Box Score
DENVER, Colo. --- Chris McNealy and Luke Nelson scored 14 points each to lead UC Irvine past the University of Denver, 63-50, at Magness Arena in Denver Saturday afternoon.
Mamadou Ndiaye, UCI's 7-6 freshman center, added 11 points and five blocked shots for the Anteaters, who improved to 7-6 on the season, including 4-3 on the road. Ndiaye was 5 of 5 from the field.
Will Davis II had eight points, a team-high five rebounds and four assists.
UCI shot a season-best 61.5 percent from the field, including 66.7 percent (12 of 18) in the second half. This was the first meeting between the schools in men's basketball.
Brett Olson led Denver (5-6) with 14 points and Jalen Love added 11. The Pioneers of the Summit League had won five of their past six games entering Saturday's contest.
The Anteaters held a 28-27 halftime lead, but Denver's Chris Udofia hit a three with 18:19 remaining in the game to give the Pioneers a 33-32 lead.
Nelson then hit three consecutive three-pointers in the span of 2 ½ minutes to put UCI up 41-35 with 15:24. His first three in that streak at 17:51 gave the Anteaters the lead for good at 35-33.
A dunk by Ndiaye with 5:55 left put the Anteaters up 55-43 and the closest Denver could close to down the stretch was eight points.
The Pioneers shot 34 percent from the floor in the game and hit 7 of 25 threes. UCI, which won the battle of the boards, 29-24, was 6 of 12 from three-point range.
"This was a good team win," UCI head coach Russell Turner said. "I'm proud of our guys.
"It's hard to find much fault with our effort, coming in here and defeating a Denver team that has been playing well lately."
The Anteaters return to action Saturday at Arizona State for an 11:00 a.m. (PT) game. The Sun Devils will be the fourth Pac-12 opponent for UCI this season.
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