Waiting Game

It was a peek at the future for the UC Irvine basketball team.

Freshman center Mark Gottschalk posting up Bret Jepsen, BYU’s 6-foot-11 250-pound center, and hitting a five-foot shot. Irvine 9, BYU 6.

Freshman guard Zamiro Bennem bulling his way through the lane for a layup. Irvine 11, BYU 9.

Freshman guard Gabe Cagwin letting fly his specialty, a catch-and-launch three-pointer. Irvine 14, BYU 9.

Freshman guard Jerry Green popping a 17-footer. Irvine 16, BYU 9.

Bennem stealing the ball. Green stutter-stepping up court, then turning on the jets for a layup. Irvine 18, BYU 9.

Last December, other Big West Conference teams had to notice.

“I thought we would be second or first in our division,” Cagwin said.

Here’s a hard look at the present:

Gottschalk taken down low again and again by Cal State Fullerton’s Matt Caldwell, a solid, but far-from-terrific center.

Bennem missing three layups, without the ball touching the rim, in 15 seconds.

Green gaffing a layup.

Cagwin, still in warmups, sitting on the bench.

All during a 17-1 Titan run Saturday.

“I thought we would be in the top three of the division,” Gottschalk said. “I looked at the schedule and thought, ‘We can beat this team and this team and this team.’ ”

Heaping so much on freshmen does have its dangers. Even UCLA and Arizona, considered to have the nation’s top two freshman classes, have learned this. Irvine’s group is having that lesson pounded into their heads. Repeat after me: Freshmen play like freshmen.

At this point in the season, who knew what to expect from Irvine?

The optimistic view was this foursome would gain experience, then blaze through the heavily diluted Western Division, maybe even win it. But there isn’t a lot of optimism around Irvine these days, not after nine consecutive losses.

Coach Pat Douglass walks a fine line between expecting too much and accepting too little from this group.

“Our thoughts for the preseason were to season the freshmen and improve for conference,” Douglass said. “I thought we would be heading to the [conference] tournament. I never envisioned losing so many close games. It kind of snowballed.”

Irvine opened the second half of its game against San Luis Obispo with all four freshmen on the court.

“I went up to Jerry and said, ‘Isn’t this what we’ve all talked about all season?’ ” Cagwin said. “We were having fun on the court. Fun isn’t something we’ve had a lot of this year.”

Green knows that well. More was expected from him and he has lived up to much of it. He is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 12 points, and has dazzled opponents and teammates alike.

The failures, though, have been glaring. Irvine has lost five conference games by a total of 15 points.

Green fired up a three-pointer, instead of driving to the basket, with the score tied in the final seconds against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Irvine lost by two. He missed a free throw with 30 seconds left that would have tied the score against Nevada. Irvine lost by three.

“I can either pout about it or get over it,” Green said. “I’d rather get over it. It can be disappointing, but it’s not going to be like this all the time.”

They hope not.

All four have endured low points. Bennem has scored 29 points in the last six games. Cagwin has been shut out in three of his last seven games, and hasn’t even played in the last two. Gottschalk is averaging just under two rebounds.

“Playing 20 minutes of college basketball is like playing two high school games,” Bennem said. “That’s how much energy you exert out there.”

The lack of stamina is most apparent in Gottschalk. At many schools, he would have been a redshirt. Irvine, though, had a gaping hole in the middle, made worse when sophomore center Stan Divranos was lost for the season because of a back injury.

Gottschalk had six points, three rebounds and two blocked shots in the first 25 minutes against Fullerton but was a liability the rest of the game.

“Playing four minutes of post defense, like against BYU, was like playing a double-overtime game,” Gottschalk said.

The positive spin?

“You are learning stuff that guys at other schools are not learning until midway through their sophomore year,” Gottschalk said.

Are these guys still maturing?

Bennem suffered a minor eye injury in January and had to wear goggles during practice. He didn’t always take them off afterward.

“He was running around the dorm wearing the goggles and a green blanket like it was a cape,” Gottschalk said. “He was yelling, ‘I’m Blankman, I’m Blankman,’ like he was that crazy comic book character Damon Wayans played in the movie.”

Against Arizona, Bennem made an inbound pass off a Wildcat player’s backside, then grabbed the ball and fired up a jumper . . . and missed.

“The hardest thing I’ve had to do all year is to keep from fainting before the Arizona game,” Bennem said. “You see that court on TV all the time. Then I realized I was about to go play on it.”

At times it seems like baby-sitting. Other times, it seems like a beginning.

Cagwin tossed in 20 points, making five of nine three-pointers, against Oregon State.

Bennem had a three-game run against Arizona, James Madison and BYU during which he averaged 13 points.

Gottschalk has averaged six points, four rebounds and two blocks in his last two games.

Green averaged 19 points during a four-game stretch. Arizona Coach Lute Olson said, “I think Irvine got a steal in Green.” Long Beach’s Wayne Morgan has already called him the conference’s freshman of the year.

All four came together against BYU, scoring 51 of the Anteaters’ 82 points. But that was in December.

Is it a future worth waiting for?

Said Douglass: “We get these guys stronger during the off-season and get some recruits, we’ll see some positive outcomes.”