IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine freshman guard Luke Nelson (Worthing, England) has earned his first Big West Conference Player of the Week award.

Nelson averaged 17 points per game in UCI's wins over Long Beach State (61-58) and UC Davis (61-59) this past week that lifted the Anteaters into sole possession of first place in the conference.

Nelson scored a career-high 28 points in the victory over Long Beach State last Thursday, hitting 10 of 15 field goals, including 5 of 8 from three-point range.  He drained a pull-up jumper with 44 seconds left to give UCI a 60-57 lead and sank a free throw with 7.3 seconds remaining for the final margin.

He also had four steals in the win, including two in a span of 1:20 late in the game that he converted into layups.

In Saturday night's win at UC Davis, Nelson's driving layup through traffic with 1:50 left gave the 'Eaters the lead for good at 60-59 as UCI erased an 11-point deficit in the second half.  His defensive efforts on Corey Hawkins helped shut down the Aggies' leading scorer in the final 3:25 of the game.

For the week, Nelson shot 60 percent from the field and hit 6 of 11 threes.

He leads UCI in scoring at 12.5 points per game, including 14.2 in Big West games.

The 'Eaters, 16-9 overall and 7-2 atop the Big West, host UC Riverside Saturday night at 7:00 in the Bren Events Center.

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