DeCasas upstages ‘Eaters’ newcomers

IRVINE — In the debut of so many newcomers for the UC Irvine men’s basketball team, it was a familiar face that showed off a level of proficiency he and Coach Pat Douglass believe may become anything but novel.

Junior Chad DeCasas connected on seven straight field-goal attempts, including four three-pointers, on his way to a game-high 18 points to help the Anteaters earn a 69-42 exhibition win over Division II Cal Poly Pomona Saturday before 1,148 at the Bren Events Center.

DeCasas, who averaged 4.9 points as a sophomore and, Douglass said, generally lacked confidence at the offensive end, showed no signs of timidity against the Broncos.

The 6-foot-5 forward missed his opening shot, a three-pointer, but did not miss again until his final attempt late in the contest. In all, 33:28 elapsed between misfires for DeCasas, who added four rebounds, two assists, two steals and only one turnover in 29 minutes.

“I thought Chad played well and with confidence,” said Douglass, who was generally pleased, particularly with the consistent effort of the 12 UCI players who played, all that were available.

DeCasas said his play Saturday should only build his confidence level, though he already expected to make a name for himself this season.

“It’s my junior year, so it’s time to step up,” DeCasas said. “We lost some big guys in Patrick Sanders and Darren Fells [seniors last season], so I am just trying to assert myself this year. In the past, I’ve been real passive and a little worried to make turnovers. But now, I’m just staying aggressive and being more assertive.”

Aggression was not an issue for UCI, as the hosts’ rugged man-to-man defense limited the Broncos to 20% shooting for just more than the first 30 minutes of the contest (six for 30). But that aggression also led to 15 first-half fouls, which Cal Poly turned into 13 free throws.

Eric Wise, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound freshman out of ML King High in Riverside, was the most impressive of the newcomers, Douglass said.

Wise came off the bench to collect eight points and shared the team rebounding lead with starting center Zack Atkinson, a 6-9 junior JC transfer who had two blocks, two steals and an alley-oop dunk as part of his six points.

Sophomore point guard Patrick Rembert was also solid, scoring nine points and producing four assists without a turnover in 27 minutes.

Douglass also was encouraged to have junior guard Michael Hunter (four points, four assists and four turnovers in 13 minutes) looking fit after missing three of the four weeks of practice with a troublesome Achilles’ tendon.

UCI shot 51.7% from the field and made nine of 22 three-point tries, while Cal Poly finished at 29.3% from the field.

UCI opens the regular season Saturday at USC at 12:30 p.m.

Exhibition

UC Irvine 69, Cal Poly Pomona 42

CPP – Jahn 12, Swift 3, Krause 1, Gordon 11, Nasser 8, Rosser 7.

3-pt. goals – Rosser 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

UCI – DeCasas 18, Bland 3, Atkinson 6, Rembert 9, Moore 4, Wise 8, Lauer 7, Hunter 4, Folker 4, Eberhard 4, Staker 2.

3-pt. goals – DeCasas 4, , Lauer 2, Rembert 1, Bland 1, Hunter 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Halftime – UCI, 36-22.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].