‘Eaters meet Vandals

Barry Faulkner

The UC Irvine men’s basketball team will meet Idaho tonight at 6 in

the first round of the Big West Conference tournament at the Anaheim

Convention Center.

The Anteaters (15-12), are the No. 5 seed in the eight-team

tournament, in which the top four seeds get first-round byes.

UCI is 2-0 this season against the Vandals (8-21), the No. 8 seed,

including a 67-62 overtime triumph Feb. 24 in Moscow.

A UCI victory would put the Anteaters into Thursday’s second round

against fourth-seeded Cal State Northridge.

The Anteaters, who have won four of their last five and two

straight, are led by junior guards Ross Schraeder and Aaron

Fitzgerald, as well as 6-foot-8 senior center Greg Ethington.

Schraeder is averaging a team-high 13.1 points per game, while

Fitzgerald is averaging 12.3 ppg and leads the Big West in assists at

5.4 per contest.

Fitzgerald and Schraeder each received honorable mention for

all-conference laurels.

Ethington, coming off his only two double-doubles of the season in

home wins over UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, is

averaging 12.6 points and a team-leading 6.2 rebounds.

Idaho is paced by Dandrick Jones, a second-team all-conference

honoree averaging 16.8 ppg.

UCI missed the conference tournament last year and reached the

semifinals the prior three seasons.

UCI women battle Aggies

The UC Irvine women’s basketball team will face Utah State in the

first round of the eight-team Big West Conference tournament today at

approximately 2:30 p.m. at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Coach Molly Tuter’s Anteaters (7-20, 6-12 in conference) won three

of their final four regular-season conference games to finish seventh

and earn the No. 7 seed.

Utah State (14-13, 9-9) was upset by the ‘Eaters, 81-74, in Irvine

Feb. 26. The Aggies prevailed, 71-68, in their first meeting in

Logan, Utah.

Today’s game is scheduled to begin 30 minutes after the conclusion

of the noon meeting between UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton.

UCI is led by sophomore guard Angie Ned, a second-team

all-conference selection averaging 16.1 points per game.