Irvine Washes Away Losing Streak by Defeating San Jose State

UC Irvine’s season was already sinking fast when Coach Rod Baker called his players in close late in Friday’s practice. Hold hands, he told them. Follow me.

Jeff Von Lutzow, the first player in line, smiled sheepishly, his teammates trailing behind him. Out the door of Crawford Hall gym they went, down the stairs, past the giggles of women swimmers and on to the pool, where the Anteaters dived in, Nikes and all.

Irvine had already plunged to the bottom of the Big West Conference standings, so why not Crawford Hall pool? After eight losses in a row, it was sink-or-swim time.

Irvine decided to swim, beating San Jose State, 73-64, Saturday in front of 2,327 in the Bren Center.

It was the Anteaters’ first victory during the month of January since 1991, a streak that covered 17 games. Their record stands at 3-11, 1-6 in the Big West.

San Jose State (5-11, 2-6) lost its 17th consecutive road game.

“Tonight we decided it was really important to play with emotion,” Baker said. “We’ve been a little too sophisticated as a group. We felt if we did something poorly, we needed to be upset about it. If we didn’t something good, we needed to show it.”

The players’ emotions about their swimming expedition started with disbelief.

“I would never have expected that in a million years,” said Von Lutzow, who scored 16 points against the Spartans despite playing with a queasy stomach.

He might have if he had known that Baker tried it once before, during a losing streak while he was the coach at Tufts. But everyone was baffled when Baker halted practice 10 minutes early Friday.

“He asked us if we trusted each other and said that was one of the problems the team had,” said point guard Lloyd Mumford. “First he called it a test, then he called it an exercise.”

Minutes later, the Anteaters were poolside.

“He said, ‘Take a step forward,’ and I said, ‘Don’t you mean a step back?’ ” Mumford said. “Then we all jumped in. We had to blow dry our sneakers. My sneakers just got dry before the game.”

Mumford wasn’t bothered in the least, threatening a triple-double with 21 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Mumford is little more than 6 feet tall, but no one on the court grabbed more missed shots than he did.

Irvine’s other guard, Keith Stewart, had 16 points and six rebounds, giving the Anteater backcourt more rebounds than the Spartans’ starting front line.

And Irvine’s sleeping giant, Dee Boyer, who had tried only 10 shots in the last five games, came through with 11 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.

He made his presence felt on the court--and in the pool.

“The biggest splash? Definitely Dee Boyer,” Stewart said.

Boyer played actively, and it made a world of difference.

“The last several games, I haven’t played very well,” Boyer said. “I came out of my slump.”

Had the criticism hurt him?

“It doesn’t bother me. I’m used to criticism. I’ve heard it all my life.”

Daryl Scott scored 13 points to lead the Spartans, who committed 20 turnovers, 15 in the first half.

Though Irvine led most of the second, the scored was tied at 58-58 with 4 1/2 minutes left. But the Anteaters got a little lead, and they held it. In the final five minutes, Irvine made 15 of 18 free throws. This from a team that was shooting 63% from the line.

Mumford kept getting back to the line by driving the lane hard. On the other end, Boyer and Von Lutzow came up with huge blocks.

San Jose State Coach Stan Morrison said his team “didn’t deserve to win,” faulting the Spartans’ passing and mental errors. But he had praise for Irvine.

“Von Lutzow, Boyer, Mumford and Stewart were just terrific, particularly the backcourt,” Morrison said. “Mumford controlled the game from beginning to end. I think their guards dominated the game, and our guards made bad decisions for most of the 40 minutes.

“Our team looked complacent. We didn’t realize how important this game really was.”

Irvine did, you can bet.

Anteater Notes

Craig Marshall, a senior who started all but one game last season and had started 64 during his career before this season, made his first start of the season Saturday, replacing Khari Johnson at forward. . . . Forward LaDay Smith, who started five games before missing the last four because of a stress fracture in his left foot, expects to begin practicing with the team lightly this week. Unless Smith receives approval from team physician Carlos Prietto to leave with the team Wednesday on a trip to Nevada and Utah State, he won’t return any sooner than Feb. 15 against UC Santa Barbara. The reason: Irvine’s only game between the upcoming trip and the Santa Barbara game is at Cal State Fullerton, and Smith was suspended from that game by the Big West Conference for his part in a post-game fight against Fullerton on January 16. . . . Next: UC Santa Barbara in the Bren Center at 8:30 p.m. Monday, one hour later than originally scheduled.