‘Eaters’ return a happy one

Barry Faulkner

SAN JOSE - Both teams came out in a zone Friday night, but the one

involving visiting UC Irvine had nothing to do with a type of

defense. Instead, the Anteaters, led by junior guard Ross Schraeder,

hit their first four field goals from three-point distance and went

on to record a 76-55 nonconference men’s basketball victory over San

Jose State.

Schraeder, who along with Nic Campbell hit a pair of

three-pointers against the Spartans’ zone defense in the first 3:40

to stake the Anteaters (4-2) to a 12-2 cushion, netted a career-high

eight three balls en route to a season-high 26 points.

“They came out in a zone and my eyes always open up when that

happens,” said Schraeder, who jumped from 11th to ninth on the

school’s career three-pointer list. Schraeder missed just five shots

from beyond the arc Friday to help UCI finish 11 of 22 from threedom.

UCI, which recorded its biggest road victory margin since a 72-46

win at Cal State Fullerton Feb. 2, 2002 -- a span of 40 road contests

-- made 16 of 28 field-goal tries in the second half to finish 52.8%

for the game.

And, perhaps even more noteworthy, UCI finished with eight

turnovers, fewer than half its 16.6 average the first five games.

“Generally, we have eight turnovers in warmups,” quipped UCI Coach

Pat Douglass, who was, understandably, in a jovial mood.

Schraeder said the win, which on the heels of Tuesday’s victory at

Santa Clara gives the Anteaters two straight on the road after 11

straight road losses and nearly two years since their previous

nonconference road triumph (Dec. 22, 2002 at St. Mary’s), also

provides more than holiday cheer.

“Before we came up here, we talked about splitting on the road,

because that’s what you try and do in conference,” Schraeder said.

“So this is huge for us to come up and get both games. Now that we’re

going to be seeing those two-game [Big West] conference road trips

every other week, this is a big confidence booster for us.”

The Spartans (3-5) threatened that confidence only once, rallying

to tie it at 26, before Schraeder hit back-to-back threes to extend a

UCI lead that reached 34-28 at halftime.

Schraeder hit four more three balls in the second half to help the

visitors pull away.

Douglass also singled out the play of junior Jeff Gloger, who, for

a second straight game, was replaced in the starting lineup by

sophomore Nic Campbell.

“I thought we got a big boost off the bench from Gloger [11 points

on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and a team-high six assists, as

well as five rebounds],” Douglass said. “His play was the key to the

game for us.” Campbell, whose two three-pointers were his career

high, added a career-high six rebounds to share the team lead with

senior center Greg Ethington.

Marquin Chandler paced the Spartans with 24 points.

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Nonconference

UC Irvine 76, San Jose State 55

UC Irvine - Ethington 7, Fells 6, Schraeder 26, Fitzgerald 9, Campbell 8, Gloger 11, Metelski 4, Armstrong 3, Sanders 2. 3-pt. goals - Schraeder 8, Campbell 2, Armstrong 1. Fouled out - Ethington. Technicals - None. San Jose State - Chandler 24,

McFadden 0, Misko 10, Elam 4, White 5, Guilbeaux 7, Gardner 5. 3-pt. goals - Chandler 2, Gardner 1. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None. Halftime - UCI, 34-28.

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