‘Eaters gorge

Steve Virgen

BREN EVENTS CENTER -- UC Irvine senior guard Mike Hood scored a

season-high 21 points and junior forward Stanislav Zuzak displayed

the totality of his potential. Yet, for all their offense, it was

also UCI’s defense that led the Anteaters’ men’s basketball team to a

72-52 Big West Conference victory over Cal State Fullerton in front

of 3,179 fans at the Bren Events Center Saturday night.

“That’s probably as sound a defense we’ve played all season,”

Douglass said.

While UCI made a statement with its complete game, Douglass

delivered a verbal statement.

“I don’t think this team has reached its potential,” Douglass said

of the Anteaters, the two-time defending regular-season champions. “I

thought we came together more as a team. It was good to see that. It

was a real pleasure to coach and watch them play tonight.”

The Anteaters (13-7, 7-4 in the Big West), who moved into sole

possession of third place in the conference, held the Titans (6-15,

4-7) to 53% shooting, including a 10 of 15 effort in the first half.

Fullerton, which has lost seven of its last eight, also committed 17

turnovers and UCI scored 17 off those miscues.

Hood, who shot 5 of 7 from beyond the arc, also worked on defense,

as he recorded a game-high four steals. Hood’s hot shooting forced

Fullerton to break away from its zone defense and go into a

box-and-one to stop Hood.”

“Mike had a phenomenal game,” Douglass said.

Said Titans Coach Donny Daniels: “Hood was on fire.”

Hood scored 13 points in the second half, and he connected on all

three of his three-pointers. His second three-pointer of the half

came after he grabbed a loose ball near the baseline, which gave UCI

a 35-24 lead, with 16:05 left.

Later, Hood knocked down another three-pointer at the top of the

key with Fedi Holm-Hadulla’s hand in his face with 11:30 left. Then 1:26 later, Hood drove the lane and made a circus-shot layup that

gave UCI a 51-36 lead.

“Just relaxing and letting the game come to me,” Hood said,

explaining his hot streak in the past six games. “I was just hitting

my shots.”

Hood has hit 18 of his 24 treys in the last six games. He also

went 2 for 2 from the free-throw line and has hit 32 of his 33 foul

shots on the season.

UCI was also perfect from the free-throw line. The Anteaters shot

15 of 15.

UCI freshman point guard Jeff Gloger scored 11 points, including

6-of-6 free-throw shooting. He also dished out six assists and

recorded two steals.

Rounding out the effort of UCI’s complete game was UCI junior

center Adam Parada, who became the school’s career blocked shots

leader as he now has 100 (18 blocks this season).

Parada made a hook shot in the paint over Fullerton’s Pape Sow

with 13:05 left, which started an 8-0 run that eventually gave the

Anteaters a 49-33 advantage.

Sow started in his first game since being suspended for 11 games.

He was suspended after he was arrested for stealing. The

Completely Insane Anteaters, UCI’s student section which wears yellow

T-shirts, heckled Sow throughout the night. Sow scored 14 points,

while Parada finished with four.

Parada received help from his teammates as UCI double-teamed Sow.

Parada also ran into foul trouble, but the Anteaters didn’t have UCI

sophomore back-up center Greg Ethington, who is out with a dislocated

shoulder injury he suffered in the second half of Wednesday’s game.

However, the Anteaters’ effective double or sometimes triple team

of Sow was enough. Meanwhile, Zuzak, who scored 17, also turned his

focus on defense.

“Stan concerned himself with rebounding and defense and not

worrying about his offense,” Douglass said. “I thought he was real

powerful defensively and got on the boards. He played strong. It’s

nice for him to play like that. That’s the level of play he should

be.”

Fullerton shot 29% (7 of 24) in the first half and the Titans

committed 11 turnovers. UCI shot 40% (10 of 25) on its ay to a 25-16

halftime lead.

Fullerton seemed content to run down the shot-clock in its

half-court offense. The Titans also used a full-court pressure

defense so that UCI could take time to get into its offense.

The Anteaters never trailed throughout and built a 9-2 lead in the

game’s first nine minutes. UCI closed out the first half with a7-2

run.

ZOTS -- The Anteaters honored four new UCI Hall of Fame inductees

during the game. Allah-mi Basheer (women’s basktball), Rocky Craig

(baseball), Chris Duplanty (men’s water polo and swimming) and Mark

Kaplan (men’s tennis) were honored ... Ethington’s injury is

day-to-day and there is a possibility he will be available for UCI’s

next game at Utah State Thursday at 5:35 p.m. ... UCI has won 34 of

its last 39 home games dating back to the end of the 1999-2000

season.