‘Happy birthday, coach,’ 66-62

Steve Virgen

UC Irvine seniors Mike Hood and Jordan Harris decided singing

“Happy Birthday” to their coach wasn’t enough.

Instead, they delivered the ultimate gift for UCI Coach Pat

Douglass’ 53rd birthday. Hood and Harris led the Anteaters to a 66-62

Big West Conference men’s basketball win over Pacific, Douglass’ alma

mater, in front of 3,203 at the Spanos Center Thursday.

UCI dealt Pacific its second home loss this season, and its first

Big West setback at the Spanos Center.

“That’s a nice birthday present,” said Douglass, whose team

remained in first place in the Big West.

Hood, who scored a season-high 20 points, drained a three-point

basket with 20 seconds left to give the Anteaters a 64-60 lead. With

the shot clock at 10, UCI freshman point guard Jeff Gloger received a

pick near half court from Harris. Gloger penetrated to the basket and

dished out a pass to his left to Hood.

The Tigers scored with 3.4 seconds left after a Demetrius Jackson

baseline jumper, but Harris, who scored 18 points, nailed two free

throws with 2.2 seconds remaining to seal the win.

“We found out (about Douglass’ birthday) before the game,” said

Harris, who grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. “We were at a

restaurant and we sang, ‘Happy Birthday’ to him. One of the coaches

surprised him and they brought out a birthday cake and we sang. Then,

right after the game we were all telling him ‘happy birthday.’ ”

The Anteaters (11-4, 5-1 in the Big West), led by Hood’s 8-for-10

shooting from the field, completed their best shooting performance of

the season.

They shot 59.1% (26 of 44), including 66.7% (14 of 21) in the second half.

Hood, who scored five of the ‘Eaters’ final seven points, hit 4 of

5 from behind the three-point line. Harris shot 7 for 12 from the

field, while Gloger was perfect, 3 of 3 for six points. Gloger also

recorded two steals.

“I can’t explain it,” Hood said of his shooting performance. “I

was just hitting shots, just feeling good.”

Hood has been feeling good the past three games, especially in

crunch time. The 6-foot-4 senior guard scored the game-winner in a

75-73 overtime victory over Utah State, and he scored four key points

down the stretch in an 81-77 triumph at UC Riverside.

“It’s uncanny,” Douglass said of Hood’s ability to score in the

clutch.

Hood started his third straight game Thursday. Before that he had

been coming off the bench for seven straight games.

“My confidence was down,” Hood said. “But, right now it’s good and

I’ll be fine for the rest of the season.”

Said Douglass:” Our two seniors really stepped up. Mike Hood and

Jordan Harris really had big ballgames and played good defense as

well. (Associate) coach (Todd) Lee did a good job of preparing our

guys with what Pacific was going to run. He watched a lot of tape. He

really had the guys ready to go.

“This is one of our better ballgames of the year,” Douglass

continued. “We played well on both ends of the court. We fought

through adversity. They hit some big buckets and we didn’t quit. We

don’t quit.”

UCI grabbed its first lead of the game, 11-9, after Hood hit a

three-pointer with 14:19 left in the first half. From that point on,

the Anteaters would never lose their lead. It appeared, UCI had put

the game away after Harris put in two foul shots with 1:44 left to

give the ‘Eaters a 59-54 lead. But Pacific (8-7, 3-3) came right back

with a three-pointer by Jackson (team-high 17 points) with 1:21 left.

Hood answered with a long jump shot near the top of the key with

1:05 remaining to push the lead back up to 61-57. Then, with 48

seconds left, Pacific forward Matt Kemper swished in a three-pointer,

but Hood and Harris led UCI to the win down the stretch. Kemper

played at Irvine Valley College two years ago and was a roommate of

UCI junior guard Aras Baskauskas.

Baskauskas played a key role in the first half, guiding UCI to its

biggest lead. He dished out two assists that led to three pointers.

He broke Pacific’s full-court press and found Hood open for a

three-pointer that gave UCI a 25-12 lead with 7:19 left. Then

Baskauskas fed a pass to freshman Mike Efevberha for a three-pointer,

which gave the Anteaters their biggest lead, 28-14.

But Pacific closed out the half with a 13-2 run, and pulled the

deficit to 30-27. The Tigers hit 11 of their 12 free throws in the

first half to stay within striking distance, while the Anteaters did

not have a free-throw attempt in the first 20 minutes.

Pacific struggled in the first half, enduring a scoring drought

that lasted 6:26. That’s when UCI took advantage and built a 22-10

lead, as freshman Ross Schraeder came off the bench to knock down two

three-pointers and Hood, who scored 11 in the half, added another to

aid in the ‘Eaters’ scoring spurt.

Pacific Coach Bob Thomason had plenty to say about Hood after the

game.

“Mike Hood was the difference,” said Thomason, who was Douglass’

backcourt teammate at Pacific in the early 1970s. “I thought with our

quickness we would be able to bother him. The two shots he made at

the end absolutely saved them. UCI has big guys down low, but with

Hood hitting his shots and scoring so much, he’s made that team so

much better.”

UCI 7-0 junior center Adam Parada scored six points and grabbed

five rebounds in 25 minutes, the least playing time among the

starters. He picked up his fourth foul with 5:57 left.

The Anteaters will return to action Saturday at Cal State

Northridge at 7:05 p.m.

ZOTS -- Thomason and Douglass were teammates and

roommates at Pacific In the early ‘70s. “Tell Pat that was his

birthday present,” Thomason said after the game. “ But I actually

think Hood gave him a present more than I did ... Harris said UCI

thrived on taking the crowd out of the game in the first half. After

the game, Harris and Efevberha jumped in the air and bumps chests in

celebration. “At the beginning we were killing them,” Harris said.

“But we really didn’t shut them up until those free

throws at the end. It’s a big win. I don’t think any of the other Big

West teams are going to win in here.” ... The Anteaters left for a

flight to Burbank this morning and will practice at Northridge

today.