Anteaters seeking sweep of Tigers

Steve Virgen

UC Irvine is riding a five-game winning streak and sits in a

three-way tie for first place in the Big West Conference. Meanwhile,

University of the Pacific is on a four-game losing streak and is in

sixth in the Big West. In addition, the Tigers’ men’s basketball team

is dealing with injuries to its two top players.

All signs point to a UCI victory, right?

Not necessarily.

“You can’t really forecast who’s going to win,” UCI Coach Pat

Douglass said of the competition in the Big West this season.

“There’s a lot of surprising scores. We know this is going to be a

tough match. We have been playing well as of late, but there is no

assurance for us. We have to play well again.”

The Anteaters (16-7, 10-4 in the Big West) will host Big West foe

Pacific tonight at 7:05 at the Bren Events Center, where UCI will

attempt to complete a season sweep of the Tigers. The ‘Eaters have

four games remaining in the regular season, including a road trip

next week, at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (Thursday) and at UC Santa

Barbara (March 1).

UCI, which is 5-0 in the second half of conference play, defeated

Pacific, 66-62, Jan. 23, on Douglass’ 53rd birthday. Senior Mike Hood

scored 20 points, including a key three-pointer in the final minute

to help earn the victory. For the Tigers, senior guard Demetrius

Jackson led with 17 points and 6-foot-9 freshman forward Christian

Maraker scored 11. But, now those two are nursing injuries.

Maraker, who is second on the team with a 12.5 points-per-game

average, injured his ankle Tuesday and did not play in Pacific’s

70-61 loss to Long Beach State Wednesday. Maraker’s status is

doubtful for tonight. Jackson, the Tigers’ leading scorer (14.1 ppg),

is dealing with a back injury. His tailbone has been bothering him.

He went scoreless in eight minutes of action Wednesday. He attempted

two three-pointers and missed both of them.

A representative from the Pacific Sports Information Department

said Jackson practiced Friday and will attempt to play more minutes

than he did Wednesday.

UCI had an injured player Thursday, when it defeated Cal State

Northridge, 64-57. Douglass said Hood injured a finger early in the

first half and continued to play, despite the pain. Hood, who scored

four points, all on free throws, will also play tonight.

“He hurt his finger (Thursday),” Douglass said of Hood. “(The

trainers) put it back in place, but he’ll be ready to go.”

Hood’s outside-shooting presence will be needed as UCI junior

center Adam Parada has been commanding more attention with his

improved play over the second half of the Big West season. Parada has

scored in double figures in four of the past five victories. He

scored a team-high 18 points, and he delivered 15 and 13 on the road

last week at Utah State and Idaho, respectively.

“Any time you have an inside presence you can work from the basket

out,” Douglass said. “It really dictates the way our offense can go.

He’s been a big asset the way he’s been playing the past four of five

ballgames.”

While the Pacific-UCI matchup will be meaningful on the court,

there is also some off-court story lines. Douglass’ alma mater is

Pacific, and one of his teammates there was Bob Thomason, who now

coaches the Tigers. In addition, UOP ended the ‘Eaters’ dream season

in 2001 when the Tigers upset UCI in the Big West Tournament.

The UCI-Pacific series is 28-28 and the Anteaters have won six of

the past eight meetings.