Amara Aguilar
Saturday night was special for UC Irvine senior guard Jerry Green.
With his first bucket, in a 72-46 UCI men's basketball victory over
host Cal State Fullerton, he became the Anteaters' all-time leading
scorer, passing Tod Murphy, who amassed 1,778 career points from 1982-86.
One of the persons Green credits with helping him set the mark is UCI
Coach Pat Douglass, who was one of the reasons Green chose to sign with
Anteaters out of high school four years ago.
"He won a couple national championships at (Cal State) Bakersfield and
I heard a lot of people talk about him," Green said. "I wanted to find
out for myself if all the hype was real and now I know it's real. He's a
really great coach. He really knows the game. That's why I've had a very
successful four years here, because of his teachings and his staff's as
well."
Green and Douglass combined to help lead UCI to its first Big West
Conference championship last season when the Anteaters won a
school-record 25 games.
"We really have a good relationship," Green said. "My freshman year,
Coach Douglass really took his time and was really patient with me. At
the time, there really weren't any seniors on the team who could put me
under their wing. He taught me so much about the game."
It definitely seems to have paid off. Green has led the Anteaters in
scoring each of his four seasons. With the 19 points he scored against
Fullerton, he has 1,797 in his career.
With seven Big West Conference games left, he is set to surpass the
2,000 plateau.
Next up for the conference-leading Anteaters (16-6, 9-2 in the Big
West) is a two-game Big West homestand beginning Thursday against Idaho
in a 5:35 p.m game televised on Fox Sports 2.
Saturday night, Utah State visits at 7:05 p.m. The Anteaters won at
Utah State Jan. 10 when Green hit a game-winning jumper at the buzzer to
earn a 67-66 victory that snapped the Aggies' school-record 31-game
winning streak at home in a nationally televised game.
The UCI baseball team (3-4) earned its first win of the season
Tuesday, a 6-4 triumph over UCLA at Anteater Ballpark.
UCI freshman starter Glenn Swanson earned the win and freshman Michael
Koehler picked up the save.
"Obviously it was a big night for UCI baseball and for our kids
playing a Pac 10 power," UCI Coach John Savage said. "We really came out
and played well against them. I thought we pitched well. Two freshmen
stepped up and showed signs of the future. Our bats came alive and we
showed signs of what we can do along the road."
