UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK : Freshman ‘Z’ Team Playing Basketball Like ‘A’ Team

They are the Z team, UC Irvine’s two freshmen whose names are similar enough that even their teammates sometimes stumble over them.

“They call me Elzie,” said Zuri Williams, a 6-foot-1 point guard.

It’s the same sort of thing for Elzie Love, a 6-5 swingman. “They call me Zuri all the time, then they say, ‘Oops, I’m sorry,’ ” Love said.

One thing you can’t call them is skittish freshmen. In the first two games of Irvine’s basketball season--a victory over San Diego State and a double-overtime loss to Colorado--the pair gave remarkably poised performances. And Love made the play that sent Irvine into overtime against the Buffaloes Monday night.

“He played great. He hit clutch shots,” said Williams, who helped preserve Irvine’s victory over San Diego State Saturday, spelling Gerald McDonald after McDonald picked up his fourth foul. Williams finished with four assists, three points and three rebounds in 13 minutes, and Irvine’s lead increased from nine points to 17.

What nerves there were didn’t show much.

“I was scared, but it was just, ‘Go out and play,’ ” said Love, who marked his entrance into Saturday’s game by taking a charge. He also scored nine points against Colorado, including a three-point play that put Irvine in striking distance with 1:08 left in the second overtime.

Williams said he was nervous in the team’s two exhibitions, but not in the two regular-season games.

“Then one of the players on the team, Lloyd Mumford, told me, ‘Those guys are the same. It’s not like the other team has weapons,’ ” Williams said. “In practice, Lloyd makes me work harder than I’ve ever worked before. You get to the games, and it’s like the game situation is easier.”

Williams, in particular, is used to brutal competition in practice. It’s not just Irvine’s starters, senior McDonald and junior Craig Marshall. Throw in a bunch of transfers, such as former Purdue and Marquette guard Keith Stewart, who will be eligible for the Anteaters’ fifth game this season, against Loyola Marymount; and two redshirts, former California guard Keith Walker and Mumford, a former Villanova guard.

Rod Baker, Irvine’s coach, says tough practices have something to do with why the two freshmen have played so well.

“I think it’s a little bit them, personally,” Baker said. “Also, the way we go in practice. Zuri’s been guarding Gerald, Craig, Keith and Lloyd every day. Elzie, because he’s hurt, hasn’t played as much. He’s a little more surprising. That’s more a testament to how good he really is.”

Baker first saw Love play the day after getting the Irvine job last spring. He went to an all-star game at the Forum to look at some players, and one of them was Love, who had signed with Irvine under Bill Mulligan.

“I thought he should have been the MVP of the all-star game,” Baker said. “I thought, well, at least we’ve got one guy who can play.”

But Love, who averaged 26 points and 10 rebounds at Perris High School, had already had his doubts about going to Irvine after Mulligan resigned.

“It was confusing, you know,” Love said. “I was in it for the shooting, the run-and-gun, fast break, just shoot any time you want to.”

That style left when Mulligan did, but Love finally decided not to take his option of getting out of his letter of intent by playing at a community college. Now he’s glad he didn’t.

Williams, as Baker’s first recruit, says he feels a closeness with the coach.

“He reminds me of my father,” said Williams, who averaged 15 points, five rebounds and eight assists at Oakland Bishop O’Dowd High School.

But high school’s behind, now. Love and Williams are looking at four years at Irvine and, after two games, they already feel good about the first.

“We’ve got high hopes,” Love said.

Williams nodded. “Very high,” he said.

Irvine’s much-heckled senior center, Don May, had the best game of his career Monday, going five for five from the field to finish with 13 points. He also had 10 rebounds, seven of them on the offensive boards.

A report from the stands: A fan who usually announces May’s entrance into the game with shouts of “May-Day! May-Day!” clapped as enthusiastically as anyone.

Well, at least he doesn’t wear sweater vests like P.J. Carlesimo. Baker, who is given to wearing fine suits on the sideline, is shy to admit it but some of his clothes are courtesy of an advertising and ticket trade-out he arranged with a Newport Beach clothing store. “It’s a dollar amount, but it doesn’t buy a lot there,” Baker said, a bit sheepishly.

Keep in mind, Baker is a details man: He also has a trade-out with a dry-cleaning company.

Help on the Way: Starting guards McDonald (4-19) and Marshall (3-10) had trouble hitting shots Monday night. Beginning Dec. 16 against Loyola Marymount, Irvine will have another weapon--Stewart.

“He’s a scorer,” said Baker, who says he is unsure where Stewart will fit in. “He’s a decent shooter and he gets himself shots. He’s one guy we have who can create shots.”

Stewart started 14 games as a freshman at Purdue in 1988-89, and started two of five at Marquette last season before being dismissed from the team. Marquette Coach Kevin O’Neill accused Stewart of falling asleep during a film session, a charge that Stewart denies.