UC Irvine sets hoops dance card

Jan. 15 won’t be the only big date on the UC Irvine men’s

basketball team’s 2002-03 schedule. Aside from hosting Big West

Conference rival Utah State, the Anteaters will face four teams, and

possibly a fifth, from last season’s NCAA Tournament.

Coach Pat Douglass’ Anteaters open the regular season facing

Princeton, which, like UCI, earned a berth in the National Invitation

Tournament last year. The opener is the first round of the Oklahoma

Tournament in Norman, Nov. 22. Irvine will face either Oklahoma, a

2002 NCAA Tournament team, or Western Michigan on the second day of

the tournament Nov. 23.

The Anteaters return to California to face Pepperdine, another

2002 NCAA tourney competitor, in Malibu Nov. 30.

Other 2002 NCAA teams on UCI’s schedule include Stanford, in Palo

Alto, Dec. 19, a home game with Florida Atlantic Dec. 30, and a pair

of Big West Conference meetings with UC Santa Barbara.

The Anteaters, who won their second straight Big West

regular-season title last season, open Big West action with three

straight road games, beginning Jan. 4 at Long Beach State.

Irvine recorded its second straight 20-win season with a 21-11

record last year and shared the Big West regular-season crown with

Utah State by finishing 13-5 in conference action. UCI advanced to

the NIT, losing at Brigham Young in the first round.

Life after Jerry Green, UCI’s all-time scoring leader, will

assuredly be a challenge for Irvine. However, four starters return

for the Anteaters, including junior center Adam Parada and senior

forward Jordan Harris, who each averaged 12.4 points per game last

season. Parada, who led UCI in rebounding at seven per game, was

named second-team All-Big West, while Harris earned honorable mention

after averaging 6.8 rebounds.

Other returning starters for UCI are junior forward Stanislav

Zuzak, who averaged 8.2 points and 3.8 rebounds, as well as senior

guard Mike Hood, who averaged 8.2 points and 2.6 assists.

Douglass, entering his sixth season as UCI’s head coach, has led

the Anteaters to 60 victories over the past three seasons.