UCI tries to regroup

A battle for second place doesn’t sound glamorous or full of hype,

but in the Big West Conference, there will be plenty of drama when UC

Irvine hosts UC Santa Barbara tonight at 5:35 p.m.

The Anteaters and the Gauchos trail Utah State by a half-game, as

the first round of conference play concludes Saturday.

Why is tonight’s game so important for both teams? The race for

supremacy in the Big West has been tight in the first four weeks of

the league season. For the fourth straight week, a new team, Utah

State, takes over the first-place position. Pacific used to be the

talk of the Big West. Then it was Cal State Fullerton. The Anteaters

(11-5, 5-2 in the Big West) held the top spot, but lost at Cal State

Northridge Saturday.

The Gauchos (8-9, 5-2) actually began this season as the Big West

darling. They were picked to win the conference. UCSB features four

returning starters from a squad that won the Big West Tournament last

year. On its way to winning the tournament title, Santa Barbara

knocked off UCI in the semifinals. Now, the Anteaters are seeking a

measure of revenge.

UCI Coach Pat Douglass knows that will be a challenging task.

“They’re an explosive team,” Douglass said of the Gauchos. “They

have three potential players who could be the Big West Player of the

Year in Nick Jones, Mark Hull and Branduinn Fullove. Not too many

teams have three outstanding players like that.”

Douglass also noted the Gauchos are a dangerous three-point

shooting team. UCSB has made 16 of 38 (42.1%) three-point shots in

its last two wins. The Gauchos have made 130 three-point buckets

through 17 games and average 7.6 per game. Santa Barbara leads the

Big West in both three-point field goals per game and three-point

field goal percentage, 39.5%.

“We have to be able to communicate on defense,” Douglas said.

“They have also been one of the stingiest teams. So, we’ve had to

work on our offense against the man-defense, as well.”

The Anteaters have several options on offense, yet senior forward

Jordan Harris and senior guard Mike Hood have been the leading

scorers in Big West play. Harris has scored 56 points in the last

three games (18.7 points per game) to take over UCI’s scoring lead at

12.6 points per game. Hood was 8 for 10 from three-point range in the

two games last week. He has started the last four games, scoring 59

(14.8 ppg) points in that stretch and hitting 12 of 22

three-pointers. He has converted all 21 of his free-throw attempts

this season.

UCI also possesses junior forward Stanislav Zuzak (8.6 ppg) and

junior center Adam Parada (11.5 ppg) as options on offense. Jeff

Gloger, the Anteaters’ freshman starting point guard, continues to

guide the offensive attack and remains a leader on defense. He is

fourth in the nation in steals with 51 (3.2 per game), and atop the

Big West statistics in thefts.

Douglass said his bench is deeper than last season. Freshman Ross

Schraeder is a threat from the outside. He is second in the Big West

in three-point field goal percentage, .449 (22 for 49). Junior

forward Matt Okoro has grabbed 54 rebounds in the past 10 games,

while junior guard Aras Baskauskas and sophomore center Greg

Ethington provide defense. Mike Efevberha, UCI’s lone true freshman,

has solid scoring ability.

Coach Bob Williams’ Gauchos are led by their Big Three of Hull,

Fullove and Jones. Hull is the Big West leader in three-point field

goal percentage, .461 (47 for 102).

He is averaging 14.8 points per game, just behind Fullove, who has

a 15.2 ppg. average. Jones scores 12.9 points per game.

Last year, Jones scored 21 points to lead Santa Barbara to a 66-61

win over UCI in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament.