UC Irvine Finally Finds Big West Team It Can Beat

It was the perfect setting for the Battle of the Beaten.

A smattering of about 400 curious fans ventured out on a stormy Sunday afternoon and gathered in the 60-year-old San Jose Civic Auditorium to see two teams that had combined to lose 12 consecutive games, six each.

UC Irvine and San Jose State were both oh-for-’95, but on this afternoon, a loser would be king . . . for a day, anyway.

Irvine (5-9, 1-6) built a 15-point lead midway through the second half and then made 13 of 18 free throws in the final five minutes to win its first Big West game of the season, 85-74. San Jose State, which scored the most points it has this season and also had a season-high 49% field-goal percentage, dropped to 1-14.

The Spartans’ only victory of the season was a 70-66 triumph over Alaska Anchorage, but when you’re 0-7, there’s no such thing as a hollow victory.

“If you have no money in your pocket and then you have a dollar, how big is that?” Irvine Coach Rod Baker said. “You’ve got a lot better chance of parlaying a buck into two bucks than nothing into one.

“We finally shook the ‘oh-for,’ now we need to get that ‘two-for.’

The Anteaters, who begin a four-game home stand Thursday night against Long Beach State, finally played a team that even they couldn’t find a way to lose to. After blowing first-half leads of nine or more points four times in conference, they built on a two-point halftime advantage and held on down the stretch.

Irvine employed a two-three zone defense almost the entire game. It didn’t hurt the Spartans’ shooting percentage, but it did slow down their inside game. Center Mike Brotherton, who led San Jose State with a 14-point average in Big West play, had only 10 points and four rebounds.

“Their zone was effective because we were very ineffective in moving the ball,” Spartan Coach Stan Morrison said. “Everybody was waiting for someone else to take charge. We didn’t flash to the basket and we didn’t make them foul us. And they rebounded very well out of it.”

Don’t expect to see the Anteaters playing a lot of the two-three, though. Sunday was the first time in his nine years as a head coach that Baker used the defense.

“I’m a little less stupid than I am stubborn,” Baker said. “Just a little. But when you’re losing, you try to come up with some answers. So I figured we could at least look at it and see.”

Guards Raimonds Miglinieks and Brian Keefe combined to make 10 of 21 shots from the field and 19 of 23 free throws for 44 points. Miglinieks, controlling the ball and the tempo of the game, had eight assists and made nine of 10 free throws in the final 5 minutes 10 seconds.

Freshmen Keefe and Kevin Simmons, who had 19 points, both came on strong in the second half. Keefe scored 15 points after the intermission and Simmons had 11.

“Miglinieks did a great job,” said Morrison, “but that’s no surprise. I thought he was the best player in the state last year (at Riverside College).”

The Anteaters spread out in a four-corners offense about midway through the second half, allowing Miglinieks to run some time off the clock and then try to beat his opponent off the dribble before passing to an open teammate.

“Maybe we finally opened the door,” Miglinieks said. “It wasn’t like we were getting killed, but we kept losing. We know we can play with any team in this conference, so this game was very important for us.

“I was sick of losing.”

That sentiment was rampant in the Irvine locker room, which actually contained a number of smiles for the first time in a month.

“Finally,” said forward Mark Odsather with an exaggerated sigh of relief. “This feels really good. We’ve been so close in so many games, maybe this will turn it around for us. Maybe things will start to go our way, maybe we’ll start getting the lucky bounce or the whistle at the right time.”

The Spartans, who have made more than 270 turnovers this season, committed 16 Sunday, two of which were inbound passes that flew over the head of the intended receiver. One of them Keefe retrieved for an easy layup. The other landed in the Spartan band.

“The difference in the game,” Baker said, “was that they had that stretch when they made a couple of mistakes in a row. I’ve seen plenty of that this year.”