Anteater

SANTA BARBARA - UC Santa Barbara men's basketball coach Bob Williams said there were some basic adjustments in the second half that simplified the Gauchos' offense in their 74-71 Big West Conference home win against UC Irvine on Thursday. But, Williams admitted, there wasn't much complexity to his squad's offensive attack to start with. "We're basically threes around Al," said Williams, referring to three-point shooters positioned around 6-foot-7, 240-pound sophomore post Alan Williams inside.

IRVINE - In the Big West Conference opener for both teams, Saturday night's men's basketball clash between host UC Irvine and UC Davis was all about closing. After allowing Aggies sophomore guard Corey Hawkins to score his team's final 11 points of regulation to help force overtime, the Anteaters scored all 11 points in the five-minute extra session of a 69-58 triumph. The win allowed UCI (7-7) to gain a share of first place in the Big West with its fourth win in five home games this season.

The UC Irvine men's volleyball team received all 16 first-place votes to top the American Volleyball Coaches' Assn. national preseason poll released Friday. It's the first time the Anteaters, who won their third NCAA title in the last six seasons in 2012, have begun the season in the No. 1 spot. They opened at No. 2 each of the last three seasons. UCI received 240 points in the poll, followed by BYU (222), Stanford (191), Pepperdine (183), Lewis (162), UCLA (154), Long Beach State (139)

LOS ANGELES - The road to greater respectability for the UC Irvine men's basketball team this season has included plane trips, bus rides and plenty of disappointment. But the Anteaters' trek home from its ninth road game of the season at USC's Galen Center on Thursday was anything but solemn. The Anteaters surged to a 12-point halftime lead and held on for a 61-54 nonconference upset that capped the preconference portion of their schedule with the kind of win that can lift the profile of Coach Russell Turner's program.

IRVINE - With a team more identified for determined defense and rebounding than putting on a offensive show, UC Irvine men's basketball coach Russell Turner is plenty entertaining in and of himself. Stalking the sideline, removing his jacket, scratching his head over his team's miscues, and exhorting - always exhorting his Anteaters - Turner, at least a couple times each half, outdoes players 20 years his junior, when it comes to expending energy. It wasn't exactly energy the host Anteaters lacked in a 66-60 nonconference loss to LSU on Tuesday.

Shelley Anderson, a second-team Under Armour All-American setter at Chino Hills High, is among three players to sign national letters of intent to play women's volleyball at UC Irvine. Anderson, a member of the women's junior national training team, joins fellow recruits Dani Geiger and Cassidy Pickrell to form a group that excites Anteaters Coach Paula Weishoff. "[She] is one of the best setters in the 2013 class," Weishoff said of the 5-foot-11 Anderson, a three-time first-team All-Sierra League honoree.

MALIBU — UC Irvine men's basketball Coach Russell Turner spoke of regression after his Anteaters were defeated, 72-62, by host Pepperdine in a nonconference game Saturday night. The remedy for a three-game losing streak that has dropped UCI to 3-4, according to Turner, might be aggression. "I'm just surprised we played as poorly as we did," said Turner, whose team shot a season-low 34.3% from the field and trailed throughout. "I'm most displeased over what I see as a regression, in a little more than  a week, in our team's enthusiasm.

IRVINE - Longtime observers of UC Irvine men's basketball would likely come away with the same two-word summary after the Anteaters' 101-92 exhibition win over NAIA representative Vanguard University on Saturday. Big difference. Unveiling five frontcourt players ranging from 6-foot-8 to 7-0, the kind of paint presence that is surely unprecedented in the Bren Events Center, the hosts were able to play a level above the scrappy and talented Lions. The quintet of senior Adam Folker, sophomores John Ryan, Mike Best and Will Davis, as well as freshman Conor Clifford combined for 58 points and 30 of the 'Eaters' 51 rebounds.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL Cal State Fullerton def. UC Irvine FULLERTON - Shannon Fleming had 18 kills, seven block assists and hit .417 for the visiting Anteaters in their 25-19, 28-30, 22-25, 26-24, 15-11 Big West Conference loss on Thursday night. Marissa Alvarez had 62 assists, Kristin Winkler had 34 digs and Aly Squires had a team-best 23 kills for UCI (8-12, 3-4 in conference). UCI hit .186 as a team, 36 points worse then Fullerton. The Anteaters' service receive percentage was just .943, compared to .981 for the Titans (9-10, 3-3)

Mark Trentacosta is between a mound and a hard place. Through no fault of his own and by a convergence of head-scratching rulings, readings and regulations, the UC Irvine senior is a pitcher in name only. But the man without a team has an incredible story, and a cause that will confuse anyone who clings to common sense. It began last June when the UC Irvine left-hander, who posted a 2.91 earned-run average, won his only decision and struck out 26 in 34 innings for the Anteaters, was drafted in the 34th round by the St. Louis Cardinals.