Anteaters ‘SLO’ Poly

BREN EVENTS CENTER -- UC Irvine men’s basketball coach Pat Douglass

has searched for the better part of five seasons to find the right

motivational buttons to propel 7-foot senior center Adam Parada to

stardom.

But Douglass only gets a portion of the credit for detonating

Parada’s most crucial performance of the year Saturday in a 74-69 Big

West Conference-opening win over visiting Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

“[Parada] looked like a big man out there tonight,” Douglass said

of the inconsistent preseason mid-major All-American, who scored

seven of his 17 points in the final 10:04. Included in his late

scoring was a one-handed reverse slam dunk that put UCI up, 68-64,

with 1:38 left and a 17-foot jumper with 2:36 remaining to help the

Anteaters rally from a second-half deficit to improve to 6-4.

Parada, who said he was eager to play against returning first-team

all-conference performer Varnie Dennis, wasn’t even scheduled to

start, he noted, before learning at the pregame shootaround that 6-8

junior Greg Ethington would be sidelined indefinitely by what the

school called an academic-related issue.

“Coach had [Ethington] starting all week in practice and I was

going to come off the bench,” Parada said.

If that wasn’t enough to inspire Parada, however, he said the 6-8,

265-pound Dennis, who came in leading all Big West players in scoring

with 19.4 points per game, including a career-high 38 in the

Mustangs’ win over Cal State Stanislaus Monday, provided extra

incentive to play well.

“He came in here last year calling our post players soft,” Parada

said of the senior who helped Cal Poly hand UCI one of its two

conference home losses last season. “As a program, we try not to say

anything negative about other teams, but I was extra pumped up to

play tonight.”

Parada, who made 8 of 13 field-goal attempts, including 5 of his

last eight to help the Anteaters make 50% of their 44 shots, added a

team-high 10 rebounds. But his defensive contribution may have been

biggest of all, as he helped hold Dennis to 13 points on 5-of-12

shooting.

“We helped out [in the post], but Adam did a real good job on

Dennis,” Douglass said. “I thought [Parada] competed well.”

Parada had plenty of help to subdue the Mustangs (5-4), for whom

sophomore guard Kameron Gray scored a career-high 35 points and

combined with senior Shane Schilling (19 points) to drain eight

three-pointers. Gray, Schilling and Dennis, giving new meaning to the

“triangle” offense, combined for all but two Cal Poly points

A Gray three ball with 37 seconds left drew the visitors within

70-69, but freshman Mark Hill, who made his first start, and senior

Matt Okoro, each hit a pair of foul shots to help UCI earn a valuable

conference triumph.

“We just beat a very good team and Varnie Dennis is an MVP

candidate in our conference,” Douglass said. “This is going to be a

tough conference season, but you have to hold serve at home.”

UCI made 9 of its last 10 foul shots, after hitting just 16 of its

first 26, to claim victory in its first game since a disappointing

Dec. 20 loss at Sacramento State.

Sophomore point guard Jeff Gloger, who sat for eight minutes of

the second half, including an extended stretch midway through the

period, had five of his 17 points in the final 4:05. He also added an

assist on the aforementioned athletic Parada slam and finished with a

game-high five steals.

Sophomore guard Mike Efevberha, who played just eight minutes

after halftime, scored 14 of his 16 before intermission, while senior

Stanislav Zuzak added 10 points and six rebounds. Okoro, coming off

the bench for the first time in eight games, finished with five

points and four boards.

Hill’s two free throws with 27 seconds left gave UCI a 72-69 lead

and Okoro netted two more from the line with 13 ticks remaining to

finalize the scoring.

UCI hit six of its first seven field-goal tries to claim a 13-2

lead and used two 9-0 runs, as well as another 8-0 burst, to claim a

40-30 halftime edge.

But a Gray three-pointer with 12:55 left capped a 10-1 Cal Poly

blitz that gave the Mustangs their first lead, 50-47.

ZOTS -- It is not known how long junior Greg Ethington will be

out, but UCI Coach Pat Douglass said Ethington needs to meet with at

least one professor before he could return, and it is possible that

won’t occur before school resumes Friday. The only other true post

player besides senior Adam Parada, Ethington averaged 5.2 points and

2.4 rebounds through nine games ... Friday’s win pushed UCI to 32-9

in its last 41 games decided by five or fewer points ... It was UCI’s

fourth straight win in Big West openers ... Parada and Cal Poly

center Varnie Dennis, their schools’ career leaders in blocked shots,

had two and one, respectively, Saturday. Parada now has 124 and

Dennis 125 as collegians.

*--*

Big West Conference

UC Irvine 74, Cal Poly 69

Cal Poly - Enzweiler 2, Schilling 19, Dennis 13, Gray 35, Jackson 0. 3-pt. goals - Gray 5, Schilling 3. Fouled out - Schilling. Technicals - None. UC Irvine - Zuzak 10, Hill 5, Parada 17, Efevberha 16, Gloger 17, Okoro 5, Campbell 2, Baskauskas 2. 3-pt.

goals - Efevberha 2, Hill 1. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None.

*--*