‘Eaters absorb 84-57 spanking

Steve Virgen

UC Irvine Coach Pat Douglass thought Stanford, the 17th-ranked

team in the nation that had lost two straight home games, would play

with a sense of urgency Thursday night. Douglass couldn’t have been

more right.

The Cardinal avoided its third straight nonconference home loss

displaying intensity and constant pressure on defense, that led to an

84-74 win over the UCI men’s basketball team before 3,013 at Maples

Pavilion. Stanford has not lost three consecutive nonconference home

games since the 1969-70 season.

“We haven’t played in two weeks, and we knew (the Cardinal) would

really have their backs against the wall,” Douglass said. “But I

really thought we would be more prepared, which we weren’t. They

really handed it to us. I was looking forward to this game, but we

just couldn’t handle them. They handled us.”

Three minutes into the game, the Cardinal (6-3) went on a 14-2 run

in less than five minutes to grab a 20-8 lead with 11:52 left in the first half.

Stanford gained momentum and never relinquished the lead. The

Anteaters (3-3) came as close as, 22-12, but the Cardinal kept UCI

away because of its defense, outside shooting, and also because Adam

Parada got into foul trouble.

“They really took it to us,” Douglass said. “They shot the ball

well and they were very physical. They played well.”

Douglass also said the loss to the Cardinal was not a missed

opportunity. He called it, “another ballgame that we have to learn

from. We have to get better.”

Stanford senior Julius Barnes scored a game-high 24 points, 17 in

the first half, when he nailed all three of his three-point attempts.

Cardinal Coach Mike Montgomery said his players held a team meeting

without their coach Wednesday and discussed the problems of the

squad. The answers to their problems came Thursday night, as Stanford

never let up on defense and continually attacked on offense.

“No,” Montgomery said, responding that his team did not make a

statement with the win over UCI. “We learned a lesson from the two

losses. I told the guys, ‘You practiced hard (Wednesday) and you

carried it over.’ That’s just how we have to play. We don’t have much

of a margin for error. So, we have to play our butts off.”

Montgomery said he did not strategize any different than before

and added the Cardinal played with effort on defense, mainly

man-to-man, throughout the game

The Anteaters, who entered Thursday’s game having won three in a

row, appeared lost at times, and were frequently forced into bad

shots. In the first half, UCI starters accounted for only four of the

team’s 22 points.

UCI senior forward Jordan Harris scored all 12 of his points in

the second half to lead the Anteaters, while sophomore forward Greg

Ethington, who also played center, came off the bench and added 13

points. Parada, who scored seven points and grabbed two rebounds,

fouled out with 7:31 remaining and his team down, 69-41.

UCI starting senior guard Mike Hood played sparingly in the first

half and did not start to open the second half. Ross Schraeder, an

Anteater redshirt freshman, started the second half.

He played 24 minutes and scored seven points.

“Obviously if he doesn’t play that many minutes, well then he’s

not playing that well,” Douglass said of Hood.

When asked to grade his team’s performance, Douglass talked of his

players’ situation.

“We hadn’t played in two weeks,” Douglass said.

“We have to bounce back. We weren’t competitive tonight. We had

been playing with intensity.”

Aside from Barnes, Stanford had three other players in double

figures, including reserve Dan Grunfeld (12) and starters Josh

Childress (11) and Justin Davis (11). The Cardinal hit 11 of 15 from

beyond the three-point arc (61%), and finished with a 67.4%

field-goal performance.

The Anteaters close out their two-game road trip in Northern

California Sunday at 3:05 p.m. at Saint Mary’s in Moraga.

ZOTS -- UCI’s lone true freshman Mike Efevberha, who was

instrumental in the Anteaters, win over Pepperdine, did not enter the

game until 4:05 left and the ‘Eaters down, 79-47 ... The UCI bench

was charged for a technical when Douglass challenged one official’s

foul call early in the second half. In the first half, during a

timeout, Douglass told the same official, “Is this six on five?” in

reference that the official was in Stanford’s favor.

Nonconference

Stanford 84, UCI 57

UCI -- Zuzak 6, Harris 12, Parada 7, Gloger 4, Hood 0,

Peace 0, Schraeder 7, Baskauskas 2, Efevberha 0, Okoro 6, Ethington

13.

3-pt. goals -- Schrader 1, Ethington 1.

Fouled out -- Parada. Technicals -- UCI bench.

Stanford -- Childress 11, Davis 8, Little 11, Barnes 24, Lottich

8, Kirchofer 2, Weatherby 0, Besecker 0, Grunfeld 12, Robinson 4,

Haas 2, Haryasz 2.

3-pt. goals -- Barnes 4, Childress 3, Lottich 2, Grunfeld 2.

Fouled out -- none. Technicals -- none.

Halftime -- Stanford, 38-22.