IRVINE, Calif. --- Sophomore guard Luke Nelson scored 18 points and senior post John Ryan added 14 in leading UC Irvine over Chapman, 87-36, in the Anteaters' regular-season opener Friday night before 2,854 at the Bren Events Center.
Nelson was 7 of 9 from the field and had three assists in 23 minutes of action.
Ryan was 6 of 7 from the floor and recorded four blocked shots, three rebounds and two steals in 17 minutes.
All 13 UCI players in uniform played at least five minutes in the victory over the Panthers.
Sophomore center Mamadou Ndiaye scored nine points on 4-of-6 shooting in eight minutes of play and junior guard Alex Young had eight points, three rebounds and a pair of steals.
UCI led 40-16 at halftime and shot 72 percent from the field in the second half, and 67.3 percent for the game.
The 'Eaters' largest lead of the night came at 80-28 on a three by sophomore guard Jaron Martin with 4:22 remaining in the contest.
Martin scored seven points in the win, as did junior forward Mike Best (three blocks) and freshman guard Haroldas Saprykinas.
Senior forward Will Davis II registered a career-high five assists and had six points and six boards.
Colin Zavrsnick led the Panthers with 10 points as UCI held Chapman to 24-percent shooting from the floor.
The 'Eaters, who won the battle of the boards, 33-30, outscored the Panthers 33-7 on turnovers and 48-16 in the paint.
"We have talent, length and depth, and that wore them down tonight," UCI head coach Russell Turner said. "I give Chapman a lot of credit, but we were tough to score on.
"Offensively, I thought we played well. We have guys at every position that can score.
"I was pleased that we kept up our intensity once we had a big lead and that's something we talked about since our last game," Turner added.
UCI hosts Pacific Sunday afternoon at 3:00 in the Bren Center. The Tigers defeated Western Illinois, 73-71 in overtime, on the road Friday night.
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