Irvine Wins, Stays Close to Tournament

Any of a half-dozen excuses were at UC Irvine’s disposal if it lost to San Jose State on Thursday night.

But for a change, the Anteaters did not need them, defeating San Jose State, 67-62, before 1,862 in the Event Center to take the inside track on the final berth in the Big West Conference tournament next month.

Irvine (6-16, 4-10) was without its second-leading scorer, guard Keith Stewart, who did not make the trip because of a paperwork problem involving his academic eligibility.

The rest of the team could easily have claimed exhaustion. Irvine lost to Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y., on Monday night after a loss to Cal State Long Beach on Saturday.

And Irvine was playing the Spartans, who were as victory-hungry as the Anteaters. San Jose State is 6-16, and its 3-11 conference record drops it into ninth in the Big West, a notch below Irvine. Only the top eight teams in the 10-team league advance to the tournament.

Irvine, led by Jeff Von Lutzow’s 24-point performance, turned back the Spartans for the second time this season.

Von Lutzow, the team’s leading scorer, had scored two points against Hofstra.

“I’ve been thinking about this game since we were in Hempstead,” Von Lutzow said. “That was a terrible game for me.”

This was a terrific one. Von Lutzow, a 6-foot-9 senior forward, made 10 of 17 shots, including four of seven three-pointers.