‘Eaters miss chance for upset in season opener

Barry Faulkner

The UC Irvine men’s basketball team failed to produce an upset that

might have vaulted it up the mid-major ladder Saturday. But the

Anteaters’ 77-65 season-opening loss to Illinois-Chicago in the first

round of the Dell Black Coaches Association Classic at Xavier

University may have enhanced their growing reputation.

“I knew Irvine was a very good basketball team,” said

Illinois-Chicago Coach Jimmy Collins, after his team, ranked No. 3 in

two mid-major polls, survived six lead changes to advance to today’s

championship semifinal against Oakland of Michigan. “We were able to

shoot [57.5 %] in the second half and we had some breaks. If not for

those factors, we probably would have lost.”

The Anteaters, 20-9 last year and coming off three straight 20-win

seasons, appeared lost to start both halves. But Coach Pat Douglass’

team rallied each time to claim the lead.

Separate runs of 10-1 and 9-0, the latter completed with 6:25 left

before halftime, gave UCI a 25-17 lead.

The Flames, who returned five starters, all seniors, from last

year’s 21-9 unit, pulled to 36-35 on a Marcetteaus McGee

three-pointer at the first-half buzzer. They then scored the first

six points of the second half and led, 53-44, with 12:08 left.

But UCI senior Stanislav Zuzak hit a three-pointer to start a 10-0

run that gave the ‘Eaters a one-point lead with 10:34 remaining.

Four straight points by sophomore point guard Jeff Gloger gave UCI

a 58-55 edge with 9:46 left, but the Anteaters went on a turnover

binge that coincided with some cold shooting.

The combination allowed UIC to not only reclaim the lead, but pull

away.

UCI had only a three-pointer by Zuzak, who hit his first six tries

beyond the arc en route to a career-high 29 points, to show for a

span of nearly eight minutes.

By the time Zuzak hit a 10-foot runner to end the scoring lull

with 2:06 left, UCI faced a 71-63 deficit.

“They are a very seasoned club,” Douglass said of the Flames. “We

got up a couple of times, but we couldn’t seem to get over the hump.

We got into foul trouble and we had 24 turnovers, which are too many.

We battled, but we were not very smart.”

Adam Parada, a 7-foot senior center, as well as sophomore guards

Mike Efevberha and Ross Schraeder, all missed time due to fouls and

Zuzak fouled out with 1:36 left.

Offensive fouls produced 10 UCI turnovers, but sloppy passing and

a 35-second shot-clock violation aided UIC’s surge down the stretch.

Zuzak, a late addition to the starting lineup when Parada and

Gloger were late to the morning shoot around, finished 6 of 7 on

three-point tries and was 10 of 15 (67%) from the field. The 6-11

forward also lead his team with eight rebounds.

“Stan had an outstanding game,” Douglass said. “He really stepped

up.”

Zuzak, who averaged 7.9 points last year, bettered his previous

single-game high of 22 points established in 2001 against UCLA.

Collins also had praise for Zuzak, who had nearly half of the

‘Eaters’ 23 field goals.

“What I didn’t know was that Zuzak was a pro,” Collins said.

Gloger had 11 points, six assists and four steals, but starters

Greg Ethington, Schraeder, Efevberha and Aras Baskauskas combined for

only 16 points and shot 30% from the field (6 of 20).

UCI meets the University of San Diego, a 93-68 loser to Oakland,

in a consolation semifinal at 9 a.m. today PST.

UIC senior guard Cedrick Banks, like Parada a mid-major preseason

All-American, led the winners with 25 points.

The Flames made six of their seven three-pointers before

intermission, including two each by point guard Martell Bailey and

forward Aaron Carr.

Bailey, the NCAA assist leader last year with 8.1 per game, had

six assists to go with eight points. Carr had 11 of his 17 points in

the second half.

ZOTS

UCI gets a chance to rebound today against a depleted University

of San Diego squad. Coach Brad Holland had already lost 73.4% of the

scoring punch from last year’s 18-12 NCAA tournament team to

graduation. And the lone returning starter, 6-7 junior Corey Belser

suffered a season-ending knee injury in a Nov. 7 exhibition game.

Brandon Gay, a 6-8 junior JC transfer, is out with a broken foot and

sophomore Travis Smith (shoulder problem) also did not make the trip.

Junior guard Mike McGrain missed the final 15 minutes of Saturday’s

loss with a concussion and junior guard Brett Melton required

stitches after splitting his chin open. At one point, Holland had

only three able-bodied players on his bench.... Stanislav Zuzak’s 29

points came close to the tournament record of 31 set by Oakland (Mich.) senior guard Mike Helms in the win over USD Saturday. Helms,

the leading returning scorer in the nation, played just 21 minutes

against Toreros.

*--*

Dell BCA Classic

First round

Illinois-Chicago 77, UCI 65

UC Irvine -- Zuzak 29, Ethington 4, Schraeder 6, Efevberha 6, Baskauskas 0, Gloger 11, Parada 6, Okoro 3. 3-pt. goals -- Zuzak 6, Schraeder 2. Fouled out -- Zuzak. Technicals -- Parada 1, bench 1 Ill.-Chicago -- Williams 5, Carr 17, Scott 9, Bailey 8,

Banks 25, McGee 7, Poole 4, Petrusic 2. 3-pt. goals -- Carr 2, Bailey 2, Banks 2, McGee 1. Fouled out -- Scott. Technicals -- None. Halftime score -- UCI, 36-35.

*--*