Box Score
IRVINE, Calif. --- Junior point guard Alex Young recorded 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists in leading UC Irvine past Pacific, 68-50, in a non-conference game at the Bren Events Center Sunday afternoon.
Young, who tied his career high with the eight boards, was 6 of 6 from the free-throw line and added a pair of steals as the 'Eaters improved to 2-0 on the season heading into a Wednesday night game at No. 2 Arizona.
Senior forward Will Davis II added 12 points and four boards versus Pacific while senior post John Ryan had 10 points and six rebounds.
Sophomore center Mamadou Ndiaye registered seven points, three rebounds and two blocked shots, and sophomore guard Luke Nelson also scored seven points and had three assists.
Junior forward Mike Best had six points, six boards and two blocks in 10 minutes off the bench.
T.J. Wallace led Pacific (1-1) with 19 points, hitting 7 of 11 from the field, and Dulani Robinson scored 14 points.
UCI outscored the Tigers 28-8 in the paint. The 'Eaters shot 48 percent from the field and Pacific was 34 percent from the floor. UCI hit 15 of 17 free throws to the Tigers' 10 of 20. The Anteaters outrebounded Pacific, 36-28.
The 'Eaters led wire-to-wire and were up 33-22 at halftime. Pacific pulled to within 10 points twice in the second half, the last time at 55-45 on two free throws by Ray Bowles with 6:36 left.
UCI then scored the next six points on a basket by Ryan, a three from Travis Souza and a free throw by Ndiaye to extend the margin to 16 with three minutes remaining.
Pacific was a member of the Big West Conference before departing for the West Coast Conference following the 2012-13 season. This was the 81st meeting between the schools and Sunday's victory snapped a three-game losing streak for UCI to the Tigers.
"Our guys did a great job of executing the game plan that we gave them," UCI head coach Russell Turner said. "It's fun to coach players who are adaptable to different styles.
"We have great depth and that's not easy to find in college basketball these days. It's a testament to the character of our players since not everyone gets to play as many minutes as they would like.
"It was a good team win with many contributions from a lot of guys. I thought we defended well and we are a tough team to play against. We earned a big win without playing that well offensively tonight," Turner added.
Wednesday night's game at second-ranked Arizona will be carried on the Pac-12 Networks beginning at 6:00 p.m. (PT).
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