Hood does it again

Steve Virgen

With a touch of flair, a dab of luck and a mountain of determination,

the UC Irvine men’s basketball team achieved an emotional 59-58 Big

West Conference victory over Utah State in front of 8,041 at the

Smith Center Thursday night.

For the second time this season, UCI senior guard Mike Hood proved

to be the Aggie killer. Hood, who hit the game-winning,

buzzer-beating shot for a 75-73 overtime win Jan. 15, canned two free

throws with 1.3 seconds left to give UCI the victory that ended Utah

State’s nine-game home winning streak.

The Anteaters (14-7, 8-4 in the Big West) recorded their third

straight win and and, along with Utah State, are a game off the pace

of conference-leader UC Santa Barbara.”We played one of our better

ballgames,” UCI Coach Pat Douglass said. “We led most of the game and

it would have been a shame to lose this game. Adam Parada carried us

the first half and Jordan Harris came through for us in the in the

second half. Different people off our bench contributed. Mike

Efevberha came in and gave us a spark there.”

Hood has missed just one free throw this season. He is 34 for 35

from the foul line this year.

“I went through the same routine for my free throws and that’s

really it,” Hood said in his usual simple tone. “It’s always going to

be a tough matchup when we come to Utah State. We just wanted to be

confident, try to play our game and not be rattled. This is the

toughest place to play in conference.”

Several Utah State fans threw empty plastic bottles and other

trash immediately after the game ended in reaction to a wild sequence

of events in the game’s closing moments.

With 13 seconds left, and the ‘Eaters leading, 57-56, UCI senior

forward Jordan Harris, who scored 13 points, missed a high-arching

shot in the lane.

The shot hit the front of the rim and Utah State senior forward

Desmond Penigar grabbed the rebound.

Mark Brown, the Aggies junior point guard, ran off some time, then

quickly passed the ball to senior Ronnie Ross, who was fouled by

Hood. Hood was called for reaching with the clock showing 2.6 seconds

remaining. Ross hit both free throws for a Utah State 58-57 lead.

Then the Aggies called a timeout to set up a defense. The Anteaters

were out of timeouts.

During the timeout, UCI associate head coach Todd Lee noticed

seconds ticked away after Ross was fouled and the officials became

aware of the situation.

Instead of 2.6 seconds left, the officials made it 3.9 seconds

remaining.

The Anteaters apparently set up a play for Hood. He was about to

drive past half court when Ross stepped in front of him trying to

draw an offensive foul. Instead, Ross was charged with a blocking

foul, sending Hood to the free-throw line for a double-bonus shooting

opportunity.

The Anteaters hardly worried.

“I was thinking it was cash,” Harris said of his thoughts before

Hood shot his foul shots. “I was thinking, game over. Hood is clutch

when he gets to the line.”

Utah State Coach Stew Morrill was hoping for a turnover before

Hood got fouled.

“At that point we were just trying to have him catch it ahead of

us and we made a mistake and fouled,” Morrill said. “That’s the last

thing you want to do in that situation.”

Utah State sophomore center Spencer Nelson heaved an inbounds pass

the length of the court and the ball went out of bounds at the other

end after Hood’s free throws. The Anteaters held for the last

possession, in which UCI freshman point guard Jeff Gloger shot inside

the paint just after time expired.

The UCI players ran toward the locker room, Harris with arms

stretched and both fists in the air in celebration. Parada applauding

as he ran.

“We don’t give up,” Parada said in reference to the Anteaters

overcoming their three-game losing skid with what is now a three-game

winning streak.

“We may go through hard times, but when it comes down to it, and

our backs are against the wall, we don’t give up. We showed our true

colors tonight.”

Parada (7 for 9 from the field) scored 12 of his team-high 15

points in the first half, when he cleverly dodged would-be

double-team defense with turnaround, fadeaway shots away from the

Utah State defenders. He helped the Anteaters build a 31-15 lead with

just under four minutes left in the first half. UCI outscored the

Aggies, 17-4, during a seven-and-a-half minute stretch in the first

half that gave the Anteaters the 16-point lead.

Utah State scored seven straight points, then Harris scored on a

driving layup with 33 seconds left, and UCI led, 33-22, at the half.

“In that first half he played like people had been anticipating,”

Douglass said of his 7-foot center. “He really played with

confidence. He didn’t try to bounce the ball as much.”

Harris took over for the Anteaters in the second half. He scored

nine of his 13 points in the second half. Late in the game, Harris

also defended Penigar, who had the hot hand in the second half.

Penigar scored 16 of his 21 points in the final 20 minutes. He scored

10 of the Aggies’ final 12 points, as Utah State came storming back.

Penigar drove to the basket and made a layup with 4:30 left to give

the Aggies a 52-51 edge, their first lead since three minutes into

the game when they led, 6-4.

Penigar later scored on a putback with 3:52 left for a 54-51 lead,

but UCI junior forward Stanislav Zuzak nailed a three-pointer to tie

the game, adding more drama.

Zuzak scored seven points, while Efevberha, the freshman, came off

the bench

to also add seven. Gloger added five points and three assists.

The Aggies’ comeback that was denied brought back memories for

Douglass and fueled a rivalry that has featured one-point wins,

buzzer-beating shots and clutch free throws.

“It was similar to our game with Utah State at (the Bren) last

year (a 62-61 UCI loss),” Douglass said. “They came down and really

spanked us the first half. At that time I thought they were deserving

of the win.”

Douglass said he would have also called a timeout like Morrill did

before Hood was fouled.

“You recall last year’s game, when we scored on the length of the

court (a Jerry Green buzzer-beater for a 67-66 UCI win,” Douglass

said. “That was a wise thing to do. I would have done the same

thing.”

UCI returns to action Saturday night at 7, when the Anteaters play

at Idaho.

ZOTS -- This is the first time UCI has won back-to-back games at

Utah State in successive seasons since 1985 and 1986 ... UCI is the

only team in the Big West to have a winning record against Utah

State, as the Anteaters lead the all-time series, 26-25 ... Utah

State is now 6-1 on the season when Penigar scores 20 or more points

in a game ... UCI sophomore Greg Ethington played after sitting out

one game with a shoulder injury. He scored two points in 12 minutes

of action.