College Basketball : UC Irvine Can’t Find Range in 82-80 Loss

If it had been a Final Four game, the play would have gone down in college basketball history as “The Foul.” But because it was just a nonconference game between UC Irvine and the University of San Francisco, it will be merely a curious footnote in what is already a strange season for the Anteaters.

With 7 seconds remaining in the game and the score tied at 80, USF guard Kevin Mouton was dribbling about 35 feet from the basket when Irvine’s Rod Palmer reached over Mouton’s body, took an overhand swipe at the ball, hit Mouton on the hip and was whistled for a foul.

Mouton, who’s shooting 87% from the free-throw line this season, made both ends of the one-and-one and USF beat Irvine, 82-80, in front of 2,073 at the Bren Center.

Did Palmer foul Mouton intentionally? Mouton certainly thought so.

“He did it on purpose,” Mouton said. “His coach must have told him to, but I don’t know why. He did it real fast (after a timeout). It was intentional. I’d have to say that.”

That’s certainly the way it looked, but . . .

“Hell no, it wasn’t intentional,” Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan said. “Why the hell would you do that. It wasn’t even his man.”

So it was just an ill-advised attempt at a steal?

“Yeah,” Mulligan said, rolling his eyes.

Palmer, a junior transfer from UCLA, sat slumped in his locker afterward.

“I was trying to make something happen,” he said softly. “He’d been penetrating all night and I was trying to stop him before he could get there.”

Irvine’s Mike Labat missed a leaning 8-foot jumper with 2 seconds left and then Palmer grabbed the long rebound and missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“We didn’t lose the game at the end,” Mulligan said. “We lost it in the first half. We were awful at defending the ball, and we shot horrible.”

The Anteaters (1-2) have already changed their defense and fiddled with their offense this season. But they have yet to find a cure for the poor shooting that has haunted them. Irvine shot 41% from the floor in the first half and 45% for the game.

Irvine missed a number of layups and easy follow shots in the early going and, despite an incredible 23-8 halftime rebounding advantage that included 12 offensive rebounds, the Anteaters led by only 37-35.

They led by as many as 7 points (56-49) with 12:37 left, but USF scored on two quick jumpers by forward Joel DeBortoli (who finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds) and a pair of layups to tie the score, 58-58, 2 minutes later. Neither team led by more than 3 the rest of the way.

In the end, the Anteaters had outrebounded USF, 43-25. They had taken 15 more shots from the field. But their best shooters got off to a slow start and stayed cold most of the night.

Senior guard Kevin Floyd was 4 of 13 from the field. Labat missed his first 5 shots and finished 3 for 9. Jeff Herdman was 4 for 10. And Palmer, who led Irvine with 17 points, was a modest 7 for 13 from the field.

Only freshman center Brian McCloskey (6 of 9, 14 points) and sophomore guard Justin Anderson (3 of 4, 7 points) shot well.

“We’ve got big-time shooters,” Mulligan said, with more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “They just don’t shoot well in games.”

The Dons (3-0), like most of Irvine’s opponents, didn’t have nearly as much trouble putting the ball in the basket. They shot 50% from the floor despite the fact that their best player--6-foot 8-inch senior center Mark McCathrion--was reduced to cheerleader duty because of an ankle sprain. McCathrion averaged 15 points a game last season.

“I’m really happy the way the kids really pulled together with our best player out of the lineup,” USF Coach Jim Brovelli said. “Mark’s the quickest big guy I’ve ever coached and a very tough player to lose.”

Mouton picked up much of the slack, finishing with a career-high 22 points. He made 8 of 10 from the field and all 6 free throw attempts.

“It was a blessing getting this win tonight,” Brovelli said with a sigh.

Some might call it a gift.