College men’s basketball: UCI takes on Matadors

* Radio: KUCI 88.9 FM

The UC Irvine men’s basketball team will look for its ninth straight

victory tonight when the Anteaters face Cal State Northridge at 7:05 in a

Big West Conference game at the Bren Events Center.

The Anteaters (13-4, 6-0 in the Big West) are the only undefeated team

in conference. Northridge (5-10, 4-2) sits in fourth place.

“(The Matadors) really mix up their defense and play a quick lineup,

so we have to take care of the basketball,” UCI Coach Pat Douglass said.

“That’s going to be how they score, by creating havoc full court.”

Leading Northridge offensively is Markus Carr with a 17.1 points per

game average.

The Matadors lead the conference in turnovers with an average of 17.3

per game.

“That will be a focal point in our preparation,” Douglass said.

UCI, which has won a school record 19 straight games at home, will be

paced by senior guard Jerry Green (21.8 ppg). He is 65 points away from

UCI career point leader Tod Murphy (1,778).

Although Green is the Anteaters’ biggest offensive threat, they have

received a decent amount of offensive support from the remaining four

starters.

Sophomore center Adam Parada (11.9 ppg, 6.5 rebounds per game) has

stepped up his game recently. He had a team-high 15 points in UCI’s 62-58

victory over visiting University of the Pacific Thursday.

“He sustained his purpose defensively and it was one of his better

overall games,” Douglass said. “He didn’t commit a lot of silly fouls.”

Other starters picking it up on offense are junior forward Jordan

Harris (11.3 points, 6.7 rpg), sophomore forward Stanislav Zuzak (9.6

ppg, 5 rpg) and junior guard Mike Hood (8.8 ppg).

“Those kids that are scoring have demonstrated they can shoot the ball

and score,” Douglass said. “Each game they just get open and get the

shots. Jerry is our main scoring threat, but we are confident that all

five starters can score. We’re not intentionally doing that, it’s just

how it’s panning out.”

Big West Conference standings

UC Irvine 6-0

Utah State 5-2

UC Santa Barbara 4-2

Cal State Northridge 4-2

Pacific 3-3

Cal Poly 3-3

UC Riverside 3-3

Idaho 2-5

Long Beach State 1-5

Cal State Fullerton 0-6

This week’s schedule

Saturday, January 19

Cal State Northridge at UC Irvine, 7:05 p.m.

Pacific at Long Beach State, 7:05 p.m.

Utah State at Cal State Fullerton, 7:05 p.m.

Idaho at UC Riverside, 7:10 p.m.

UC Santa Barbara at Cal Poly, 7:05 p.m.