COLLEGE BASKETBALL : UCI’s 3-Pointers Nail Nebraska, 109-101

The intention of the NCAA’s newly adopted three-point shot rule was, of course, to help out the little guy. But after UC Irvine’s season-opening 109-101 victory over Nebraska Friday night, the Cornhuskers came away shaking their heads and wondering just where all this charity stops.

At 5-feet 11-inches, Irvine guard Scott Brooks was the smallest player on the Crawford Hall floor. But from 19-feet 9-inches--three-point territory--Brooks was able to take control of the game as no 7-foot rim-eater can.

Setting a school record for most points by a guard, Brooks hit 10 of 19 field-goal attempts and 5 of 12 three-point tries en route to a career-high 36 points.

Twenty-six of them came in the second half, during which the Anteaters trailed by as many as nine points (65-56). But in less than seven minutes, Brooks reeled off 15 points to drastically rearrange the tone of the game.

Irvine went on to score more points in a single game than it had since the 1983-84 season, when the Anteaters outran New Mexico State, 110-78.

Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan studied all the big numbers on the postseason stat sheet and mused: “Boy, Brooks had a lousy first half.”

Nebraska took a 50-48 lead in the second half, went on a 10-4 spurt to open things up . . . but ultimately failed to shut down Brooks.

“Fantastic, unbelievable” was Mulligan’s assessment of his senior guard’s performance. “There was a time last year when Brooks sometimes just disappeared. It was because he’d get tired.

“The one thing I learned you can’t do is play him too much. He played 34 minutes tonight, which is pressing it. When he’s not tired, he can be an unbelievable player.”

Brooks’ previous single-game high at Irvine was 23 points. After transferring from San Joaquin Delta community college after his sophomore season, Brooks averaged 10.3 points a game in 1985-86.

Thirty-six points was an interesting way to start the new season.

“This was a common night for me in high school,” said Brooks, who averaged 28 points as a prep at East Union High in Manteca, Calif. “This brought back some memories. It felt good to shoot tonight.”

Especially from the bargain-rate, three-for-one shot distance of 19-9.

“I saw where (UCLA’s) Reggie Miller said it was Miller time at his home when he found out about the three-point play,” Brooks said with a grin. “Well, I thought the same thing. Why shoot a two-pointer when you can step out a foot and get an extra point?”

A three-point play of a different kind broke the game open and brought the Crawford Hall crowd of 1,458 to its feet for a standing ovation.

On the loose on a length-of-the-court fast break, Brooks launched from the free-throw line, triple-pumped in the lane and one-handed the ball into the basket--drawing a foul in the process. Brooks hit the free throw, giving the Anteaters an 89-83 advantage with 6:41 left.

“Did you see the hang time on that one?” Irvine center Wayne Engelstad asked. “We call him Michael Jordan now.”

Brooks grinned when he was asked about the play.

“Coach Mulligan gives us a lot of creativity on the break,” Brooks said. “What do you call that--dippin’ and drivin,’ jukin’ and jivin’?”

Buchanan, who scored 15 points despite seven stitches in his right hand, called Brooks’ second half “the best half I’ve ever seen him play. Anyone of the Troll Patrol is capable of scoring 30 points. Tonight, Scotty turned it up a gear.”

The Troll Patrol, for the uninitiated, is Irvine’s backcourt trio of Brooks, Joe Buchanan and Mike Hess--all of whom stand 6-1 or less. Hess added 16 points, giving Irvine five scorers in double figures.

Center Wayne Engelstad had 12 points before fouling out and forward Mike Doktorczyk contributed 19. Doktorczyk led the Anteaters with 9 rebounds, followed by Engelstad with 8.

Nebraska received 28 points from guard Brian Carr and 23 from forward Anthony Bailous. But the Cornhusker attack was badly damaged when forward Bernard Day, a starter on last year’s NCAA playoff team, injured his back in the game’s opening minutes and never returned.

At less than full strength, Nebraska had its hands more than full with a 5-11 guard named Brooks.

“Scotty proved tonight that height doesn’t mean a thing,” Buchanan said. “Not for him, anyway.”