Men’s basketball: UCI smothers 49ers

Barry Faulkner

ANAHEIM - Demonstrating the principle that if there’s no room to

pivot, there’s no room to advance, a collapsing UC Irvine defense made

streaking Long Beach State play Thursday night like the outside shot No.

7 seeds usually represent.

The result was a 72-65 Big West Conference Tournament quarterfinal

victory for the No. 2-seeded Anteaters (21-9), who advance to tonight’s

8:30 semifinal against UCSB-Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at the Anaheim

Convention Center.

UCI center Adam Parada, a 7-foot sophomore, anchored the inside

defense for the winners and also contributed offensively. He finished

with 17 points and 14 rebounds, responding to Coach Pat Douglass’

postgame lament about the lack of play from his big men in an 86-70 loss

at Long Beach Feb. 31.

“Adam Parada really stepped up,” said Douglass, whose conference

co-champions are two wins away from the school’s first appearance in the

NCAA Tournament. “He really looked like a big man in the lane for us with

his defensive presence and his rebounding. And he made that hook shot

look like (Kareem) Abdul-Jabbar.”

Parada’s right-hand hook from 11 feet with 44 seconds left, put UCI

up, 68-63, to all but seal the victory for the Anteaters, who had a week

off to regroup and reconfigure their game plan against the 49ers (13-17).

Part of that plan was constructing a three- and four-man phone booth

around 6-8 senior center Travis Reed, who rallied after a frustrating

first half (1 of 5 from the field) to finish with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

“Adam and (Stanislav Zuzak) did a good job denying the ball to Reed

and when he did get it, we had weakside help,” Douglass said. “Any time

(Reed) had the ball, we had four guys around him and kind of smothered

him.”

Reed used the same adjective, noting UCI’s constant defensive

pressure, which resulted in a key charging call on Reed with 1:08 left

and the 49ers trailing, 66-63.

“Irvine did a good job of always having at least two guys on me

inside,” Reed said. “They smothered us inside.”

With little to gain in the paint, Long Beach, which came in on a

five-game winning streak, cast away from the perimeter. The 49ers

finished 9 of 25 from three-point range as Tony Darden (five) and Ron

Johnson combined for eight three-pointers.

Irvine, however, got 22 of its 25 field goals inside the 19-foot-9

stripe as senior two-time Big West Player of the Year Jerry Green

penetrated for most of his game-high 23 points.

Green, Parada and junior Jordan Harris (15 points) took over in the

second half, combining to score all but five of the ‘Eaters 39 after

intermission.

A Harris three-pointer and two Green layups expanded Irvine’s 33-27

halftime lead to 46-34 with 14:29 left in the game.

But Long Beach answered with a 9-0 run, then proceeded to inch to

within 50-49 with 8:16 left.

Parada hit a free throw, then assisted from the high post on a Harris

layup to give UCI a four-point cushion.

From there, Long Beach, which missed six of nine free throws in the

final 7:44, never got closer than two.

Parada’s 7-for-14 field-goal shooting included a second eight-foot sky

hook in the lane and two reverse-layup follow shots as he sailed, back to

the baseline, under the rim. He also blocked two shots.

Green who went the first 11 minutes without a field goal, was 9 of 11

from the foul line, including two free throws just 12 seconds after Long

Beach cut it to 50-49.

Green also converted a traditional three-point play to give his team a

six-point edge with 2:31 remaining.

Zuzak, a 6-10 sophomore, had 10 points in his return to the starting

lineup, while 6-7 sophomore forward Matt Okoro added eight rebounds and a

blocked shot off the bench.

Other quarterfinal scores

UC Santa Barbara ??, Cal Poly ??

Utah State 61, Idaho 41

Pacific 78, Cal State Northridge 66