‘Eaters, Gauchos collide

Steve Virgen

About a month ago, UC Santa Barbara kicked UC Irvine while the

Anteaters were down. The UCI men’s basketball team was enduring its

lowest point of the season, resulting in their worst loss (70-54 to

UCSB) in the Bren Events Center since 1999.

However, that was last month, and as many in the Big West

Conference have come to realize, UCI is a different team now.

The Anteaters are undefeated in the second half of conference play

(7-0) and in first place, a half-game ahead of UCSB. The two teams

will battle for first place tonight at 7:05 at the Thunderdome. A

victory would give UCI at least a share of its third straight Big

West regular-season title.

“It will be a good game,” UCI Coach Pat Douglass said. “It’s going

to be interesting.”

The matchups will most likely be interesting simply because the

Anteaters (18-7, 12-4 in the Big West) are an improved team since the

last time they played UCSB (14-12, 11-4).

It seems as if every player for UCI has improved. Senior forward

Jordan Harris has certainly intensified his game recently, and the

same goes for junior center Adam Parada, who has scored in double

figures in seven of the past eight games.

Harris scored 23 points as he fought off illness to lead UCI to an

overtime victory over University of the Pacific Saturday. He followed

up that gutty performance with a team-high 18 points and he shut down

one of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s top scorers, Shane Schilling.

Harris, who also grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds for his first

double-double of the season, led UCI to a 68-62 victory at Cal Poly

Thursday. He sat out of Monday and Tuesday practices because he

tweaked his knee, the same knee he injured this past summer. But he

was ready to go Thursday.

“We have a nice winning streak going right now,” Harris said.

“We’re a different team from the last time we played (the Gauchos).”

Before UCI’s win streak, it went through a three-game losing skid,

but Harris said the UCI players came together and discussed their

problems in attempt to find solutions. The results followed with the

Anteaters’ ascension to first place in the Big West. And, they are

two wins away from recording 20 victories in a season for the third

straight year.

The ‘Eaters’ seven-game winning streak is the fifth-longest skein

in the school’s history. UCI has had an eight-game win streak in six

different seasons, and their longest streak came in the 2000-2001

season, when Douglass’ Anteaters reeled off 13 straight victories.

Freshman point guard Jeff Gloger has been a key to UCI’s current

winning skein. While his hustle has been consistent, his defense and

rebounding has improved. Coach Douglass said Gloger had one of, if

not the best game of the season against the Mustangs Thursday. He

became the school’s single-season record holder in steals (70). He

also scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

“It’s just been a combination of momentum and confidence,” Gloger

said of UCI’s seven-game winning streak. “Hopefully we can continue

it. We want to keep it going, together.”

The Anteaters are hoping senior guard Mike Hood can return to the

shooting form he displayed early in UCI’s seven-game winning streak.

Last week, Hood dislocated his finger and has been inching back to

his previous form. He nailed a pull-up three-pointer after creating a

breakaway from his own steal Thursday.

UCI junior forward Stanislav Zuzak figures to come off the bench,

just as he did Thursday. Matt Okoro, a junior forward, will most

likely start.

While UCI has been dealing with some injuries, the same can be

said for UCSB. When the Gauchos defeated Long Beach State, 70-46,

Thursday, senior Branduinn Fullove bruised his knee. He banged it

against another player from Long Beach State. However, Fullove was

able to return. He scored 11 points and he will be ready to play.

Fullove is one of three players, whom Douglass believes are

potential first-team All-Big West honorees this season. In addition

to Fullove, the Gauchos also have Nick Jones and Mark Hull.

The UCI-UCSB matchup also figures to be intriguing since both

coaches, Bob Williams and Douglass, have been mentioned in coaching

rumors to take over at UCLA, where Coach Steve Lavin is expected to

be fired at season’s end.