Colleges: Getting to the points

Amara Aguilar

The point isn’t the points.

Former UC Irvine men’s basketball player Tod Murphy sets the record

straight when he talks about the school mark he holds for most career

points. Murphy piled up 1,778 points in 117 games while playing for the

Anteaters from 1982-86.

“It’s been nice, but my memories aren’t of all the points I scored,”

Murphy said. “My memories are of the great times I had when I played

here.”

Murphy, now an assistant men’s basketball coach at UC Riverside,

played for the Anteaters under prolific coach Bill Mulligan and was a

member of the UCI squad in 1985-86 that defeated UNLV twice in one season

and pulled out a win over UCLA at Pauley Pavilion.

On Saturday night, Murphy returned to UCI when the Highlanders took on

the Anteaters at the Bren Events Center. UCI won, 72-53.

“It’s definitely a strange feeling because I always thought I’d be on

the other side of the floor as opposed to on the opposing team’s side,”

Murphy said. “At the same time I never played in this gym. I played in

Crawford Hall so it’s a little bit different. Maybe someday I’ll get back

on the other side of the floor.”

Murphy watched Saturday night as UCI senior guard Jerry Green scored

18 points against UC Riverside. Green holds the No. 2 spot on UCI’s

career scoring list with 1,658 points.

“I wished (Green) the best of luck,” Murphy said. “I talked to him a

little bit after the game and my only regret is I won’t be there when he

breaks the record. I’d like to be there to shake his hand and

congratulate him. It’s just a matter time before he breaks it. He’s a

great young man so I wish him all the best.”

Green, last year’s Big West Conference Player of the Year, is

averaging 22.6 points per game and needs only 120 to tie Murphy’s record

for career points.

Although setting the mark for career points was a highlight of

Murphy’s college basketball career, he knows records are made to be

broken.

“It’s really weird,” Murphy said. “You don’t even notice that you are

scoring a bunch of points. It’s more of a sign of longevity than it is

anything else. It’s nice to know that I had a nice career and it stayed

up there for a while, but I’ll be No. 2 now and then somebody else will

come by and break Jerry’s record and I’ll be No. 3.”

After playing at UCI, Murphy was drafted 53rd overall in the third

round of the 1986 draft by the Seattle Supersonics. He suffered an injury

and missed the season.

The forward did not return to the NBA until 1989 when he was a member

of the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves. Murphy was one of the

Timberwolves’ original starting five in their first game, joining Sam

Mitchell, Brad Lohaus, Tony Campbell and Sidney Lowe.

In 1992, Murphy was traded to the Houston Rockets and later played

basketball in Europe. Murphy is in his first season with UC Riverside.

Someday, he hopes to return to the place where he collected so many

memories as a college basketball player.”I’m very happy and excited about

coaching at UC Riverside and if somewhere down the line I get the

opportunity to come back and coach here, I would definitely take that

opportunity,” Murphy said. “But who knows if that is ever going to

happen. Right now, I’m just enjoying Riverside.”

UCI’s Adam Parada, a 7-foot sophomore center, led the men’s basketball

team in its most recent game against UC Riverside Saturday.

He matched a career high by scoring 20 points against the Highlanders.

“I am not a true post player yet,” Parada said. “I haven’t proven it.

We work on it every day and hopefully I will be by the end of the

season.”

It seems Parada, a Big West all-freshmen team selection last year, is

well on his way. He also had two blocks and seven rebounds against UCR.

There were a couple of new faces on the court against the Highlanders.

UCI freshman guard Jeff Hufford, a walk-on player, played one minute

and made the most of it, grabbing an offensive rebound.

Sophomore guard Jesse Obrand also made his debut on the court this

season. He missed a three-point attempt in two minutes of action.

It’s hard to believe, but UCI’s Bren Events Center is turning 15 on

Tuesday. The arena, named after Irvine Co. chairman of the board Donald

Bren, is modern, cozy and classy. It is perfect for taking in a

basketball game.

The Bren cost $15 million to build. Donald Bren personally donated $1

million to construction of the arena. The majority of funding comes from

student-approved quarterly fees assessed to the students.

In UCI men’s basketball action this week, the Anteaters (10-4, 3-0 in

the Big West) will hit the road against Utah State (11-2, 3-1) Thursday

and travel to Idaho Saturday. Tip-off is at 8:05 p.m. against Utah State

and 7:05 p.m. against Idaho.

The Anteaters are at the top of the Big West standings and are the

only undefeated team in conference play.

Utah State is in second place, followed by UC Santa Barbara (9-4, 3-1)

and Cal Poly (9-3, 3-1). Idaho (3-10, 0-4) is in last place.

The UCI women’s basketball team (4-9, 1-1) travels to Long Beach State

(5-7, 1-1) Thursday for a Big West game at 7 p.m.

In Vanguard University men’s basketball action this week, the Lions

(8-8, 4-3 in the Golden State Athletic Conference) host Point Loma

Nazarene University Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

The Lions have won six of their last seven games and have already won

as many games as last year’s squad, which went 8-22 overall.

Vanguard could pass the .500 mark for the first time this season with

a win over Point Loma. Saturday the Lions will travel to Azusa Pacific

University. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.

The Vanguard women’s basketball team (8-5, 5-2) will play before the

men’s team on Tuesday and Saturday. The Lions, who are on a five-game

winning streak, host Point Loma Tuesday at 5:30. and travel to APU

Saturday for a 5:30 contest.

The Lions are in second place in the GSAC. Point Loma is in first

place with a 5-1 record.