Irvine Struggles but Stops Finnish National Team

IRVINE —  UC Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan was hoping to see an improving Anteater basketball club on the court in the team’s second exhibition game.

A victory seemed to be a given. After all, the Finnish national team that Irvine met Monday night in the Bren Center had lost to Chapman College by 31 points Saturday.

But instead of revving its running game in preparation for the season opener against UCLA in less than to weeks, Irvine struggled to a 101-90 victory, trailing briefly in the first half and playing to a halftime tie.

“I wasn’t concerned with playing the Finns as much as I was with how much we had improved,” Mulligan said. “We haven’t.”

Irvine, coming off a 5-23 season that was the worst in school history, didn’t lead by double digits in the second half until 6 minutes 9 seconds remained, when Ricky Butler’s layup off a pass from Gerald McDonald gave the Anteaters an 11-point lead.

And Mulligan knew, it might have been worse.

“If the Finns hadn’t gotten into foul trouble, they might have won,” he said.

Four Finnish players fouled out.

Butler, Irvine’s senior center, led the Anteaters with 32 points, 27 of them in the second half. Butler made 14 of 20 shots and also had 14 rebounds.

“Aside from Butler, I can’t think of anyone else who played well,” Mulligan said.

In their first exhibition game, a 127-122 loss to High Five America, the Anteaters struggled with turnovers and poor free-throw shooting.

Irvine committed 19 turnovers Monday, down from 29 in the first exhibition game.

But the Anteaters still struggled at the line, making only 26 of 42 free throws (62%), compared to 53% in the first exhibition.

But perhaps most disappointing to Mulligan was the team’s fast break, which he has hoped will be its trademark. A busy fall schedule of conditioning and early-morning workouts didn’t seem to have yielded much Monday.

“I was disappointed in our break, and our lack of conditioning, which I can’t believe,” Mulligan said.

Jeff Von Lutzow, a sophomore forward, added 15 points for Irvine, and sophomore guard Dylan Rigdon, who made only three of 11 shots, added 13.

Gordon Herbert scored 16 points for the Finnish team, leading five players in double figures.