HONOLULU, Hawaii --- Senior guard Luke Nelson poured in a season-high 29 points to lead UC Irvine over Hawai'i, 72-58, in a Big West Conference game before 7,452 at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu Saturday night.
Nelson was 10 of 19 from the field and tied his career high with six threes in 10 attempts as the Anteaters improved to 15-12 overall and 8-3 in the Big West to remain in second place, a half-game behind UC Davis.
Nelson has 227 threes in his career to move into third all-time at UCI, passing current assistant coach Michael Wilder, who hit 224 from 2009-13. Nelson has scored 1,361 career points to rank ninth at UCI, 23 behind eighth-place Will Davis II, who scored 1,384 from 2011-15.
Senior center Ioannis Dimakopoulos added 11 points Saturday night, hitting 4 of 6 shots, and snared five boards while sophomore forward Jonathan Galloway pulled down 11 rebounds, giving him 67 in the last six games.
Redshirt freshman guard Max Hazzard scored nine points, freshman guard Eyassu Worku seven and freshman forward Tommy Rutherford had six points and five boards. Senior guard Jaron Martin also scored six points, hitting 4 of 4 from the free-throw line as the 'Eaters connected on all 14 attempts from the foul line. Martin added five rebounds.
UCI had a 22-0 advantage in bench points and the Anteaters outrebounded the Rainbow Warriors, 39-22, in snapping Hawai'i's four-game winning streak.
Gibson Johnson led the 'Bows (12-12, 6-5) with 19 points, Noah Allen added 18 and Sheriff Drammeh 12.
UCI trailed 14-4 early before closing the half on a 31-6 run to lead 35-20 at halftime behind 13 points from Nelson and nine by Hazzard.
The 'Eaters maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half, going up by as many as 19 on several occasions.
UCI shot 47.2 percent from the field for the game and Hawai'i 42.6 percent. The 'Eaters were 8 of 19 from three-point range and the 'Bows 6 of 21.
The Anteaters, who have won 10 of their last 13 games, host UC Riverside next Saturday at 9:00 p.m. (ESPNU) at the Bren Events Center. UCI plays three of its last five regular-season games at home.
