Uzoma Obiekea

UC Irvine basketball players Uzoma Obiekea and LaDay Smith were suspended by the Big West Conference on Tuesday for their roles in an altercation after a game between the Anteaters and and Cal State Fullerton. Obiekea was suspended for two weeks, retroactive to last Sunday, and was ordered out of the next game between Irvine and Fullerton, on Feb. 13. Smith was suspended for the UC Irvine-Fullerton game on Feb. 13.

Uzoma Obiekea, the UC Irvine player suspended for four games for his part in Saturday's postgame fight with Cal State Fullerton, had no desire to replay the details of his actions or punishment Wednesday. "I don't want to talk about it. I just want to let it go," said Obiekea, waiting in the Irvine training room because he felt ill and wanted to be checked.

Uzoma Obiekea, the UC Irvine player suspended for four games for his part in Saturday's postgame fight with Cal State Fullerton, had no desire to replay the details of his actions or punishment Wednesday. "I don't want to talk about it. I just want to let it go," said Obiekea, waiting in the Irvine training room because he felt ill and wanted to be checked.

UC Irvine basketball players Uzoma Obiekea and LaDay Smith were suspended by the Big West Conference on Tuesday for their roles in an altercation after a game between the Anteaters and and Cal State Fullerton. Obiekea was suspended for two weeks, retroactive to last Sunday, and was ordered out of the next game between Irvine and Fullerton, on Feb. 13. Smith was suspended for the UC Irvine-Fullerton game on Feb. 13.

UC Irvine senior Uzoma Obiekea, who can be seen kicking Cal State Fullerton senior Bruce Bowen in a videotape of the melee that followed Fullerton's 61-59 victory Saturday, was suspended indefinitely Sunday by Anteater Coach Rod Baker. "How ever the altercation was initiated, I cannot condone the type of behavior that Uzoma displayed," Baker said.

UC Irvine center Uzoma Obiekea, who can be seen kicking Cal State Fullerton forward Bruce Bowen in a videotape of the melee that followed the Titans' 61-59 victory Saturday, has been suspended indefinitely by Coach Rod Baker. "(No matter how) the altercation was initiated, I cannot condone the type of behavior that Uzoma displayed," Baker said in a statement issued Sunday.

Uzoma Obiekea, the UC Irvine player who repeatedly kicked Cal State Fullerton's Bruce Bowen while Bowen was kneeling on the court during a postgame fight between the teams Saturday, was suspended for four games by the Big West Conference on Tuesday. Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell, citing the flagrancy of Obiekea's actions, termed the punishment the most severe in recent conference history and stipulated that one of the four games will be the Fullerton-Irvine rematch Feb. 13 at Titan Gym.

The UC Irvine men's basketball team has acquired some much-needed bulk with the arrival of Uzoma Obiekea, a 6-foot-7 1/2, 245-pound junior transfer from U.S. International. Obiekea, who is from Oguta, Nigeria, will be eligible immediately because USIU dropped its basketball program. Under NCAA rules, transfers from four-year colleges usually sit out one season, but that requirement is waived when a program is discontinued.

A simmering rivalry between Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine spilled over into a melee on the Bren Center court after Fullerton's 61-59 victory in front of 3,784 Saturday. Most of the players on both teams fought or restrained others, but no fans appeared to be involved. The game was decided in the final seconds. The Titans' Don Leary rebounded his missed shot, then scored from the lane with a little more than three seconds to play for a two-point lead. As the game ended, a fracas erupted.

U.S. International announced Thursday that three players have signed national letters of intent to play basketball for Gulls Coach Gary Zarecky next year. Uzoma Obiekea, Steve Whitehead and O.J. Bonner join Monte Vista's Jeff Polinsky, Marc Tuite and Derek Izilein, who earlier made commitments to USIU. Nigeria native Obiekea, a 6-foot-7 1/2 forward, led Marymount College of Salinas, Kansas, to the NAIA regional semifinals his freshman year, averaging 15 points and 13 rebounds a game.

Uzoma Obiekea, the UC Irvine player who repeatedly kicked Cal State Fullerton's Bruce Bowen while Bowen was kneeling on the court during a postgame fight between the teams Saturday, was suspended for four games by the Big West Conference on Tuesday. Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell, citing the flagrancy of Obiekea's actions, termed the punishment the most severe in recent conference history and stipulated that one of the four games will be the Fullerton-Irvine rematch Feb. 13 at Titan Gym.

UC Irvine center Uzoma Obiekea, who can be seen kicking Cal State Fullerton forward Bruce Bowen in a videotape of the melee that followed the Titans' 61-59 victory Saturday, has been suspended indefinitely by Coach Rod Baker. "(No matter how) the altercation was initiated, I cannot condone the type of behavior that Uzoma displayed," Baker said in a statement issued Sunday.

UC Irvine senior Uzoma Obiekea, who can be seen kicking Cal State Fullerton senior Bruce Bowen in a videotape of the melee that followed Fullerton's 61-59 victory Saturday, was suspended indefinitely Sunday by Anteater Coach Rod Baker. "How ever the altercation was initiated, I cannot condone the type of behavior that Uzoma displayed," Baker said.

The last time Cal State Fullerton played a basketball game, Titan point guard Aaron Sunderland and forward Kim Kemp ate hamburgers and listened to it on their apartment radio. Oh, for the good old days. UC Irvine's Shaun Battle dunked with three seconds remaining in overtime on Saturday night to lift the Anteaters to an 88-86 Big West Conference overtime victory before 2,550 in Titan Gym.

How about these for a basketball team's season objectives: Score 100 points a game; hold your opponents to under 100 points a game. That's it. This is not an everyday approach to college basketball. But this is not an everyday college basketball team. It's U.S. International, a team that once led the nation in scoring while compiling a losing record. The Gulls won't have to improve much, because they averaged 97.8 points a game last year while allowing 102.