Nelson rises for ‘Eaters

Having won two Big West Conference regular-season championships and one conference tournament title in the last three years, the UC Irvine men’s basketball team is clearly aware that it will often encounter an opponent’s best effort.

Even that wasn’t good enough for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which No. 2-seeded UCI handled, 84-64, in the quarterfinals of the Big West Tournament on Thursday at Honda Center.

The No. 7-seeded Mustangs (10-20) made their first five three-pointers, were eight for their first 11 and finished the first half nine for 13 beyond the arc. Still, they faced a 38-36 halftime deficit.

Cal Poly was four for 28 from three-point range in its regular-season finale.

UCI (25-8), which tied its school record for wins in a season, clamped down its perimeter defense and made seven of 10 three-point tries of its own after halftime to pull away.

UCI junior guard Luke Nelson was six for seven from threedom on his way to a career-high 36 points. The British import was one point shy of the tournament record set by Josh Akognon of Cal State Fullerton in 2009.

Nelson, who at one point made eight straight field-goal tries, finished 11 for 15 from the field to help the regular-season co-champions advance to Friday’s 9 p.m. semifinal against Long Beach State (19-13).

“[Nelson, a first-team all-conference performer who averaged a team-best 13.1 points in the regular season] steps up in big-time games and tonight we really needed him, because we got off to a slow start,” UCI senior point guard Alex Young said.

Nelson had 17 points in the first half, when Cal Poly (10-20) seized a 23-19 lead.

Trailing 26-22, UCI used an 8-0 run to pull ahead for good. The Anteaters opened the second half with a 7-3 surge and later used a 15-4 run to assume complete command.

Mamadou Ndiaye, UCI’s 7-foot-6 junior center, was ejected with 13:35 remaining when he stepped off the bench to move toward teammate Jonathan Galloway, who hit the floor after getting tangled up with Cal Poly senior guard Reese Morgan.

NCAA rules mandate that any player that leaves the bench be ejected. But since Ndiaye did not participate in any fight, he is not subject to any suspension and will be available to play Friday.

“I didn’t think what [Ndiaye] did warranted an ejection,” UCI Coach Russell Turner said. “I’m not saying it was the wrong call. I haven’t seen [a replay]. I covered a lot of scenarios about maintaining composure, but we didn’t cover that one. I told my team that was on me.”

Nelson, who was eight for eight from the foul line, chipped in five rebounds, one assist and one steal. He did not have a turnover in 32 minutes.

“[Nelson] was pretty good tonight,” Turner said. “I didn’t realize he had 36, but it seemed that at any point he rose to shoot it, I felt like it was going to go in. It was a great individual performance.”

Young had 10 points, six assists and four steals, while senior Mike Best had seven points and six boards.

Ndiaye, also a first-team all-conference honoree, had six points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.

“[Ndiaye] only played 16 minutes, so he’ll be fresh [Friday],” Turner said.

Senior Aaron Wright came off the bench to contribute nine points, six rebounds and his defense was recognized by Russell. Wright helped hold Cal Poly leading scorer David Nwaba to eight points on three-of-10 shooting.

Junior reserve Jaron Martin added nine points in 18 minutes and was one of four Anteaters to connect from threedom, from where they made 10 of 17 attempts (58.8%).

Cal Poly finished 13 for 23 beyond the arc (56.5%), but was eight for 32 on two-point attempts (25%).

Sophomore Luke Meikle was five for six from three-point range and posted a career-high 19 points to lead the Mustangs.

UCI, in the conference tournament semifinals for the fifth straight season, swept Long Beach State in their two regular-season meetings. The ‘Eaters rallied for a 58-54 win at the Pyramid on Jan. 14. UCI thumped the 49ers, 90-67, at home on Feb. 24.

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Big West Conference Tournament

Quarterfinal

UC Irvine 84, Cal Poly SLO 64

CPSLO – Bennett 10, Martin 9, Nwaba 8, Morgan 6, Shead 3, Meikle 19, Shipley 5, Sutlive 3, Gordon 1.

3-pt. goals – Meikle 5, Martin 3, Morgan 2, Shipley 1, Sutlive 1, Shead 1.

Fouled out – Morgan.

Technicals – None.

UCI – Best 7, Ndiaye 6, Nelson 36, Young 10, Dunning 0, Wright 9, Martin 9, Galloway 4, Dimakopoulos 2, Smith 1.

3-pt. goals – Nelson 6, Young 2, Martin 1, Wright 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.