UCI to play in CIT final

UC Irvine’s lockdown defense limited Coastal Carolina to one field goal in the final 7½ minutes as the Anteaters defeated the Chanticleers, 66-47, in a CollegeInsider.com Tournament semifinal at Conway, S.C., Sunday night.

With the win, UCI (28-9) is headed to New York to face Columbia in the CIT championship game Tuesday night at 4 p.m. PT on the CBS Sports Network. Columbia (24-10) defeated NJIT, 80-65, in the other semifinal Sunday.

Junior guard Luke Nelson led the Anteaters with 15 points, five assists and three steals in the victory over Coastal Carolina while senior guard Alex Young added 11 points and eight rebounds.

Junior center Mamadou Ndiaye had nine points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Senior forward Mike Best added eight points and seven boards, and junior guard Jaron Martin also scored eight points.

Colton Ray-St Cyr led the Chanticleers with 16 points and Badou Diagne added 11.

UCI led for 34 minutes of the game, including the entire second half.

The Anteaters ended the first half on a 12-2 run to lead 33-25 at the break.

The Anteaters, who outrebounded the Chanticleers 47-36, shot 42% from the field to Coastal Carolina’s 27% as UCI improved to 20-1 this season when holding the opponents under 40%. UCI has won 56 of its last 59 games when the opposition shoots below 40%.

UCI continues to improve on the single-season school record for wins with its 28th Sunday evening and has also established new school marks for non-conference victories (15) and road wins (13).

The Anteaters have won 93 games over the last four seasons under Coach Russell Turner.

Tuesday night’s game against Columbia will be the first between the universities.

“We were good defensively tonight and executed our game plan,” Turner said. “We did what we needed to do and controlled the game virtually all night.

“We’re excited to be going to New York and we need to maintain our intensity and compete against Columbia, a good team and one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country.

“This team has character and we appreciate the opportunity to still be competing,” Turner added.

— From staff reports