UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK / JOHN WEYLER : Anteaters Win Title? It’s Not All Magic

Chris Brown is no longer ringing up numbers like a CPA in April, so UC Irvine is going to need a concerted team effort this week if the Anteaters hope to re-create last year’s magical mystery tour in the Big West tournament.

Brown pumped in 24 three-pointers during last year’s tournament as Irvine made an improbable run before running out of gas in the championship game and coming up seven points shy of earning a spot in the NCAA tournament.

But the senior guard who led the nation in three-point shooting last season has made only 20 three-pointers in 18 Big West games this year, and he never made it off the bench during the Anteaters’ regular-season-ending victory Saturday night at Cal State Fullerton.

So, if the Anteaters plan to re-enact their own form of March madness, a number of factors must come together:

* Post players Kevin Simmons, Michael Tate and reserve Shaun Battle have to continue holding their own on the boards. Irvine has a slight rebounding advantage (689-684) against Big West opponents this year and a slightly bigger one would go a long way toward success during the tournament.

* Those same players must be ever vigilant for bullet passes from point guard Raimonds Miglinieks, who is ranked third in the nation in assists and has to be No. 1 in squeezing the ball through tiny openings. “Miglinieks is the John Stockton of our league,” Long Beach State Coach Seth Greenberg said. “He controls the whole thing. He dominates the basketball, he scores and he gets the ball to people when they’re open, which is a rarity in this league.”

* Senior forward Mark Odsather and freshman guard Brian Keefe must hit about half of their three-point shots to open things up underneath for Simmons and Co. Odsather is five for 15 from beyond the arc in the last four games. Keefe is two for eight in the same span.

* Senior reserve forward Khalid Channell needs to continue to be an impact player. Channell has averaged 24 minutes, 14 points and five rebounds during the last five games. He has shot 61% from the field in those games.

* Defense, defense, defense. The Anteaters have scored 79 or more points and lost six times in conference play. They have scored 78 or more in all but one of their victories. They’ve had success at times with man-to-man and 2-3 zone defenses--which they currently employ at about a 60%-40% mix--but they’re going to have to turn it up a notch and hold opponents below their season average (81 points a game).

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Looking up: Last year, the Anteaters finished the regular season with a 4-14 record, but the tournament seedings left them sitting pretty.

Seeded 10th, Irvine had to play on Thursday when the bottom four teams battle it out for the right to join Nos. 1-6 in the quarterfinals. But the Anteaters opened with UC Santa Barbara, a team they had lost to twice in the regular season by four-point margins, and then met Utah State, a team they had upset on the road and lost to in overtime at home.

They got Pacific--a less-than-overwhelming team--in the semifinals before losing to New Mexico State in the championship game.

This season, the Anteaters (11-15 and 6-12 in conference) have increased their conference victory total by 50% and are seeded eighth, but they face a decidedly uphill climb through the tournament bracket.

If Irvine beats Fullerton Thursday afternoon, it faces top-seeded Utah State at 6 p.m. Friday night. Utah State walloped the Anteaters, 94-67, Feb. 9 in Logan and beat them, 93-87, in the Bren Center Jan. 16, when three Irvine forwards combined to score 46 points and Miglinieks “added” 22 points and 12 assists.

“Utah State is as skilled and as deep at every position as any team in this conference,” Irvine Coach Rod Baker said. “I think last year our seeding and the bracketing were more in our favor.”

This season, the Anteaters are winless against Nevada and Pacific, one of which they would play in the semifinals if they beat the Titans and the Aggies.

“There is no way, shape or form that we would look past Thursday’s game,” Baker said. “It’s like ignoring one monster to face another bigger one. Nobody wants to run into that valley.”

The obvious key to beating the Titans is holding Winston Peterson in check. The Anteaters have packed it in around the Fullerton center in both meetings. He scored 15 points in the Big West season opener and the Titans won, 74-68. He scored 17 Saturday night and Irvine won, 91-83.

“They’ve focused their defense on stopping Winston just like everyone else has,” Fullerton Coach Bob Hawking said. “And you’ve got to credit Coach Baker and his staff for limiting our ability to get him the ball.”

Peterson has averaged only 14 shots in each of the meetings this season.

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On off guard: The Anteaters will be faced with an interesting choice at the off guard spot this week. Freshman Brian Keefe provides outside shooting, but senior Zuri Williams offers excellent ballhandling and defense.

Williams, normally a point guard, has been getting more playing time at the other guard position. He can do everything but light it up from outside. He penetrates well, is a strong rebounder and, most importantly, is one of the conference’s best defensive players.

“Zuri gives us an added dimension,” Baker said, “and with both he and Raimonds out there, we certainly don’t have to worry about getting the ball up the floor.”

Note to coaches facing this lineup: Hold the presses.