IRVINE, Calif. --- Conference regular-season champion UC Irvine was awarded numerous Big West honors entering this week's league tournament at the Honda Center.
Fourth-year head coach Russell Turner was named Big West Coach of the Year after guiding the 'Eaters to the program's first conference regular-season championship in 12 years.
Turner has led UCI to back-to-back, 20-win seasons, including 22-10 this year. His Anteaters, who had a 13-3 record in Big West games this season, have won nine of their last 10 games, and 15 of their past 18. Top-seeded UCI faces No. 8 UC Riverside Thursday at 6:00 p.m. in a Big West Tournament quarterfinal game.
His UCI squad, since Feb. 1, is No. 1 in the nation in field-goal percentage defense at .332. The 'Eaters are 20-0 this season when holding the opposition to under 40-percent shooting from the field. Turner is UCI's first Big West Coach of the Year since Pat Douglass received the award in 2001.
Senior guard Chris McNealy was named to the 2014 All-Big West First Team, UCI's first player to receive that distinction since Patrick Sanders in 2008.
McNealy is averaging 11.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He ranks 18th in UCI history with 1,185 points and 20th with 512 rebounds. McNealy is 11th all-time at UCI with 129 career threes, 12th with 100 steals and 13th with 274 assists.
Freshman guard Luke Nelson was voted Big West Freshman of the Year and also to the All-Big West Second Team.
Nelson leads the 'Eaters in scoring at 11.8 points per game and with 67 threes. He was named Big West Player of the Week following his career-high 28-point performance in a Feb. 6 win over Long Beach State.
Mamadou Ndiaye, UCI's 7-6 freshman center, received the Big West's Best Defensive Player award.
He leads the 'Eaters and the conference with a school-record 94 blocked shots, eighth-most in the nation this season.
Three UCI players received All-Big West Honorable Mention distinction.
Junior forward Will Davis II is averaging 10.7 points and a team-leading 6.3 rebounds while sophomore guard Alex Young is averaging 8.8 points and leads the team with 146 assists. Ndiaye, who is averaging 8.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and shooting 71.4 percent from the field, also was selected honorable mention.
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