Cal outmuscles UC Irvine, 65-57

Barry Faulkner

The stat sheet confirmed UC Irvine Coach Pat Douglass’ worst fears

Wednesday night, and it also helped explain the final score in a

65-57 nonconference men’s basketball loss at Cal.

“I knew going in we had to limit their second shots and take care

of the basketball,” Douglass said. “We felt if we could get into a

shooting game with them, maybe we’d have a shot.”

Instead, the Golden Bears (2-2) dominated on the offensive glass,

pulling half of its 28 rebounds after its own missed shots. In

addition, the hosts’ 11 turnovers were eight fewer than the Anteaters

(2-3), who lost despite shooting 53.8% from the field (21 of 39).

“As you can see,” Douglass said while reviewing the final

statistics, “they had a big disparity in turnovers and offensive

rebounds. They had 18 more possessions than us and we can’t come on

the road and do that.”

Leon Powe, Cal’s 6-foot-8 freshman forward, a prep All-American

last year and deemed to be among the best freshmen in the land,

bullied UCI inside, finishing with a game-high 27 points and 11

rebounds. Six of his boards were offensive, leading to eight points.

“[Powe] is a man-child inside,” Douglass said.

“I like crashing the offensive board, because it gets you points

and it gets you rebounds,” said Powe, who had 17 points at halftime

to help the Bears survive an early UCI run and secure a 29-29 tie at

intermission.

In the second half, Powe had help, both from fellow freshman

phenon Ayinde Ubaka and 6-5 freshman swing man Marquise Kately.

Ubaka hit two clutch three-pointers in the final 6:03, the first

expanding the lead to 50-45, and the second, with 1:34 left, pushing

the Bears to a 57-52 edge. He finished with 12 points, eight in the

final 20 minutes.

Cal’s defense, which helped spur several runs throughout the

contest, earned praise from Braun, who said his team’s energy level

helped overcome UCI’s execution.

“I have a lot of respect for Pat Douglass, the man has won

national [Division II] championships,” Braun said. “His teams always

execute.” The ‘Eaters executed early, riding a 9-0 burst to take a

15-5 lead, much to the dismay of the 11,069 home faithful at Haas

Pavilion.

But Cal answered with a 12-0 run of its own, before an 8-0 surge

by UCI allowed it to regain the lead, before settling for the

first-half stalemate.

Adam Parada, UCI’s 7-0 senior center, scored eight of his team’s

first 13 points in the first 4:36, while 6-10 senior forward

Stanislav Zuzak had 13 of his team-high 18 points before the break.

During one frustrating first-half stretch, the visitors went four

straight possessions without taking a shot, including one 35-second

shot-clock violation.

Sophomore guard Mike Efevberha gave UCI a lift by scoring its

first seven points of the second half, including a three-pointer from

the left wing that gave the visitors a 36-35 lead.

Two Zuzak foul shots upped the advantage, but Cal went on a 9-0

run to take command for good.

Mark Hill, a freshman who added a spark with four points and four

rebounds off the bench, hit two free throws to pull UCI within 45-43

with 7:52 left and two Greg Ethington free throws cut Cal’s lead to

47-45 with 6:20 remaining.

But Ubaka hit from beyond the arc on the ensuing possession and

connected again from threedom with 1:34 left, after two Ross

Schraeder free throws and a Zuzak layup had pulled the visitors

within two for the final time.

Parada finished with 10 points to join Zuzak in double figures,

while sophomore point guard Jeff Gloger was his usual steady self

with eight points, seven rebounds and six assists.

UCI gets the chance to bounce back Friday night at 5:30 p.m.

against Princeton in the first game of the four-team McCaffrey

Classic at Fresno State.

ZOTS -- Wednesday’s setback made it back-to-back losses to Pac-10

crosstown rivals Stanford and Cal. It was the UCI’s fourth straight

loss to a Pac-10 foe ... Cal’s win came without the services of

sophomore guard Erik Bond, who left the Bears shorthanded in the

backcourt when by electing to transfer. Bond started Cal’s

season-opening home loss to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo ... UCI Coach

Pat Douglass, not known for working the officials, took several

opportunities to voice his displeasure with some calls Wednesday. And

there may have been some justification behind his criticism, since

the Anteaters did not shoot a free throw the first 26:05 of the

contest ... Cal helped keep the game close by converting just 16 of

its 30 free throws, while UCI finished 12 of 14 from the line ...

Both teams combined to shoot 6 of 25 from three-point range (24%) ...

Among those in the crowd was former UCI assistant Len Stevens, as

well as former Cal Coach Lou Campanelli.