Coach Turner Postgame Interview
IRVINE, Calif. --- Luke Nelson scored 20 points and Ioannis Dimakopoulos added 19 to lead UC Irvine over Cal State Fullerton, 87-67, in a Big West Conference game between the Orange County rivals at the Bren Events Center Saturday night.
Nelson, who scored 10 points in each half, was 7 of 11 from the field as the Anteaters remained undefeated in the league at 4-0. UCI, which led wire-to-wire in the victory, won its sixth straight game in improving to 11-9 overall.
The Anteaters, 7-1 in the Bren Center this season, have won 33 of their last 39 home games.
Dimakopoulos hit 9 of 13 shots for the Anteaters, who shot a season-high 62.3 percent from the field, including 71.4 percent in the second half.
Brandon Smith tied his season high with nine points and had three steals while Jaron Martin scored eight points and added five assists.
Max Hazzard, Eyassu Worku and Brad Greene scored seven points apiece, and Jonathan Galloway pulled down a game-high eight rebounds as UCI won the battle of the boards, 37-25.
With his 20 points Saturday night, Nelson moved to 12th all-time at UCI with 1,301 points.
Kyle Allman led the Titans (8-9, 2-2) with 13 points and Jackson Rowe added 11.
Fullerton shot 37.3 percent from the field as UCI has won 64 of its last 71 games when holding the opponents to under 40 percent.
The Titans hit 26 of 34 free throws to UCI's 16 of 26.
The 'Eaters jumped out to a 27-7 lead in the game's first 11 minutes and led 45-28 at halftime.
The Titans, who trailed by 23 with four minutes gone in the second half, whittled the deficit to 11 at 63-52 on a basket by Austen Awosika with 8:48 remaining, but UCI scored the next nine points to go up 72-52, capped by a bucket from Martin with 6:37 left.
UCI has won its four league games by an average of 16.8 points and has shot 53.6 percent from the field to the opponents' 39.4 percent.
Coach Russell Turner's Anteaters play four of their next five games on the road, beginning Wednesday night at Cal Poly at 7:00.
UCI travels to CSUN next Saturday for a conference contest, also at 7:00 p.m.
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