Defense Lets Unbeaten Tulane Power Past UC Irvine

UC Irvine’s Rod Baker might face a rebuilding job, but it is nothing like the one Perry Clark undertook when he became coach at Tulane.

Clark’s task was to revive a program that had been dead for four years after being discontinued in 1985 in a swirl of scandal that included allegations of point-shaving and payments to John (Hot Rod) Williams.

Now, in only its third season of revival, Tulane is off to its best start since 1928-29 after a 96-77 victory over Irvine before 1,591 Monday in the Bren Center.

Irvine fell to 3-6 in its first season under Baker.

Tulane’s 8-0 record equals the second-best start in the school’s history, and is exceeded only by a 22-0 start in 1923-24. Tulane hasn’t been 8-0 since 1948-49.

A ball-hawking, three-quarter-court trapping defense helped Tulane take a 52-41 lead at halftime, with several of the Green Wave’s points the result of steals or Irvine turnovers.

At game’s end, Tulane had made 20 steals, and Irvine had committed 21 turnovers.

David Whitmore, a senior forward who played at St. Bernard High in Los Angeles and transferred to Tulane from Georgia Tech, scored 19 points. Anthony Reed also had 19. Freshman guard Pointer Williams had seven steals and 14 points off the bench.

Elgin Rogers, with 15 points, and Don May, with a personal-best 14, led five Irvine players in double figures.

Even though the quick Tulane team played hard, there were lulls when Irvine had opportunities. Irvine got as close as six in the second half, and Tulane didn’t finally pull away until the final six minutes.

“We tried to talk to them about the difference between a good team and a team trying to be good,” Baker said.

“We were down seven, down eight, down nine a bunch of times with the ball. Good teams make the plays.”