‘Eaters ready for ‘new season’

Steve Virgen

The time has come. This is what the UC Irvine men’s basketball

team has been playing for. After a nonconference season that has

included different starting lineups, high scoring, bad shooting, good

shooting and a shift toward the youth movement, the Anteaters have

improved as they will open their Big West Conference season tonight

at 7:35 at Long Beach State.

UCI (6-3), which is on a three-game winning streak and has won six

of its past seven, ended its nonconference season on a high note.

Mike Efevberha, the Anteaters’ lone true freshman, has been

instrumental in UCI’s run. He has scored 17, 13, and 14 points in the last three wins over Saint Mary’s, Indiana-Purdue, Fort Wayne and

Florida Atlantic. He is 7 of 13 from three-point range in the past

three games.

Redshirt freshman Jeff Gloger has been credited for guiding the

offense and for providing ball-hawking defense, while Adam Parada,

UCI’s 7-foot junior center, has improved recently and leads the team

in scoring along with senior forward Jordan Harris at 11.7 points per

game. Gloger is nearly halfway to UCI’s single-season record for

steals. Gloger has 31 steals in nine games (3.4 average) and the

Anteater record is 66 in 28 games (2.4) by Scott Brooks during the

1986-87 season.

“We have emphasized it’s a new ballgame; it’s a new season,”

Douglass said. “We’ve had preseason, and now it’s league season. You

have to learn valuable lessons in preseason to hopefully get you

ready for league play, especially for us starting out with three

games on the road. That’s always tough. We’ll be facing Long Beach,

which is struggling, obviously. But they’re going to be very hungry

to prove themselves. We know it’s going to be a dogfight.”

Long Beach State is 1-8 on the season after dropping a 54-49

decision to visiting Portland Monday. Coach Larry Reynolds in his

first year with the 49ers, whom have lost seven in a row. Long Beach

State senior Lemi Williams, who averaged 6.4 points and 3.6 rebounds

per game in eight games, has left the team citing personal reasons

and injuries.

Senior guard Tony Darden leads Long Beach in scoring at 16.2 point

per game, while junior forward Kevin Roberts, who scored a

season-high 21 points against Portland, is averaging 12.3 points per

game.

UCI has had six players score in double figures in its past two

victories. The Anteaters have also had a substantial rebounding

advantage in both games, 43-35, against Florida Atlantic, and, 48-27,

over IPFW.

However, Douglass has been stressing the difference in Big West

action. He said his players have learned lessons throughout the

nonconference season.

“There were lessons with the majority of our players to be

consistent game in and game out,” said Douglass, last year’s Big West

Coach of the Year. “There are lessons of what you can be accounted

for as far as contributions you can make on a consistent basis which

at times we didn’t see. But I think in recent games we’ve seen

improvement as far as players understanding their role. I think

there’s been a learning and growth curve here.”

Douglass said Parada, who has struggled with foul trouble

throughout the season, has improved recently. In the past three

games, the second-team All-Big West returner has come off the bench.

He scored 27 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and shot 65% from the floor

in the past two wins.

Junior forward Matt Okoro, who has started the past three games,

has pulled down 22 rebounds, while junior forward Stanislav Zuzak has

scored 28 points in the last two games to lift his season average to

9.2 points per game.

Greg Ethington, a sophomore who served a two-year church mission,

has also been key in UCI’s improvement. He has been the starting

center for the Anteaters, providing defensive intensity. Ross

Schraeder, a UCI redshirt freshman, is one of the best shooters on

the team. He has hit at least one three-point shot in seven of the

season’s first nine games. He leads UCI with 14 treys.

Perhaps, Harris will be the hot man today against the 49ers. In

three meetings against Long Beach State last season, Harris averaged

24.7 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 63% from the field. He

scored a career high 30 points in a win over the 49ers at the Bren

Events Center last season.