5-13 (0-4BWC)
UC Irvine
12-9 (5-0BWC)
Cal Poly Falls to First-Place UC Irvine 70-48 in Big West Conference Game
1/18/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – UC Irvine 7-2 center Ioannis Dimakopoulos scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead UC Irvine to a 70-48 victory over Cal Poly in a Big West Conference men's basketball game Wednesday night in Mott Athletics Center.
Tommy Rutherford came off the bench to add 11 points as the first-place Anteaters improved to 5-0 in Big West play and 12-9 overall with their seventh straight victory.
Reserve forward Jakub Niziol led Cal Poly in scoring with a career-high 11.
Cal Poly hosts Long Beach State on Saturday night at 7:05 with the Big West game to be televised by ESPNU.
The lead changed hands five times in the early going. Ridge Shipley's three-pointer with 7:25 to play gave Cal Poly a 19-17 advantage before UC Irvine went on a 14-3 run to close out the first half for a 31-22 lead at the break. It was Cal Poly's second-lowest first-half total of the season as the Mustangs were held to 21 by Princeton last month.
The Anteaters extended their advantage to 14 points at 42-28 in the first seven minutes of the second half before Cal Poly made one last run, scoring nine unanswered points to close the gap to 42-37. Niziol capped the run with a pair of free throws with 12:13 to go. Victor Joseph added five points on a basket and three free throws and Josh Mishler also hit a jumper.
UC Irvine quickly re-established its 14-point cushion at 55-41 with 8:08 to play. John Edgar Jr. capped the run with a three-pointer and the Anteaters' biggest lead of the game was the final 22-point margin of victory.
Cal Poly made just 24 percent of its floor shots for the game (14 of 58) and was four of 19 from three-point range. UC Irvine connected on 47 percent of its field goal attempts (24 of 51) and was five of 11 from long range.
The Anteaters held a slight 40-39 advantage on the boards. Game-high rebounding honors went to Cal Poly's Aleks Abrams (pictured above) with 12 boards -- four shy of his career high -- to go with seven points.
Both teams committed 19 fouls and combined for just 17 turnovers -- nine by Cal Poly. The Mustangs, however, tallied just four assists to 11 for the Anteaters.
