UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK / JOHN WEYLER : Basketball Team Enjoys More Thrills Than Chills This Season

It has been an up-and-down thrill ride so far, but it beats the heck out of the usual plunge into the abyss.

UC Irvine averaged six regular-season victories during Rod Baker’s first three years as coach. Two-thirds of the way through No. 4, the ship is still rocking, but it seems to be headed in the right direction. The Anteaters are 8-10, 4-7 in the Big West Conference.

They began the season using 10 players and a man-to-man defense and went 4-3 in nonconference games, including losses to two top-20 teams. They had won two in a row when Big West play opened, but played poorly and lost to Cal State Fullerton at home. That loss was followed by five more as Irvine played up and down to the competition, losing once in overtime and three other times by six or fewer points.

In desperation, Baker installed a 2-3 zone, reduced the player rotation to eight and the Anteaters responded by winning four in a row before running into an athletic and active New Mexico State team Saturday night.

In 12 days, this Anteater team equaled Baker’s best Big West regular-season victory total. And the potential for doubling that figure in the final seven games is clear.

Thanks to point guard Raimonds Miglinieks, the Anteaters have more assists (275) than turnovers (269) for the first time in nine seasons. Forward Kevin Simmons has scored 18 or more points in 11 of 13 Big West games. Forward Michael Tate, slowed by a hand injury in midseason, has averaged eight rebounds in the last six games. Mark Odsather and Khalid Channell are combining to average 19 points at small forward and Brian Keefe and Chris Brown have combined to average 20 at the off-guard spot over the last five games.

One Big West coach said he thinks Irvine has the best talent in the conference.

“I’m impressed with the fact that we have some pretty good basketball players,” Baker said. “We’ve had guys in the past who could run plays and follow instructions, but it’s fun to watch basketball players make basketball plays every day.”

As the Anteaters pack for a trip that includes stops at Utah State Thursday night and Nevada Saturday night, here’s a look at a low, a high and a twist on the 1994-95 Irvine roller-coaster.

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Steep descent: Brown began the season as the nation’s top three-point shooter, a guy a couple of coaches thought could play in the NBA after he had canned 10 or so long-distance jumpers against them.

But Brown made only 24 of his first 88 three-point attempts, got down on himself and let the whole world know just how down he was. It almost got to the point where the team manager would hang a towel over Brown’s head for him when he came out of the game.

Then it got to the point where he wasn’t even in the game. Brown was suspended two games in early January to “reassess his priorities in regards to the team,” according to Baker.

Anteater fans could only wonder: What if Brown was shooting the ball like he did last year? How good would we be if you added a half-dozen Brown bombs to a mix that includes Simmons’ inside scoring, Tate’s rebounding and Miglinieks’ penetrate-and-pass playmaking?

They got their only glimpse Thursday night when Brown made six of 10 threes and Irvine romped past Nevada Las Vegas, 82-69.

“Everybody was so excited when Chris finally started going off again,” Channell said. “It makes the whole team more animated.”

Saturday night, Brown made one of six three-pointers.

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New heights: The Anteaters start two freshmen, and if the poise and proficiency of Simmons and Keefe are any indication, maybe East Coast basketball really is worlds ahead.

Simmons, from Brooklyn, and Keefe, a native of Winchester, Mass., have been everything a freshman isn’t supposed to be: consistent, confident and in control.

Simmons is the conference’s No. 2 scorer (18.1), is seventh in field-goal percentage (.493) and ninth in free-throw percentage (.725).

“We knew he could play, but I never had a sense that he could score the way he does inside,” Baker said. “To see him dominate a game . . . I don’t know, I thought he would have to do more from the perimeter.”

And Keefe, who’s starting in place of Brown, has made 20 of his last 32 shots from the floor, including nine of 14 three-pointers--which is one point shy of being equal to making 14 of 14 from inside the arc.

In the last six games, he’s averaging 12 points and 22 minutes.

“Brian is older than his age,” Baker said. “He just hung in there and waited for his turn to help us. We recruited him, one, because he was a high-level player, and two, to be a back-up to Chris Brown.

“So we had no sense that this would be his role. But to find him playing at this level now is great.”

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Altitude of attitude: For the first time in a long time, the Anteaters take the floor most nights truly believing they will win. Not just believing they can win, but believing they will win.

Asked if Saturday night’s 102-77 loss to New Mexico State would be an emotional setback for the Anteaters, Miglinieks shook his head.

“They are a very good team, a top-25 team,” he said. “You can’t be so upset with yourself about it. You have to know how to lose a game.”

When was the last time an Irvine player said something like that?

“I’ve really enjoyed the businesslike way this team has gone about things,” Baker said. “We weathered the storm of the six losses with no one bailing out. Everybody stood in there, confident that they were better than the record indicated.”

Notes

Michael Tate’s new stiff-legged free-throw style may not be pretty, but the junior forward has made 16 of 19 from the line since adopting the new form two weeks ago. He has raised his free-throw percentage to 52%, which says a lot about how poorly he shot when he bent his knees. . . . Guard Zuri Williams, who missed the New Mexico State game because of the flu, is expected to return for Thursday night’s game at Utah State. . . . The men’s volleyball team could break into the top 10 in the country today when the national rankings are released. The Anteaters are 3-0 and were ranked No. 11 last week. . . . Former Irvine soccer player John Houston made his debut as a diver Saturday, winning the one- and three-meter springboard events in a dual meet with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. . . . Both the men’s (5-6) and women’s (6-7) swimming teams hope to finish the regular season at the .500 mark with victories over UC Santa Barbara Saturday.