UCI falls to Arizona State

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Arizona State 74, UC Irvine 61

TEMPE, Ariz. — Junior Will Davis and 7-foot-6 freshman Mamadou Ndiaye recorded double-doubles for the visiting Anteaters in the nonconference game on Saturday.

Davis made seven of nine field-goal attempts on his way to 14 points and he added 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

Ndiaye’s first double-double included 12 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots. He was five for eight from the field and he now has 49 blocks through 14 games.

Freshman Luke Nelson had 12 points and a game-high five assists for the Anteaters (7-7), who trimmed what once was a 17-point deficit to 60-54 with 4:10 left and 62-56 with 2:35 remaining.

UCI shot 53.3% from the field in the second half (16 for 30), but made just nine of 32 (28.1%) in the opening 20 minutes. UCI also made just four of 17 three-point tries (23.5%) and only half of its 14 free-throw attempts.

The Anteaters’ 19 turnovers were eight more than the Sun Devils (11-2), which helped balance out a 44-34 rebounding advantage for UCI.

UCI returns to action on Thursday at home against Morgan State at 7:30 p.m.