UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK / ROBYN NORWOOD : Leg Injury to Keep Boyer on Bench

That sick feeling the UC Irvine men’s basketball team had before, during and after its opening-game loss to Boston University has taken a turn for the worse.

The stomach virus that left at least three starters queasy and forced starting center Dee Boyer to miss the game has passed.

But now the news is worse. Irvine Coach Rod Baker learned Tuesday that Boyer must sit out three to six weeks because of a nagging leg injury.

A bone scan conducted Tuesday revealed no stress fracture in Boyer’s lower right leg. But team physician Carlos Prietto identified a condition called a pre-stress fracture reaction, and ordered Boyer to limit his activity to conditioning that does not include pounding.

That leaves Irvine to struggle through a grueling December schedule while its 6-foot-10, 250-pound center pedals a stationary bike.

“It sets us back,” Baker said. “That’s seven or eight games he doesn’t play, and that’s seven or eight games we won’t be used to playing with him. And it’s probably seven or eight games we won’t be as successful as we could have been.”

If the Anteaters are lucky, Boyer will get back just in time for a potential Freedom Bowl tournament matchup against Georgetown. His task would be to try to guard Othella Harrington, a freshman who is considered the next in a line of Hoya centers descending from Patrick Ewing.

Boyer’s absence will hurt, and its effect is compounded by the fact that two reserve post players have yet to be declared eligible. Joe Hannon, a transfer from Canada College in Redwood City, Calif., has been held up by paperwork, Baker said. LaDay Smith, a transfer from California, can become eligible as soon as his first quarter grades are posted. Baker hopes Hannon will be cleared any day, and Smith should follow.

That leaves Irvine thin on the front line. The starting center in Boyer’s absence probably will be Uzoma Obekea, a reserve who is back with the team after being dismissed late last season. After that, Baker is looking at a group of smaller, less physical players that includes Khari Johnson, who has been slowed by a knee injury, swingman Keith Walker, walk-on sophomore Khalid Channell, and freshman Shaun Battle, who has yet to play because of a hamstring injury.

Baker is capable of grousing even when he’s in a good mood. In these straits, however, the grumpiness turns genuine.

“All the success people saw on the horizon was based on all the people we had in the program, not just some of them,” said Baker, whose team was picked to finish fifth in the Big West Conference after a ninth-place finish during a 7-22 season last year. “We had certain expectations based on 16 guys, not 10.”

No breathers: The only game in sight that looks as if it could be a sure victory is a meeting with Southern California College on Dec. 28 in the first round of the Freedom Bowl tournament. This weekend, Irvine plays Missouri Kansas City on Friday and either No. 2 Kansas or Mississippi Valley State on Saturday in the Golden Harvest Classic in Kansas City.

Missouri Kansas City, an independent, came close to making the NCAA tournament last season but opened this season with losses to Southwest Missouri State and Wichita State before defeating Texas Wesleyan. Mississippi Valley State lost to Iowa and defeated Akron.

Irvine needs to grab a victory where it can, or the next few weeks will be nasty. Anteater opponents in that period include No. 22 Nevada Las Vegas, a likely game against No. 11 Georgetown, No. 20 Tulane and Houston.

Colleen Matsuhara, coach of the women’s basketball team, will face her former boss Sunday when Irvine plays Arizona at Tucson.

Matsuhara was an assistant to Arizona Coach Joan Bonvicini at Cal State Long Beach before both left the school in 1991.

Matsuhara’s main concern right now is finding a point guard to replace Chrissy Chang, who transferred after last season. After three games, all losses, Irvine has committed 92 turnovers, 37 of them by point guards Michelle Kahler, Davette Williams and Tamera Thomas.

Dan Guerrero’s first official day as athletic director will be Dec. 16, and he’ll join the men’s basketball team on its trip to Kansas City this weekend. Barbara Camp’s final day as acting athletic director is Friday, and she’ll start her new job as an associate athletic director at Auburn on Monday.