.”

The Anteaters (5-22 overall, 3-15 in the Big West) finished the regular season with three victories in their final five games. It was not enough to avoid last place, however.

Utah State missed a chance at a winning regular-season record, falling to 14-15, 8-10.

The Big West tournament begins Wednesday at the Long Beach Arena.

A layup by Ricky Butler gave Irvine the lead for good, 71-69, with 3:27 left. The Anteaters then made five of six free throws and got an important, driving layup by Rod Palmer in the final 1:17 to stay in front.

Irvine led by eight points, 57-49, after a jump hook by Jeff Herdman with 10:49 left. But the Aggies rallied, tying the score, 69-69, on a jump shot by Randy Funk with 3:42 remaining.

Butler had 24 points and eight rebounds and Palmer had 15 points to lead Irvine.

“The combination of Butler inside and Palmer on the perimeter is what hurt us,” Utah State Coach Kohn Smith said. “Butler fouled out practically our whole team.”

Kendall Youngblood and Jeff Parris did foul out and Darrel White and Rich Jardine each had four fouls by game’s end.

Youngblood had 19 points, but was only five of 13 from the field for Utah State. Funk added 13 points.

“I don’t think we played particularly great, like we did against UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Fullerton,” Butler said. “We got the job done.”

The Anteaters tossed the ball inside to Butler on almost every trip downcourt, except for an occasional fast break.

“Butler is making his late-season salary drive,” Mulligan said sarcastically.

Said Palmer, in kinder terms: “I’m glad he’s playing so well. It’s helped us out so much.”

Anteater Notes

Irvine will play Cal State Fullerton in the first round of the Big West tournament at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Long Beach Arena. . . . Kohn Smith, Utah State coach, presented Anteater Coach Bill Mulligan with an umbrella before the game. The crowd, and Mulligan, too, roared with laughter. Thursday, Nevada Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian was doused by a water bomb hidden in a vent below the Rebels’ bench. The prank was in response to the postgame brawl in the Utah State-UNLV game Feb. 1. The location of the water bomb was a topic of conversation as the Anteaters entered the Spectrum for a practice Friday night. “I think it was over here,” Jeff Herdman said, pulling back the vent under the visitors’ bench. “See all that stuff down there?” The other Anteaters crowded around to peer into the vent. After rounding up suspects, Utah State officials, who were taking this seriously, were rumored late Saturday night to have caught the three alleged pranksters. No word on their names or the sentence imposed.