‘Eaters handle Titans

Barry Faulkner

Cal State Fullerton star Pape Sow was grabbing at his high hamstring

pull in the latter stages of Saturday’s Big West Conference men’s

basketball game at UC Irvine.

But, as it turned out, his was not the only posterior region in

need of attention among the Titans after a 74-67 Anteater triumph

that left UCI Coach Pat Douglass in exceptionally good spirits.

“That’s the first time we’ve really gotten our butts kicked in a

long, long time,” first-year Fullerton Coach Bob Burton said. “[The

Anteaters] just came out and said, ‘Hey, listen, we’re going to win

this one.’ ”

Douglass, whose team improved to 9-6, 4-2 in conference, before

2,219 at the Bren Events Center, was less demonstrative in his

postgame description. But he did call it a strong effort in all

phases by his squad.

“This, by far, was one of our better games, when you look at both

ends of the court,” he said. “I thought our defensive intensity was

very good and I thought we took care of the ball and executed

offensively. Overall, I was very pleased.”

That could not have been Douglass’ initial reaction, as the Titans

(5-9, 1-4) seized a 9-2 lead on the strength of three-pointers by

freshman point guard Bobby Brown and the 6-foot-10 Sow, a senior projected by some as an early-round NBA draft pick.

Three-pointers by senior Stanislav Zuzak (two) and sophomore Mike

Efevberha helped UCI bounce back to take the lead.

Then, after another Fullerton spurt put the visitors on top,

18-15, UCI went on a 16-2 run, spanning just less than five minutes,

to take a 31-20 edge.

Zuzak, hitting 3 of 4 three-point tries, had 11 of his 18 points

by halftime, while 7-0 senior teammate Adam Parada, who scored six

points during the 16-2 surge, finished the first half with 10 points

on the way to matching Zuzak for team-high honors.

Zuzak, who scored a game-high 21 points in Thursday’s home win

over UC Riverside, added a team-high eight rebounds to give him 39

points and 12 rebounds for the two-game swing. Zuzak was 15 of 23

from the field (65.2%), including 5 of 9 from threedom in the two

home wins.

“Stan had a great weekend,” said Douglass, who also praised

Parada’s performance Saturday.

“Adam made his presence felt inside,” Douglass said. “He had 18

points [7 of 9 from the field and 4 of 4 from the foul line].”

The productivity from UCI’s two big men was needed to counter Sow,

who, Douglass said, may have established himself as the Big West’s

best center.

“He’s one of the premier players in the conference and there might

not be a center in the conference playing as well as him,” Douglass

said of Sow, who amassed a game-high 19 points and 15 rebounds, his fifth consecutive double-double.

“There are times when you think he is struggling [he was just 3 of

8 from the field after intermission, 7 of 15 overall -- only the

fourth time in 14 games he has shot worse than 50%], then you look

and see he had 19 points and 15 rebounds,” Douglass said. “That’s a

lot of rebounds.”

Sow took off about 10 feet from the basket to throw down a

one-handed slam in the first half. He also soared over an Anteater

underneath to collect an offensive rebound and dunk, before landing,

to add further emphasis to his impressive performance.

“He has played like that every game,” Burton said of Sow, who came

in leading the conference in rebounding (8.9 per game) and second in

scoring (18.7). “But we’ve had problems getting the other guys to

step up. All I yell on offense is ‘Throw him the ball.’ You put Pape

on Utah State’s team, or UC Santa Barbara, and I can’t even imagine

how good he’d be.”

Sow’s inability to avoid foul trouble -- he picked up his third

with 41 seconds left in the first half, prompting Burton to employ a

zone defense for an extended portion of the second half -- proved

helpful for UCI.

“When they went to a zone after Sow got his third foul, that

really opened things up on the perimeter,” said UCI sophomore Ross

Schraeder, who had three of the hosts’ four three balls in the first

8:23 after intermission to help them regain control after Fullerton’s

5-0 run to start the second halved a 38-28 halftime lead. “The inside

guys were passing the ball back out and we were all getting some open

looks.”

Schraeder was among five Anteaters to connect from beyond the arc

as their 10 three-pointers were a season high, in 20 attempts.

UCI made 26 of 49 field-goal attempts (53.1%), while Fullerton

shot just 40.9% from the field (27 of 66).

The ‘Eaters’ 22 assists, including a career-high-tying nine from

sophomore point guard Jeff Gloger, was also a season best.

Gloger, who added seven rebounds and a steal to go with his seven

points, finished the two-game home stretch with 16 assists and only

four turnovers, a stat Douglass went out of his way to point out. The

6-4 Gloger also had 16 rebounds in the two victories to up his

average to 7.3. That total not only gives him the team lead, but

keeps him among the top five among Big West players.

“That’s really a unique story in the conference for a point guard

to be in the top 10 in rebounding,” Douglass said.

UCI doesn’t play again until Saturday, when it visits Big West

rival Long Beach State at 7:35 p.m.

ZOTS -- The rivalry with Cal State Fullerton is the

longest-running series for UCI, which narrowed Fullerton’s series

lead to 40-36 Saturday ... It was UCI’s seventh win in the last eight

meetings with the Titans and levels Fullerton’s record at the Bren

Center at 9-9 ... Pat Douglass is 7-6 against Fullerton at the UCI

helm ... UCI is 41-7 in its last 48 games at the Bren Center, a

winning percentage of .854 ... Fullerton freshman Bobby Brown had 15

points Saturday and is averaging 13.9 this season. He is on pace to

become the highest-scoring freshman in the program’s 30-season

history in Division I, surpassing Tony Neal (10.9 in 1981-82).

Newport Beach resident Kevin Heenan, whose son, Dennis, is a

sophomore starter at Newport Harbor, currently ranks second on the

Titans’ freshman scoring list (10.5 in 1975-76) ... UCI freshman Mark

Hill, who had started the previous five games, did not play Saturday,

due to a coach’s decision, Douglass said ... UCI has shot at least

50% from the field in 8 of 14 games and is 7-1 in those contests ...

The Anteaters are 9-1 when their opponent shoots worse than 45% from

the field, including Saturday ... Fullerton is 11-54 on the road since the start of the 1999-2000 season.

*--*

Big West Conference

UC Irvine 74, Cal State Fullerton 67

Cal State Fullerton - King 14, Asprilla 2, Sow 19, Brown 15, Andrew 10, Pruitt 5, Camara 2.

3-pt. goals - King 2, Sow 1, Brown 1, Andrew 1, Pruitt 1.

Fouled out - Andrew.

Technicals - None.

UC Irvine - Zuzak 18, Okoro 6, Parada 18, Efevberha 11, Gloger 7, Schraeder 9, Campbell 3, Ethington 2.

3-pt. Goals - Zuzak 3, Schraeder 3, Efevberha 2, Gloger 1, Campbell 1.

Fouled out - None.

Technicals - None.

Halftime - UCI, 38-28.

*--*