UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK : Rigdon Doesn’t Sit Back After Mulligan Puts Him on Bench

Dylan Rigdon paused for a moment Saturday after UC Irvine’s victory over Cal State Fullerton, and smiled a smile of concession.

Had Coach Bill Mulligan’s tactic--benching Rigdon for the second half against New Mexico State and not starting him against Fullerton--worked?

“Yeah,” Rigdon said. “I think it did.”

Rigdon came off the bench Saturday and made four three-pointers in a span from 13:47 of the first half to 11:11, making him four-for-four in 2 minutes 36 seconds.

His shooting opened the middle for Ricky Butler, who had been the victim of triple- and even quadruple-teaming, and helped Irvine win its eighth game of the season.

That much made Mulligan proud.

“I wasn’t concerned with Rigdon. Basketball is No. 1 with him,” Mulligan said.

Mulligan hadn’t been so sure Rigdon would respond after the first practice following the New Mexico State game, when Rigdon seemed out of it.

“I found out later he was unhappy about being benched and had driven to Santa Barbara to see his girlfriend and had just gotten back a few hours earlier,” Mulligan said.

Still, even after Saturday’s success, if you believe Rigdon is back in Mulligan’s good graces--or even in the starting lineup--you could be wrong.

As of early this week, Mulligan said he hadn’t decided whether Rigdon would start Thursday against Fresno State. Rigdon admits that--for superstitious reasons--he might prefer to come off the bench.

As for Mulligan, one of the most unusual disputes in college basketball continues: He’s still upset with Rigdon for not shooting more.

“He still only took eight shots,” Mulligan said. “He should take more than eight shots.”

Rigdon stands by his own conventional wisdom.

“My attitude is, if I’m not open, I’m not going to shoot,” Rigdon said. Mulligan contends Rigdon doesn’t work hard enough to get open.

“My whole feeling is that if you run the passing game (offense), then you’ll get open,” Mulligan said. “Why does (Jeff) Herdman get so many shots, when both he and Rigdon are seeing good defense? That’s where I try to refute Rigdon’s argument. It doesn’t hold water.

“All I want him to do is shoot. I don’t think that’s asking too much.”

Now you tell us: “That was a very emotional game, and a game--I didn’t want to tell our players this--but a game we had to win,” Mulligan said.

How to make yourself feel better when you’re 8-13: “If you base things on comparative scores,” Mulligan said, “we’re 17 points better than the No. 5 team in the nation.”

California beat No. 5 Arizona Saturday, 85-78, and Irvine beat California last month, 98-88.

The men’s tennis team, led by freshman Brett Hansen-Dent, gets a stiff challenge this weekend, facing No. 1 Stanford on Saturday and seventh-ranked California on Sunday. Both matches are in the Bay Area. Irvine is ranked 25th.

The women’s team also has a challenge ahead, meeting third-ranked UCLA on Thursday.