Anteaters Off the Mark in Loss : Basketball: UC Irvine misses 13 layups and 11 free throws in 81-70 defeat, its 13th of the season, at Utah State.

As Utah State fans filed out of the Spectrum on Saturday, happy with a victory, little children ran onto the court to try the shots UC Irvine missed.

Layups and free throws.

It was a rare night in Logan, when Utah State was far from invincible on its home court at 4,688-foot elevation. But Irvine fell to its 13th loss of the season, 81-70, by not taking advantage of it.

“A layup’s a layup,” said Irvine Coach Rod Baker, whose team is 4-13, 2-8 in the Big West Conference. “It’s the first shot you learn how to make when you start playing basketball.”

An Irvine victory Saturday would have disheartened most of the crowd of 7,036, and it would have ended an ugly four-year stretch in which the Anteaters last won back-to-back road games. The last time was in February, 1989, when the Anteaters won at Pacific and Fresno State. Irvine won at Nevada on Thursday, then bricked an opportunity off the backboard Saturday.

“If we could have made half our layups, we’d have been in it,” said forward Jeff Von Lutzow. “We cost ourselves the game right there.”

Utah State (8-11, 5-6) shot 36%, but the Anteaters stooped a little lower, to 34.6%. And it was an especially ugly 34.6%. Irvine missed 13 layups and 28 shots in the lane. The Anteaters also missed 11 of 27 free throws.

“We missed double figures in layups,” Baker said. “I don’t know who in this country you’re going to beat missing double figures in layups.”

Irvine guard Lloyd Mumford scored 16 points, but missed 13 of 19 shots, including four layups, mostly prayers after driving to the rim. Von Lutzow had his seventh double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds, but he missed 10 of 15, and all six from three-point range.

Keith Stewart, Irvine’s second-leading scorer, struggled through one of his worst nights as an Anteater, failing to reach double figures for the first time in 28 games. He finished with four points on two-of-11 shooting, 0 for 4 from beyond the line. He averages 17 points and 43% shooting.

“Stew was not very good tonight,” Baker said, saying Stewart seemed out of the game mentally. “That’s clearly not the toughest defense that’s been played on him this year.”

Stewart has been bothered by a swollen right knee that ultimately might need arthroscopic surgery, but Stewart said that was “no excuse.”

“We just lost,” he said. “We weren’t into it. I know I wasn’t. I guess it’s something personal. I’ll just say it’s personal.”

The Anteaters were without starting center Dee Boyer, who was serving an automatic one-game NCAA suspension after being ejected for a fight during Thursday’s victory over Nevada. But Irvine was able to get the ball inside, especially since Utah State’s Nathan Wickizer and Carlito DaSilva fouled out.

Irvine got the ball inside, but it didn’t get it through the hoop. Freshman Shaun Battle, Uzoma Obiekea and Khari Johnson all did good things to get open, then missed inside.

Battle, Johnson and Todd Whitehead each missed two layups, and Obiekea got to the line four times but missed all four shots.

Irvine hung with Utah State for most of the first half, fighting back from an 11-0 Aggie run to trail by two, 30-28, with about four minutes left in the first half. But a flurry of missed shots by Irvine and a couple of defensive lapses that allowed Utah State’s Jay Goodman to get open outside led to a 39-31 Utah State halftime lead.

Utah State held leads throughout the game, but the Aggies kept letting Irvine get back in it. The Anteaters’ full-court press lured the Aggies into shooting too quickly, and the Aggies’ 15-point second-half lead shrunk. It was small as six with about six minutes left and again with 1:20 remaining on Todd Whitehead’s three-pointer.

But the Anteaters kept missing shots inside, and Utah State made nine free throws in a row to pull ahead by 11 before missing their last three.

Rod Hay led Utah State with 19 points despite making four of 12 shots, and Jay Goodman had 18 points despite going four for 13 from three-point range.

The Aggies, who learned last week that Coach Kohn Smith’s contract will not be renewed, have won their last two games.

“All of a sudden now they’re winning games for a guy who’s not going to be here,” Baker said. “I don’t understand what’s going on with his team, but they’re playing loosey-goosey.”