UCSB rings up road win over ‘Eaters

Barry Faulkner

In the opening stages of the 18-round Big West Conference men’s

basketball battle, teams are still searching for their own distinct

identities.

And, having to answer the bell after a stunning conference-opening

loss at Long Beach State Saturday night, UC Santa Barbara looked more

like the ring-tested champion in Monday’s 84-77 win over host UC

Irvine before 2,306.

“All our conversations [Sunday and Monday] have been about playing

to our level,” UCSB Coach Bob Williams said of his team’s dogged

determination not to start its regular-season title defense with

back-to-back losses.

That conviction was apparent seconds before tipoff, when UCSB

senior Brandon Fullove replaced the traditional pregame handshake

with a George Foreman death stare (1970s version). His maniacal

glare, directed at UCI freshman starter Mark Hill, seemed to announce

the Gauchos had come to get after it.

Fullove, last year’s Big West Player of the Year, seized control

of the tip and beat the Anteater defense to the bucket to set a tone

the hosts could never fully match in a physical duel that included 59

fouls.

UCI (6-5, 1-1 in conference) managed three first-half leads (never

more than two points), then kept slugging along to consistently cut

into Santa Barbara leads in the second half.

But the Gauchos (7-4, 1-1), the preseason favorite to defend their

conference crown, answered each challenge in championship style to

post their fourth straight win over the Anteaters.

“They have some seasoned players and they played well, especially

when the game got tight,” UCI Coach Pat Douglass said of the

visitors. “We’re coming, but we’re just not there yet. I think it’s

going to be a while before we’re one of the [conference’s]

upper-echelon teams.”

Williams, for one, is convinced UCI will eventually rank among the

circuit’s heavyweights.

“[The postseason-like intensity] is typical of how we play, and

it’s how they play, too,” Williams said. “At the end of the year,

these two teams are going to be in the hunt. We know it and they know

it.”

Santa Barbara netted six first-half three-pointers to forge a

38-36 lead at intermission and finished 8 of 16 from beyond the arc.

UCSB shot 50% from the field (27 of 54) against a UCI squad that came

in leading the conference in field-goal-percentage defense (40.8%).

The collapsing UCSB zone helped limit UCI 7-foot senior center

Adam Parada to just two shots -- both from at least 15 feet -- and no

points the first 20 minutes.

Parada responded in the second half with 16 points, providing the

senior leadership Douglass said was lacking from other Anteater

veterans. Parada also tied his career-high with five blocked shots

and his nine rebounds were nearly a third of UCI’s 32.

“One key for us was, our seniors had to step up,” Douglass said.

“They just didn’t provide the kind of toughness and guidance and

heart we needed.”

Senior starter Stanislav Zuzak had eight of his 10 points in the first half, but finished with no rebounds, while senior reserves Matt

Okoro and Aras Baskauskas combined for five points and seven boards.

Okoro did provide some second-half spark, dropping in a putback to

pull the hosts within 52-50 with 10:02 remaining.

But, with the ‘Eaters trailing, 80-75, with 21 seconds left, he

missed a pair of free throws.

A Ross Schraeder jumper answered two subsequent Gaucho foul shots

to make it 82-77 with nine seconds left, but Fullove, who led the

winners with 17 points, closed it out with two free throws with eight

seconds left.

Sophomore guards Mike Efevberha and Jeff Gloger helped the

Anteaters compete. Efevberha scored a game-high 23 points, hitting 4

of 7 three balls, while Gloger had 10 points, a career-high nine

assists, a team-high two steals and only one turnover.

“Parada had a very good second half and that’s the best I’ve seen

Efevberha play,” Williams said. “I thought [Efevberha] may have been

the best player on the floor.”

Cecil Brown (15 points), Joe See (11) and Cameron Goettsche (11)

helped UCSB earn a 46-14 advantage in bench scoring.

ZOTS - Monday’s loss dropped the Anteaters into a four-way tie for

fourth, behind Long Beach State (2-0 after defeating Cal Poly San

Luis Obispo Monday), University of the Pacific (2-0 after an overtime

road win over Cal State Fullerton Monday) and Utah State (1-0), idle

Monday ... UCSB, UC Riverside and Cal State Northridge are also 1-1

... UCI senior Adam Parada’s nine rebounds Monday pushed him past Ben

McDonald into the No. 6 spot on the school’s career list with 671 ...

Parada, who entered the game second in the Big West in field-goal

percentage (62.3), hit 3 of 6 from the field. He also netted all 10

of his free throws to lift his percentage at the line from 67.4 to

73.2 ... UCI freshman Nic Campbell scored all seven of his

career-high point total in the first half ... UCSB came in last in

the conference in free-throw percentage (62.7), but drained 22 of 30

Monday (73.3%), the exact same numbers produced by UCI ... UCSB hosts

Utah State Thursday, while UCI visits Northridge.

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Big West Conference

UC Santa Barbara 84, UC Irvine 77

UC Santa Barbara - Fullove 17, Cooke 5 Whitehead 0, Jones 9, Atako 7, Brown 15, See 11, Goettsche 11, Skultety 9. 3-pt. goals - See 3, Brown 2, Atako 2, Jones 1. Fouled out - Whitehead. Technicals - None. UC Irvine - Zuzak 10, Hill 4, Parada 16,

Efevberha 23, Gloger 10, Campbell 7, Okoro 3, Schraeder 2, Baskauskas 2. 3-pt. goals - Efevberha 4, Campbell 1. Fouled out - Gloger. Technicals - None. Halftime - UCSB, 38-36.

*--*