UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK : Suddenly, Anteaters Find the Way to Win

Scenes from early in a basketball season:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Nov. 24--Trailing by four points at halftime against a team with a 19-game losing streak, UC Irvine outscores Texas Tech by 19 points in the second half for its first victory of the season.

IRVINE, Nov. 30--Tied with Idaho State at halftime, the Anteaters trail for most of the first 10 minutes of the second half--and pull away for a 14-point victory by shooting 53% in the half.

IRVINE, Dec. 1--The Anteaters shoot 28% in the first half, trail Bradley by three at halftime--and win by nine, hitting 58% of their second-half shots.

They make only 68% of their free throws, but down the stretch they hit 12 of their final 14.

Meet UC Irvine, the team that knows how to win.

Say what?

Where is the bitter residue of a 5-23 season? The anticipated emotional fold? The disbelieving psyche that backs away from victory and into defeat?

It’s history, says Coach Bill Mulligan, as are those numbers that are recited like a litany in almost every game story and broadcast.

Irvine, coming off a 5-23 season . . .

The Anteaters, who struggled to the worst record in school history . . .

Mulligan, who endured the worst season of his 24-year career . . .

UCI, a team that set a school record by losing 15 games in a row . . .

Enough already! Mulligan would like to say.

“What happened the year before is over,” Mulligan said. “I wish people would get off that thing. We’ve got a different group of guys, we have three JC transfers. We have a better group of guys, and we’re more into it than we were before.”

The Anteaters are 3-2, and both losses are forgivable ones--to eighth-ranked UCLA and to Siena, a strong team that has lost to two ranked teams, falling to Virginia by three points and to Pittsburgh by two.

In each of Irvine’s other three games, the opportunity to lose has presented itself. Irvine hasn’t accepted yet.

The community college transfers, strangers to the 15-game losing streak, have each taken a turn at maneuvering Irvine away from a loss.

So have the team’s only seniors, Ricky Butler and Jeff Herdman.

“The two leaders, Ricky and Jeff, try to keep everybody calm,” said Gerald McDonald, a transfer from Compton College. “Everybody has put last year behind.”

Mulligan wishes everyone else would.

“I keep wondering, if we were 23-5 last year, would people keep saying, ‘Coming off a 23-5 season,’ instead of ‘Coming off a 5-23 season?’ ” Mulligan said. “It’s like Texas Tech, when we played them I said they had only lost two in a row. What happened the year before is over.”

Men’s Stat of the Week: Bradley had no offensive rebounds against Irvine in the first half Saturday, a signal to Mulligan that the Braves were too worried about getting back on defense against the Anteater fast break to go to the boards.

Anteater Notes

Other than basketball, the swim teams are the only teams in-season right now. Liz Koch, Devon Coate-Sandlin and diver Trishna Coleman each scored double victories as Irvine defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Saturday. The men’s and women’s swim teams compete at Belmont Plaza pool in Long Beach this weekend for an invitational meet hosted by USC. . . . The women’s basketball team has an opportunity to exceed last season’s victory total Saturday, with a game against Cal State Northridge at 5 p.m. in the Bren Center. Kathy Lizarraga, a senior guard, is leading the team in scoring, averaging 16 points a game. Jenny Lee, also a senior guard, is averaging 12 and sophomore forward Yvonne Catala is averaging 11.