UCI faces 49ers in first round

Amara Aguilar

The UC Irvine men’s basketball team’s bid for its first trip to the

NCAA Tournament does not begin with a day at the Beach. The Anteaters,

who shared the Big West Conference title with Utah State, are seeded

second as they open tonight’s conference tournament against No. 7 Long

Beach State at the Anaheim Convention Center. Tipoff is at 6.

“We don’t have a first-round pass here,” UCI Coach Pat Douglass said.

“We have to bear down and play well against them. Long Beach isn’t

someone you want to open up with. Their minds are open and they are

playing loose.”

The 49ers have won five straight, going into the tournament, including

an 86-70 victory over visiting UCI (20-9, 13-5 in the Big West) Feb. 28.

During their season-ending run, the 49ers also posted wins over the No.

3, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 seeds.

“It was a blur,” Douglass said of the regular-season finale at the

Pyramid. “They came our way the first half and were on all cylinders.

Coach Wayne Morgan had a great game plan and all his kids stepped up.

They have inside play and quickness at the point guard position. They are

definitely one of the best teams we’ve played in the last two months.”

UCI defeated the 49ers, 74-69, on Dec. 22 at the Bren Events Center.

Leading Long Beach (13-15, 9-9) will be 6-foot-8 center Travis Reed, a

two-time first-team all-conference selection averaging 14.7 points and

7.7 rebounds per game. Reed, a UCLA transfer, shot a conference-leading

58.9% from the field this year.

Ron Johnson (12.5 ppg) will also be an offensive threat, while 6-7

sophomore Kevin Roberts exploded for a career-high 27 points against UCI

last week.

“We’ve talked about improving, getting better, not giving up and

working hard,” Morgan, who will resign at the end of this season, said.

“The kids hung in there. We just kept getting better. Finally we’ve got

to a place where we are beginning to play in the framework we’ve been

wanting to.”

UCI’s lineup features senior guard Jerry Green, named Big West

Conference Player of the Year Monday for the second straight season. He

leads the conference in scoring (20.7 ppg).

The Anteaters’ career scoring leader (1,491 points), who needs only 22

points to move up to No. 6 on the Big West career scoring list, will be

backed by junior forward Jordan Harris (12.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg) and sophomore

center Adam Parada (12.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg), a second-team all-conference

pick.

Harris scored a season-high 30 points in the first Long Beach State

game, then came back with 29 against the 49ers last week, including 18 of

the Anteaters’ first 19.

UCI, which split its final six regular-season games, will need a

three-game sweep to win the conference’s automatic NCAA bid. Last year,

UCI won the school’s first conference title, but had to settle for an NIT

bid when it was upset by the University of the Pacific in the semifinals

of the conference tournament.

“Having lost last year, I think the tournament has been a focal point

for the season,” Douglass said. “Long Beach might handle us, but I know

our kids are eager for the tournament and will play well for the

tournament.”

Tonight’s winner will advance to Friday’s semifinals against the UC

Santa Barbara-Cal Poly winner. The championship game is Saturday at 9

p.m.