UCI battles Boise State on Thanksgiving

UC Irvine’s men’s basketball team will face Boise State in the opening game of the DIRECTV Wooden Legacy, according to the bracket released by ESPN on Thursday.

The Anteaters, who like the Broncos made the NCAA Tournament last season, will meet Nov. 26 (Thanksgiving Day) at 1 p.m. at Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Gym.

The second round on Nov. 27, will also be played at Cal State Fullerton, with the final four games to be played at Honda Center in Anaheim on Nov. 29.

Five 2015 NCAA Tournament teams, including 2015 Final Four participant Michigan State, Arizona, and Providence, are in the eight-team field. Also included is Evansville, champion of the CollegeInsider.com tournament, as well as Boston College and Santa Clara.

Also on opening day at Cal State Fullerton, Michigan State meets Boston College at 3:30, Providence faces Evansville at 6 and Arizona battles Santa Clara at 8:30.

If victorious, UCI would meet the Michigan State-Boston College winner on Nov. 27 at 2 p.m. If UCI falls in the opener, it would meet the Michigan State-Boston College loser on Nov. 27 at 11:30 p.m.

Coach Russell Turner’s Anteaters advanced to the NCAA Division I Tournament for the first time in school history last March, narrowly losing to three-time national champion Louisville, 57-55, in the NCAA second round at Seattle.

UCI was 21-13 last season and won the program’s first Big West Conference Tournament title, defeating UC Riverside in the quarterfinals, UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals and Hawaii, 67-58, in the championship game.

Three starters and 10 total players who saw game action last season return for the ‘Eaters. The returning starters are 7-foot-6 junior center Mamadou Ndiaye, who averaged 10.5 points and 5.1 rebounds last season, 6-3 junior guard Luke Nelson (10.5 points and four assists per contest) and 6-1 senior guard Alex Young (9.4 ppg, 3.6 apg).

Boise State was 25-9 last season and fell at Dayton, 56-55, in the NCAA first round.

UCI has a 6-5 series edge against the Broncos, who competed in the Big West Conference from 1996-2001.

The teams last met Feb. 10, 2001, when UCI topped the Broncos, 89-87, on Jerry Green’s three-pointer with three seconds left in overtime at Boise.

— From staff reports