Men’s Basketball: ‘Eaters hold off Tritons

As coronations go, the UC Irvine men’s basketball team’s season opener was a mixed bag Friday night.

The Anteaters, coming off the program’s first trip to the NCAA Division I Tournament — with a banner unveiled to herald the achievement — were at times brilliant, but also benign in an 89-73 nonconference win over NCAA Division II visitor UC San Diego.

The Tritons, for whom the game was considered an exhibition, were overmatched in the first 25 minutes, as the taller, more precise hosts rolled to a 46-26 halftime advantage, then expanded the lead to 26.

But San Diego used a 17-4 run over a span of nearly 10 minutes to pare the deficit and later closed to within 73-61 with 4:06 left, before UCI pulled away to improve to 1-0.

Mamadou Ndiaye, a 7-foot-6 junior center, led the winners with 16 points, six rebounds and six blocked shots. He was six for eight from the field, including three dunks.

Four other ‘Eaters scored in double figures with junior guard Jaron Martin adding 13. Junior guard Luke Nelson, 7-2 junior reserve Ioannis Dimakopoulos, and 6-10 freshman Jonathan Galloway had 10 points apiece.

UCI blocked eight shots and sank 31 of 51 field-goal tries (62%), including seven of 14 from three-point range.

The Anteaters, however, collected a narrow 31-30 rebounding advantage and had eight of the game’s 13 turnovers.

“I want to give UC San Diego a lot of credit,” UCI Coach Russell Turner said. “[The Tritons] were terrific in the second half and exposed us with a few things, I thought, but especially with the way they played offense. They are smart, experienced, patient and really good at playing well together, and I didn’t think that our second unit was up to that. That was frustrating, because I think our six-through-10 players are really going to be good.”

Dimakopoulos and Martin were both four for six from the field, while Galloway converted four of seven attempts and Nelson and Best were both three for five from the field.

“I thought our starters for the most part, did well tonight,” Turner said. “We built the lead up a bit in the second half … But then the group we had out there seemed to lack the energy and enthusiasm to really fight and defend, and rebound and get loose balls. They are young, so maybe that was not what was foremost in their mind. But the message I’m trying to send them is that it better be foremost in their mind for our program.”

Turner singled out Ndiaye and Dimakopoulos, who were both efficient and imposing.

“I thought Mamadou and Iannos played particularly well, as they should against a Division II team [with no player taller than 6-7],” Turner said. “I didn’t think we played consistently enough through them [offensively] because they were a factor.

“And Mike Best had a good start to the game [netting his first three shots] and that’s important for us. I think he’s a talented player that people really don’t fully appreciate yet. I thought he was good on offense and on the boards.

“We know we have talent and the ability to be good,” Turner said. “What we have to prove is that we can consistently be that.”

UCI returns to action on Sunday, when it plays host to Loyola Marymount at 5 p.m.

Senior guard Aaron Wright was not in uniform Friday. Turner did not reveal why, but said he would be back before too long.

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Nonconference

UC Irvine 89, UC San Diego 73

UCSD – Dyer 10, Walker 7, McMillan 4, Klie 9, Jackson 7, Lipovic 16, Hansen 9, Buaku 8, Ballestero 3.

3-pt. goals – Lipovic 4, Dyer 2, Klie 1, Jackson 1, Bauku 1, Ballestero 1, Walker 1.

Fouled out – McMillan.

Technicals – None.

UCI – Best 8, Dunning 4, Ndiaye 16, Nelson 10, Young 7, Martin 13, Dimakopoulos 10, Galloway 10, Saprykinas 8, Smith 3.

3-pt. goals – Nelson 2, Martin 2, Saprykinas 2, Smith 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Halftime: 46-26, UCI.