UCI Wins With Return of Running Game

UC Irvine got a win Tuesday night, but this victory didn’t do much to improve the Anteaters’ prospects for the rest of the season.

The Anteaters’ 112-101 triumph over Eastern Washington in front of 1,219 in the Bren Center proves that, well, they’re at least as good as Brewster Packing, a club team that also beat the Eagles this year.

There were, however, a number of positives for Irvine (2-4):

--For the first time this season, the Anteaters got off to a quick start, hitting 6 of their first 7 shots.

--They shot a season-high 61% from the floor, made 9 of 12 3-pointers and 23 of 28 free throws.

--Six Irvine players scored in double figures, including freshman center Elgin Rogers, who made his first start and celebrated his 19th birthday with 17 points, hitting 6 of 7 shots from the field.

--Guards Kevin Floyd and Rod Palmer combined for 54 points. Floyd, who finished with a career-high 28, made 12 of 15 shots. Palmer, who scored 26, was 11 of 21 from the floor, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range.

Now the bad news:

--With 3:50 left in the game, Irvine held a precarious 97-94 advantage.

“We’re not going to have any more easy games,” Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan said afterward. “Hell, this one wasn’t easy. I think we’ll get better and better, though. We better, or people are gonna start looking at me funny.”

Mulligan has decided to stick with a full-tilt running game and a full-court press. At least the Anteaters made half of his game plan work Tuesday.

But how effective was the press? Just ask Eastern Washington forward David Peed, who looked like Jerry Rice, catching long passes and blowing through the press to the tune of 42 points.

In the second half, the Eagles (2-5) scored on 14 layups, 5 3-pointers and a 15-foot jump shot (Remember the jump shot, Irvine fans?).

But Bob Hofman, the Eastern Washington coach, is one guy who thinks there’s some method to Mulligan’s apparent madness.

“You have to give up something to get something,” Hofman said. “They gave up a lot of layups, but, in the end, they got us to wilt a little and that was the difference.”

Rogers scored three layups and two free throws in the final 3 1/2 minutes as the Anteaters put the game away. But with 6:36 left, the Eagles had the lead.

“At halftime, our four post players had combined for one rebound and one basket,” Mulligan said. “And we made a hell of a lot of mistakes on the press. But the hell with the layups. We’re gonna do something exciting.”

If the Anteaters continue to play defense like they have so far, “exciting” might not be the word used to describe Irvine during the upcoming 3-game trip, which includes stops at Las Vegas, Loyola of Chicago and Virginia.

“We’re not big enough to play the half-court game,” Floyd explained, “and we’re really not quick enough to make the full-court press work all the time, but at least we’re playing loose this way.

“We’re back to going all-out helter-skelter now and there’s no shackles on anyone. Anyone can shoot if they’ve got a shot. We’ve got to tighten up things on the press, but if we can create a turnover here and there, all the layups won’t be so bad.”

Floyd, who is back to playing point guard after being switched to off-guard this season, pushed the ball upcourt at the breakneck pace Mulligan demands and ended up with 5 assists and just 2 turnovers to go along with a fine offensive performance.

And Palmer, who traded starting spots with Floyd, says he feels comfortable as the designated outside shooter.

But Irvine’s inside game was nonexistent until Rogers came around in the second half. The 6-foot 6-inch freshman had 2 free throws, 1 rebound and 2 turnovers at halftime, but rallied after a halftime pep talk from his teammates.

“I was kind of nervous because I was starting for the first time,” Rogers said. “But my teammates know what I can do and they told me at halftime to just act like it’s practice and play hard.”

The Irvine locker room was a much happier place than it has been in a while, but there were some pretty big smiles in the visitors’ locker room, too.

“Hey, Dave, how many you get? Ninety-two?” someone yelled to Peed.

“I think we should of won,” Peed said, “but I wouldn’t mind playing these guys every night.”