Anteaters Come Close, but Lose to Utah State

UC Irvine Coach Rod Baker benched senior point guard Lloyd Mumford during crunch time Thursday and reserve Zuri Williams came in to block what might have been the winning layup at the end of regulation and then hit a three-pointer with 11 seconds left in overtime.

“It looked like he was destined to be the hero,” Baker said.

But Irvine’s only heroes--actually two plates of submarine sandwiches--ended up on the floor outside the Anteaters’ locker room after assistant Greg Vetrone knocked them to the floor and kicked them down hall.

The Anteaters, who blew a 12-point second-half lead, lost to Utah State, 79-77, in front of 1,723 in the Bren Center. The defeat was Irvine’s seventh in a row and dropped the Anteaters (5-14 overall and 2-9 in the Big West) into last place in conference.

It was their third overtime loss and third two-point defeat of the season.

“I feel sorry for Rod,” Utah State Coach Larry Eustachy said. “He’s just lost so many close ones like that. He’s just snakebit.”

Williams’ three-pointer with 11.6 seconds left in overtime had pulled Irvine into a 77-77 tie, but forward Jerome Avie obviously didn’t realize Williams’ shot was a three-pointer and he immediately fouled Junsie Cotten.

Cotten made both free throws with 9.6 seconds remaining. Irvine’s final desperation shot--a three-point attempt by Chris Brown who was juggling the ball on the way up--had no chance.

Avie declined comment, but Williams said his teammate was unaware that he had tied the game with a three-pointer.

“I don’t know, maybe somebody up there is trying to tell us we need to work on something else,” Williams said. “We just keep making that one mistake that costs us the game.”

The Anteaters didn’t lose this one in the final minutes of regulation or overtime, however. They lost it when they failed to hold a 55-43 lead with 8:59 to play. The Aggies (9-11, 6-6) put together a 15-4 run that cut the Irvine advantage to one with 3:52 remaining.

During the stretch, Brown missed three three-pointers, forward Khalid Channell missed a layup and a four-foot bank shot, Mumford missed a three-pointer and Avie missed a short baseline jumper. Irvine made only eight of 23 second-half shots from the floor.

“Their zone bothered us,” Baker said. “We were getting it into (center) Dee (Boyer) and then they packed it in and we missed five or six straight jumpers. They were all good shots, they just didn’t go in.”

Eustachy wasn’t ready to label himself a coaching genius for the move, though.

“We went into the zone because we couldn’t guard Boyer,” he said. “It was no great strategy, just a desperation move or we were going to lose by 30.”

As it was, Utah State had a chance to win in regulation when Roddie Anderson, who was able to drive to the hoop at will most of the night, got stuffed by Williams then got the ball back and put up another errant shot. Eric Franson’s tip-in attempt trickled around the rim and fell off.

Brown, who made a school-record 10 three-pointers Saturday, made his only two of the night early in overtime to put Irvine ahead, 71-67, with 2:57 remaining in overtime. But Franson, who finished with a game-high 26 points, made two scoop-shot layups around Boyer and Anderson, who had 21, scored on three consecutive drives and a pair of free throws, to give the Aggies a 77-74 lead with 20 seconds left.

“It’s hard,” Baker said, his voice barely audible. “It’s very difficult to get into these situations and not come out victorious.

Anteater Notes

Forward LaDay Smith and guard Todd Whitehead were in street clothes Thursday night, serving a one-game suspension for “violating team rules,” according to Coach Rod Baker. Whitehead was suspended for two games earlier in the season after being cited for shoplifting.