Parada-sized

Steve Virgen

So this is what Adam Parada was talking about at Midnight Magic,

the eve of the UC Irvine men’s basketball season. Back then, the

7-foot starting center for UCI said this would be his breakout

season.

On Wednesday night, the evidence came, and in convincing fashion.

Parada scored a career-high 28 points, leading three Anteaters in

double figures, and leading UCI to an 81-66 nonconference victory

over Loyola Marymount in the ‘Eaters regular-season opener before

2,010 fans at the Bren Events Center. Parada had fouled out the past

two games, yet on Wednesday he committed three fouls and maintained

aggressive play.

UCI junior forward Stanislav Zuzak, who went scoreless in the

74-69 win over Pepperdine Saturday, broke out of his slump, scoring

all 10 of his points in the second half. Jordan Harris, a senior

forward, added 14 points, as the Anteaters controlled the paint.

“He was assertive for us in the first half, scoring 16 points,”

UCI Coach Pat Douglass said. “It was good to see him not only on

offense, but also on defense, when he altered shots. He went through

(foul trouble) last year, too.”

Parada did not think Wednesday was redeeming for him because he

said his hard work in practice carried over.

“I knew they were going to come after me and try to get me in foul

trouble,” Parada said. “But, I got in a rhythm and we did exactly

what we wanted.”

Parada found his rhythm in the second half and led the Anteaters

on a 15-2 run. He scored 10 of the 15 points and capped the spurt

with a 10-foot fadeaway along the baseline, which gave UCI a 31-23

lead.

“Adam Parada is going to be handful for everybody,” LMU Coach

Steve Aggers said. “He’s an outstanding player. He has great hands,

knows how to finish and they do an outstanding job of getting him the

ball. (UCI) handled our double down, and we tried to zone them, we

pressed them, but he’s just a handful. He’s really grown as a player.

I’ve really seen a ton of an improvement. He’s going to be a great

player in their league.”

The Anteaters (2-2) maintained their momentum in the second half,

and went on a 19-7 run, that began with 13:42 remaining. Zuzak hit

two three-pointers in UCI’s run, and Parada scored six points,

including another fadeaway along the baseline that capped the run

with 8:03 and gave Parada 26 points, surpassing his former

career-high of 24 points (Idaho, Feb. 7, 2002).

Parada scored his final two points with 2:45 left, when he grabbed

an offensive rebound in the middle of the lane and followed with a

resounding dunk, which gave UCI a 78-57 lead.

“We’re improving with each week,” Douglass said. “I thought our

defense was better and that led to our transition buckets. Jeff

Gloger is learning the point guard position. He now has two good

games.”

LMU guard Brandon Worthy led the Lions (3-3) with 15 points.

The Anteaters return to action Saturday at 7 p.m., when they host

Pomona Pitzer.

ZOTS -- After the game Coach Aggers said a man intentionally

bumped into him, as he was walking toward the locker room. “A fan

came out of the stand and just came up to me yelling in my face,”

Aggers said. “I thought of Monica Seles, the tennis player who got

stabbed. I was really nervous. I didn’t see his hands. He was yelling

in my ear and in my face. When a guy comes up like that, you don’t

know, so I just reacted by grabbing him. It was my natural reaction.

I feel bad, but that was my reaction. He had an agenda. He was trying

to start something. There’s some wackos in the world. I don’t know

who it was. I think he was from LMU.” Aggers said he suspected the

man was searching to gain a lawsuit against Aggers ... The last time

Zuzak connected on a shot from the field was in the loss to Western

Michigan, when he hit a three-pointer with 16:51 left. Since then, he

did not score a field goal for a span of 80 minutes ... the Anteaters

scored 21 points off the 19 turnovers they created.

NONCONFERENCE

UC Irvine 81, Loyola 66

Loyola -- Dickens 6, Kincade 11, Osborn 2, Brown 7,

Dennis 6, Worthy 15, Wardrop 4, Haywood 0, Gay 3, Ayer 1, Brown 7,

Neskovic 4.

3-pt. goals -- Kincade 1, Brown 1.

Fouled out -- none.

Technicals -- none.

UCI -- Zuzak 10, Harris 14, Parada 28, Gloger 6, Hood 3,

Schraeder 8, Baskauskas 0, Efevberha 3, Codi 0, Okoro 6, Ethington

3.

3-pt. goals -- Zuzak 2, Schraeder 2, Harris 1, Hood

1.

Fouled out -- Okoro.

Technicals -- none.

Halftime -- UCI, 35-30.