Irvine Remembers How to Beat San Jose State

Jeff Herdman responded to something Friday night, but he swears it wasn’t bad memories.

He and his UC Irvine teammates lost a lot of games last year, two of them to San Jose State, an 8-20 team that didn’t sweep anyone else all season.

So when Irvine fell behind by 12 in the first half of its 97-88 victory over San Jose State Friday, it looked like a fast-forward to the past.

That was until Irvine reversed it at the stern insistence of Herdman, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Ricky Butler, who shrugged off foul trouble to help bring Irvine back for its sixth victory.

It might not sound like much, but it will go a long way to expiating last season’s 5-23 record.

“Six wins. That’s more than we had all last season,” Butler said. “It feels good.”

It almost didn’t.

“There were times in there it was questionable,” Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan said.

Butler knew it.

“I probably would have felt really bad if we lost,” he said. “Now I don’t have to know what it feels like.”

Irvine (6-8, 1-1 in the Big West) got the lead down to five by halftime, 57-52, but with Butler saddled with three fouls already, it didn’t look good.

“I just tried to keep going,” he said.

In the first minute of the second half, he scored four points inside, one basket on an offensive rebound. Dylan Rigdon, who had 21 points, hit a three-pointer, and then Butler went to the line for two free throws after an offensive rebound. Before six minutes were gone, Irvine had gone on a 19-9 run to take a five-point lead. Butler had scored 10 of those points, the last two on a don’t-mess-with-me dunk.

Irvine wasn’t in the clear yet. With 13:35 left, Butler was operating in the lane, bent on a basket. Instead he was called for a charge, his fourth foul.

Soon enough, San Jose State (2-9, 0-2) was on its way back and finally took a 76-75 lead. This time Herdman said no, knocking down back-to-back three-pointers for an 81-76 lead.

Then, just as the Spartans decided they’d better get in his face, Herdman took advantage of the defense by putting his head down and driving for a layup. Fouled on the play, he made the free throw for an 89-80 lead with 5:10 left.

San Jose State got as close as 92-88 with 1:28 remaining after a rare missed free throw by Rigdon and a three-pointer by Mike Wasserburger. But Rigdon hit his next two free throws, Craig Marshall stole a Spartan pass, and Irvine held on.

“Experience won that game,” San Jose Coach Stan Morrison said. “They looked really sharp. They knew what they had to do. Herdman and Ricky really took over that game.”

Herdman scored 13 of his 21 points and eight of his 10 rebounds in the second half. But he said he wasn’t motivated by fear of a repeat of last year, or even the last game, when the Anteaters lost to Utah State by 23 points.

“I don’t even remember the games last year,” he said. “We don’t look back. We just play.”

Herdman made eight of 18 field goals, including four three-pointers to break Scott Brooks’ Irvine career record for successful three-pointers by one. He stands at 142 in 336 attempts, one less attempt than Brooks.

“I thought he was magnificent,” Mulligan said.

Irvine fell behind in the first half largely because San Jose State shot 66%, making 19 of 29 shots despite being without three players who were expected to be starters at the beginning of the season.

Charles Terrell scored 17 points Friday, and Michael St. Julien added 14 points and 11 rebounds.

But Irvine came back.

“We knew we could,” Butler said. “We’re better now.”

Morrison saw that, too.

“Much superior,” he said. “Great spirit. They feel very confident with what they’re doing. They do a lot of things really well.”

Anteater Notes

It was a familiar yet unfamiliar scene to UC Irvine guard David Hollaway, who signed with San Jose State out of high school and was one of the players who walked out in protest of Coach Bill Berry two seasons ago. “It brought a lot of memories back,” Hollaway said. The current arena, the Event Center, was not completed when he played here. “We used to sneak in here at night,” he said. As he talked, Coach Stan Morrison walked by and shook his hand. It was Morrison who told Hollaway he could not come back. “I made it clear that I wanted to stay no matter what,” Hollaway said. “I guess they made us examples. They didn’t let anybody come back.” Hollaway said he walked out because it was what the team decided. “My stance was I was gonna do what the team was gonna do. But I didn’t know the consequences. I wanted to play here four years, but it didn’t work out. I had to start all over.”