Anteaters’ victory thoroughly satisfying

Barry Faulkner

The UC Irvine men’s basketball team picked up a rare Big West

Conference road victory Thursday night, as well as some rare praise

from Cal State Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell, whose Matadors fell,

72-56, in front of 1,311 at the Matadome.

“[The Anteaters] were the tougher team tonight, no question about

it,” said Braswell, who believes UCI (7-5, 2-1 in conference) powered

through his team’s screens and found a way to execute at pivotal

times against an active and athletic Northridge defense.

Braswell said Adam Parada, UCI’s 7-foot senior center, softened up

his team’s defense by scoring at will inside, especially in the first

half (5 of 5 from the field) and 6-5 Northridge forward Eto

Onyenegecha said UCI’s ability to execute created several

back-breaking baskets, some after UCI was in scramble mode with the

35-second shot clock winding down.

“I thought we defended well, but they did a good job of finding

the open man,” Onyenegecha said. “It seemed like they just didn’t

miss and they hit some back-breakers.”

UCI connected on 12 of 19 field-goal tries after halftime (63.2%),

including 4 of 6 three-pointers to finish 8 of 14 from beyond the arc

(57.1%).

“We shot 63% in the second half and we won by 16 points,” a

thoroughly satisfied UCI Coach Pat Douglass said.

With Parada having established his presence inside, UCI found some

openings from the perimeter in the final 20 minutes. Gloger,

Stanislav Zuzak, Mike Efevberha and sophomore Ross Schraeder (two)

each netted second-half three-pointers to help stave off some

Northridge full-court pressure that drew the Matadors into the

contest early in the second half.

UCI led, 36-32, at halftime and was up by five, when Northridge

cashed three UCI turnovers, including one 10-second backcourt

violation, to pull within 34-32 with 16:30 remaining.

Northridge’s Chris Davis went to the line for a one-and-one

situation 26 seconds later, but missed the first. Northridge

rebounded the misfire, but turned the ball over.

UCI’s Matt Okoro sank a free throw, then Schraeder, who had played

just three minutes in the first half, drained a three ball to make it

38-32.

Northridge (5-6, 1-2) followed with a three-pointer, but Parada

made a sweeping 6-foot hook, followed by a back-door dunk (with a

Gloger assist) to help UCI maintain control.

Then Gloger, who finished with a career-high 19 points, including

hitting 7 of 8 field-goal tries, took control.

After Northridge’s junior second-team all-conference returner Ian

Boylan hit a 12-footer with 11:49 left to pull the hosts within

45-40, Gloger scored 11 of the next 12 Irvine points, including a

three-point play and a three-point field goal.

A Boylan three-pointer with 2:55 left ended a span of nearly nine

minutes without a field goal, during which time UCI expanded its lead

from 45-40 to 65-47.

Senior reserve Aras Baskauskas, whose ball-handling helped UCI

deal with Northridge’s pressure, had two assists to Gloger, during

Gloger’s scoring stretch, en route to four for the game.

Parada, who finished 8 of 10 from the field, scored 18 points,

while adding five rebounds and two blocked shots.

Efevberha had 15 points and only one of the ‘Eaters’ 16 turnovers,

while Gloger pulled down a game-high nine rebounds to help his team

earn a 35-23 rebounding advantage.

Zuzak had nine points and seven rebounds to help UCI earn its

first win in three tries this season on an opponent’s home floor.

“It’s great to get a road win,” Douglass said. “Each game in the

conference is going to be hard fought.”

ZOTS -- UC Irvine senior Adam Parada made all five first-half

field-goal attempts and his first of the second half. Including the

last bucket of the UC Santa Barbara game, he ran his field-goal

streak to seven, before missing. He finished 8 of 10 to improve to 54

of 85 from the season (63.5%) from the field ... UCI junior Greg

Ethington did not play for the third straight game due to an

academic-related issue. He sat in street clothes in the first row of

the stands Thursday, behind the Anteaters’ bench ... Thursday’s win

was UCI’s first by more than seven points over Northridge in six

games since the Matadors joined the Big West Conference in the

2001-02 season ... UCI did not shoot a free throw in the first half

for the second game this season. It finally attempted afree throw

with 18:59 left in the game and made 8 of 14 after intermission

...UCI sophomore point guard Jeff Gloger split the sides of both

shoes Thursday night and admitted afterward, it was time for a new

pair for Saturday night’s road date against University of the

Pacific.

*--*

Big West Conference

UCI 72, Cal State Northridge 56

UC Irvine - Zuzak 9, Hill 0, Parada 18, Efevberha 15, Gloger 19, Schraeder 6, Campbell 3, Okoro 2. 3-pt. goals - Efevberha 3, Schraeder 2, Gloger 1, Campbell 1, Zuzak 1. Fouled out - None. Techniclas - None. Cal State Northridge - Davis 7, Boylan 10,

Onyenegecha 13, Frazier 14, White 11, Shewmake 1. 3-pt. goals - None. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None. Halftime - UCI, 36-32.

*--*