‘Eaters remain perfect

UC Irvine celebrated the 50th birthday of its mascot at halftime of Monday’s 79-61 nonconference win against Santa Clara.

But the last time UCI was 4-0, Peter the Anteater was not yet old enough to vote.

After blitzing the Broncos early and finishing off the easy victory, UCI is 4-0 for the first time since the 1982-83 team went 5-0 to start its season. That’s 33 seasons.

The Anteaters jumped to leads of 14-2 and 29-6 and limited the visitors (0-5) to just 16.1% shooting from the field in a first half that ended with the hosts on top, 35-19.

Santa Clara was five for 31 from the field in the opening half, including just one for 10 from three-point range, and finished at 25.4% from the field (17 for 67) and four for 21 from threedom (19%).

Junior guard Luke Nelson was four for five from three-point range and six for eight from the field en route to a game-high 20 points to pace UCI, which made nine of 16 from threedom (56.3%).

The Anteaters, who came in on the short end of a 123-107 rebounding margin for the season, posted a 51-30 advantage on the boards to help overcome a 16-9 turnover deficit.

“Luke is playing at a high level,” UCI Coach Russell Turner said of the 6-foot-3 Englishman, who had a season-high 22 points in Wednesday’s overtime win at Central Florida. “He’s doing things very well and he is in control. He’s an excellent player and I’ve known that for a long time. I see from him now what I expected to see, and he’s not just good on the offensive end, but he’s outstanding on the defensive end.”

Nelson had a team-best six assists, while senior guard Alex Young had five assists to go with his eight points. Young also shared team-high rebounding honors with junior guard Dominique Dunning, while 7-6 junior center Mamadou Ndiaye had 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.

Ndiaye was five for eight from the field and five for seven from the foul line as the hosts made 22 of 33 free-throw attempts.

Freshman Brandon Smith had 13 points off the bench for the ‘Eaters, including going two for two from three-point range to help UCI make nine of 16 shots beyond the arc (56.3%).

UCI led by as much as 26 midway through the second half, though the Broncos pared the deficit to 13 with 2:47 left in the game.

“I’m concerned that that lack of killer instinct to finish the game with our experienced team,” Turner said. “We should be better than that. We need to be better at maintaining our competitive edge and intensity.”

Turner said his team will be challenged in the Wooden Legacy that begins Thursday at 1 p.m. against Boise State at Cal State Fullerton. UCI would meet either Michigan State or Boston College in Friday’s second Wooden Classic game, also at Cal State Fullerton.

“A high level of competition is what we expect,” Turner said of the upcoming tournament. “It will be interesting to see how our team can respond to that. We’re really excited to have the opportunity to play … and I’m excited, man. When I was a kid, it was the Cowboys and the Lions on Thanksgiving Day [NFL football]. At one o’clock on Thanksgiving, we are going to get to hoop on national TV and that’s pretty good.”

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Nonconference

UC Irvine 79, Santa Clara 61

SC – Kratch 9, Jadersten 2, Brownridge 19, Feagin 7, Wardlow 4, Pugh 8, Hauser 7, Healy 3, Ndumanya 2.

3-pt. goals – Brownridge 2, Feagin 1, Healy 1.

Fouled out – Wardlow.

Technicals – None.

UCI – Beat 9, Ndiaye 15, Nelson 20, Young 8, Dunning 5, Smith 13, Martin 4, Saprykinas 3, Galloway 2.

3-pt. goals – Nelson 4, Smith 2, Young 1, Martin 1, Saprykinas 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

Halftime – 35-19, UCI.