Efevberha a spark for UCI

Two months ago, Mike Efevberha was on the verge of being a

redshirt. Now, the UC Irvine’s lone true freshman is bringing life to

the UCI men’s basketball team.

While the Anteaters were losing to Stanford last week, Efevberha

said he was itching to get in the game. He entered with 4:05 left and

the Cardinal on its way to a 84-57 win. Three days later, Efevberha

received his first collegiate start and responded with a career-high

17-point performance against Saint Mary’s.

Granted, Saint Mary’s is no Stanford, but the UCI freshman

displayed his athletic skills and prolific scoring ability, leading

the Anteaters to the victory.

“He did whatever he wanted to do,” Saint Mary’s Coach Randy

Bennett said of Efevberha. “He just scored at will on us in that

first half.”

Scoring is not of unfamiliar territory for Efevberha. He scored 58

points for Ganesha High in a win over Brea Olinda last year, and he

scored 20 or more points in 20 games, 30 or more 10 times and 40 or

more in five other games. He led Ganesha to a 24-5 record and the

Valle Vista League title. He was named the Valle Vista League MVP,

too.

When UCI Coach Pat Douglass first talked about the 6-foot-5

freshman he drew comparisons to Jerry Green. Makes sense.

Both players are from the Pomona area and both bring a rare

excitement to the court because of their ability to score. So, I

guess it also makes sense that Douglass thought to redshirt

Efevberha, just like he did with Green in his first year with the

Anteaters.

However, Douglass realized Efevberha’s talents were too valuable

to stash away for a season. He also had another quality trait

Douglass admires. Whenever Douglass talks about Efevberha, the UCI

coach usually says, “He has a lot of confidence.”

Efevberha’s confidence could go a long way in regard to his

playing time as Big West Conference play is set to begin Jan. 4.

An indication of Efevberha’s confidence came in UCI’s Midnight

Magic, when he responded after being compared to Green, the

Anteaters’ career scoring leader who was Big West Player of the Year

the past two seasons.

“Jerry is a great player; I’ll have some big shoes to fill over

here,” Efevberha said. “But I’m going to try my best. Maybe I’ll end

up like him or even better ... I want to help the team out and help

them get into the NCAA Tournament. I want to do whatever it takes to

get this team there.”

Last week against Saint Mary’s, Efevberha began his quest.

* Efevberha wasn’t the only new starter who gave UCI a lift

against Saint Mary’s. Sophomore Greg Ethington also provided a spark

in his first start of the season. The 6-8 sophomore, who started in

place of junior center Adam Parada, scored seven points and drew two

key offensive fouls. Each time Ethington planted his feet and got the

charge call, he provided the Anteaters with momentum.

Ethington scored a career-high 13 points in the loss to Stanford.

* UCI will have a two-game homestand to close out the

nonconference season. The Anteaters will host Indiana-Purdue, Fort

Wayne Saturday at 7:05 p.m. and then Florida Atlantic, a 2002 NCAA

Tournament participant, Monday at 7:35 p.m.

UCI has won 28 of its last 31 home games (.903) at the Bren Events

Center, dating back to the end of the 1999-2000 season.

* In this week’s Big West Conference statistics, UCI leads the

league in free-throw percentage at .811. The Anteaters rank second in

scoring defense (64.6), three-point field goal percentage defense

(.330), steals (8.57) and rebounding defense (30.1).

Parada leads the conference in field-goal percentage (.638) and

Jeff Gloger ranks first in steals with an average of 3.43 per game.

Gloger leads the team with 21 assists and 24 steals. Senior guard

Mike Hood and redshirt freshman guard Ross Schraeder have each hit 10

three-pointers through seven games.