New Rule Gives Aggies a Shot, but Irvine Wins

LAS CRUCES, N.M. â€”  Gerald Wright of New Mexico State took an inbounds pass with one second left, spun from the top of the key and threw up a shot so high that it might have brought rain had the game been played outdoors.

Wright wasn’t thinking bank-shot, but his three-point attempt caromed off the backboard, anyway. Then, as if purposely teasing 7,831 screaming fans, the ball did everything but go into the basket. It danced around the rim and then popped out.

A basket would have sent the game into overtime. Instead, UC Irvine beat the Aggies, 78-75, in a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. game Saturday at the Pan American Center.

It was the second-straight win for UC Irvine (9-11 overall, 4-5 in the PCAA).

Wright dropped to the ground in disbelief when his shot didn’t drop, but there are those who felt justice was served.

This season, PCAA coaches voted to use the three-point play, which awards an additional point to any player who makes a shot from beyond a semi-circle stripe painted on the floor, 19 feet 9 inches away from the basket.

The idea was that it would keep games exciting, but who would have thought teams would start designing their whole offense around a stripe on the floor?

“I’ve never seen anything like that,� UC Irvine Coach Bill Mulligan said. “They only had one guy inside the key and kept the other four guys outside the (three-point) line.�

The Aggies (6-11, 4-5) shot 38% from the field in the game but were in it until the end because they made 12 of 30 three point attempts. That broke the PCAA record for most three-point shots in a game and tied the record for attempts.

“And we were lucky they had a lot of guys with size 15 shoes who couldn’t keep their toes off the stripe,� UC Irvine forward Tod Murphy said. “There were a lot of close ones.�

The Aggies, who were having no luck shooting close to the basket, went exclusively to their three-point offense late in the first half after UC Irvine took a 39-19 lead.

The Aggies made seven three-point shots in the second half alone.

And, as Mulligan said, there was no secret to what the Aggies were trying to do.

On offense, New Mexico State worked the ball around to four shooters, all strategically placed around the three-point stripe.

It almost worked.

Aggie forward Orlando Febres made four three-point shots in the second half. His second, from the baseline, gave New Mexico State a 43-42 lead with 13:10 left. At one point in this barrage, the Aggies outscored UC Irvine, 19-1, as the Anteaters couldn’t even find the two-point range.

But the Anteaters, though noticeably frustrated, didn’t fold. After falling behind again, 65-63, on another long shot by Febres, the Anteaters hit two three-pointers of their own.

Center Johnny Rogers, who finished with 29 points, made a shot deep from the baseline to put UC Irvine up by one. Jerome Lee, who had another strong game at point guard, followed with another three-pointer with 3:52 left to give UC Irvine a 69-65 lead.

The Anteaters never trailed again, but holding the lead was anything but easy.