Anteaters go south against Northridge

Barry Faulkner

With a homecoming crowd filling the Bren Events Center to capacity

Saturday night, there were plenty of former students who could recall

many years of struggle for the UC Irvine men’s basketball program.

And for those younger spectators among the 5,000 in attendance,

the 56-51 Big West Conference loss to visiting Cal State Northridge

went a long way toward providing a rather painful refresher course.

With its fifth straight setback, the longest losing streak since

the 1998-99 Anteaters lost 14 in a row, UCI fell to 9-11, 4-7 in

conference. After producing three straight 20-win seasons and

finishing no lower than second in the Big West regular-season

standings in that time, the Anteaters find themselves tied with Long

Beach State for sixth place in the conference with seven Big West

games remaining.

At this point, the Anteaters’ aim has shifted from contending for

the league’s upper echelon to not being one of the two teams left out

of the eight-team conference tournament.

“I did not imagine being where we are right now [in the

standings],” said UCI Coach Pat Douglass, who tried to shake things

up by not starting seniors Adam Parada and Stanislav Zuzak. “But I

don’t have control over it.”

UCI controlled things through the first half, seizing a 30-25

advantage in the first 20 minutes. But Northridge (9-10, 4-6), which

suspended two starters last week and had three starters in foul

trouble Saturday, scored the first seven points of the second half to

put itself in the lead.

UCI answered with a 6-0 run to lead, 36-33, with 13:46 remaining, but Matador freshman Austin Waggener scored four points in a 6-0

Northridge run that put the visitors ahead for good.

A three-pointer by Weggener created a 46-40 cushion with 6:35 left

and, after Irvine had crept to within 50-49 with 2:42 remaining,

Northridge senior Eto Onyenegecha connected from beyond the arc to

help hold off the Anteaters.

UCI missed half of its 12 second-half free throws, including a

pair by junior Greg Ethington with 57 seconds left that could have

tied it.

Northridge worked the shot clock down on its ensuing possession

and missed a three-point try. But the rebound was tipped out of a

crowd of players in the lane and recovered on the perimeter by

Northridge senior standout Ian Boylan with 22 seconds left. UCI then

had to foul and junior David White netted two free throws for a 55-51

lead with 17 ticks left.

UCI missed two desperation three-pointers to end with its

second-lowest point total of the season and propel the Matadors into

a tie for fourth place (with Idaho), one game behind third-place UC

Santa Barbara.

The long rebound at a crucial time was, Douglass said, emblematic

of the way the ball has stopped bouncing Irvine’s way.

“When your struggling, it seems like things like that don’t happen

for you,” Douglass said. “They made some key buckets and we weren’t

able to make our free throws. It seems like guys made shots for them

who don’t normally make shots. They canned a big three down the

stretch and we couldn’t get stops.”

Parada, the team’s leading scorer, who scored just one point in

Thursday’s home loss to the University of the Pacific, watched the

first 10:04 of the game from the bench and had just two points at

halftime.

The 7-footer, however, helped the hosts stay close after halftime.

He finished with 10 points, on 4-of-4 shooting from the field, and

added three rebounds and one blocked shot in 15 minutes.

Ethington, who earned his starting assignment with a career-high

17 points against UOP, shared team-high honors with Mike Efevberha

(11 points) and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

Parada, Efevberha and Ethington accounted for the final five

Irvine field goals, but it wasn’t enough, as the hosts finished 19 of

52 from the field (36.5%), 5 of 19 from threedom (26.3%) and netted

only 8 of 15 foul shots (53.3%).

“We’re just not shooting the ball real well right now,” Douglass

said.

Boylan, an all-conference performer last season, split his 16

points equally in the first and second halves, but Northridge Coach

Bobby Braswell, as well as Boylan, said the win was made possible by

several Matadors.

“The veterans led and the young guys stepped up,” Boylan said.

Added Braswell: “Nobody in the world expected us to come in here

and win this game. To win it, says a lot about the heart and tenacity

of the guys in our locker room. With the things that are going on in

our program right now, with [suspended starters Joseph Frazier and

Chris Davis] not here right now, this says a lot about our team’s

character.”

ZOTS - The UC Irvine loss extended its losing streak to five

games, which is equaled or topped only two other times during Coach

Pat Douglass’ seven-year tenure. It is the longest losing streak

since the 1998-99 team dropped 14 in a row. The only other time UCI

had lost this many in a row was a five-game skid in 1997-98. All

three of the lengthy losing streaks have come in conference play,

with Utah State being the only team to be a part of all of them ...

The announced attendance of 5,000 made it the second sellout of the

season at the Bren Center (Stanford on Nov. 25 was the other) ... UCI

had drawn at least 2,000 spectators in 14 straight games, before

Thursday’s crowd of 1,945 for the loss to University of the Pacific

... Douglass shook up the lineup Saturday, starting Greg Ethington in

place of Adam Parada and Ross Schraeder in place of Stanislav Zuzak

... Senior Aras Baskauskas started the second half in place of

sophomore guard Mike Efevberha ... The UC Irvine coaches all wore

white athletic shoes as part of the National Association of

Basketball Coaches’ national coaches vs. cancer awareness day ... It

has not been the best of years for Cal State Northridge junior Joseph

Frazier. First, his name was misspelled (Frasier) on the cover of the

team media guides distributed during Big West Conference media day.

He was later suspended for an indefinite period, then, it was

announced recently, he had been suspended for the remainder of the

season, along with teammates Chris Davis, also a junior starter, and

freshman reserve Andre Foy ...The Northridge victory pulled the

Matadors to within 17-14 in the all-time series with UCI. It also

ended a three-game losing streak to the Anteaters ...The Anteaters

continue Big West play Thursday at Cal State Fullerton and Saturday

at UC Riverside. UCI defeated both in the first round, winning,

66-65, over UCR on a last-second three-pointer by Efevberha Jan. 15,

then overcoming four Titan double-figure scorers for a 74-67 win over

Orange County neighbor Fullerton Jan. 17.

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Big West Conference

Cal State Northridge 56, UC Irvine 51

Cal State Northridge - Onyenegecha 9, Boylan 16, Shewmake 3, White 13, Parker 0, Waggener 7, Jones 5, Scott 3. 3-pt. goals - Oneyegecha 1, White 1, Scott 1, Weggener 1. Fouled out - Oneyegecha. Technicals - None. UC Irvine - Okoro2, Ethington 11,

Schraeder 10, Efevberha 11, Gloger 4, Parada 10, Zuzak 3. 3-pt. goal - Schraeder 2, Efevberha 1, Zuzak 1, Ethington 1. Fouled out - None. Technicals - None. Halftime - UCI, 30-25.

*--*