‘Eaters consume Idaho

Steve Virgen

In each game of the UC Irvine men’s basketball season there seems

to be different players leading the Anteaters to victory. Mike Hood

and Stanislav Zuzak stepped up to lead UCI to a 75-73 overtime win

over Utah State Wednesday.

In a 58-45 UCI win over Idaho Saturday night, it was junior

forward Matt Okoro’s turn. Okoro came off the bench and scored a

career-high 14 points, on 6-for-6 shooting from the field Saturday

night in front of 2,987 at the Bren Events Center.

In addition, senior Jordan Harris scored a game-high 19 points to

help the Anteaters move into first place in the Big West Conference.

The University of the Pacific and Cal State Fullerton, which were

tied with UCI for first place in the Big West entering Saturday, lost

their respective games.

“We have a really deep team and everyone can contribute,” Harris

said of the Anteaters (10-4, 4-1 in the Big West. “Ross (Schraeder)

is a good shooter.

“Mike (Hood) is a good scorer. You saw Matt (Okoro) can do things

down low, and Greg (Ethington) can get in there, too. In this case,

Adam (Parada) wasn’t scoring a lot of points, but Matt came in and

scored some points ... No one is really carrying the whole load

offensively, that shows our depth.”

Parada, UCI’s 7-foot junior center and the Anteaters’ leading

scorer, struggled with early foul trouble and finished with a

season-low two points.

He also scored two points in a 62-50 win at Saint Mary’s Dec. 22.

Parada, who has fouled out of four games this season, played just

nine minutes. He picked up his second foul two minutes into the game

and sat out the rest of the first half.

“He didn’t like his game against Utah State,” UCI Coach Pat

Douglass said of Parada, who scored 13 points against the Aggies.

“And, anytime you press and try to go after it like that, you don’t

do so well. But he’ll be OK.”

While Parada picked up his fouls early in the first half, the

Vandals (6-9, 2-4) built a 6-0 lead, and Douglass called a timeout

with 17:55 left. UCI bounced back and scored the next seven points.

But Idaho stayed with the Anteaters and eventually earned a 21-15

lead with 9:00 left before halftime.

However, UCI closed out the half with a pivotal 21-2 run that gave

the ‘Eaters a 36-23 lead. Okoro scored seven in the spurt, while

Harris added four.

The Anteaters shot 65.2% (15 for 23) in the first half, yet

finished 51.2% after a 35% outing (7 for 20) in the second half.

UCI freshman Jeff Gloger, who recorded three steals, had his upper

lip cut open after an inadvertent slap to his face during the

Anteaters’ 21-2 run.

Gloger later played in the second half, but the lip continued to

bleed. He then had the lip taped so he could finish the game.

“We may not have that one prolific scorer in Jerry (Green), but

that’s actually an asset,” said Gloger, UCI’s starting point guard.

“That helps us and makes us difficult to defend. It keeps players

fresh and you can’t really focus on one guy because as displayed

tonight any given guy can step up on any given night.”

The Vandals, led by true freshman Ronnie Smith, made a strong

comeback in the second half. UCI built a 43-27 lead after Harris

nailed a three-pointer with 13:55 remaining. But then Idaho rallied

and came within, 47-41, with 9:34 left. However, UCI outscored the

Vandals, 10-2 over the next 6:30.

Smith, a 5-9 guard, scored a career-high and team-high 18 points.

It was a coming-out party for Smith, who played in just his third

game of the season because he served a suspension for violating team

rules.

“This was a hard game for us because Wednesday was so emotional,”

Douglass said. “It was difficult to put them away. I like the way the

kids responded to the challenge. It was very satisfying from a team

approach.”

Douglass also said it was too early to get excited about being in

first in the Big West. He said the Anteaters have to get back to

work. UCI will return to action Thursday, at Pacific at 5:35 p.m.

ZOTS -- Former UCI Coach Bill Mulligan was in attendance Saturday

night. He was involved in a halftime giveaway, and he was interviewed

on radio by Mark Roberts ... Near UCI’s locker room after the game

UCI Assistant coach Mike Johnson gave Jeff Gloger a name in jest.

Johnson called him, “punching bag.”