‘Eaters Set the Tone for the Season

Photo courtesy of ucirvinesports.com

The UC Irvine Anteatets men’s basketball team led by standout center Mamadou Ndiaye bested the UC-San Diego Tritons 89-73 on Friday in UCI’s regular season home opener in front of 2,969 fans at the Bren Events Center.

Defense was the key to the UCI victory, as the Anteaters held their opponent to 38.7% field goal percentage and registered 8 blocked shots as a team.

Ndiaye, who was placed on the preseason watchlist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award for best collegiate center, paced the team with 16 points, to go with 6 rebounds and 6 blocks. Backup point guard Jaron Martin provided valuable minutes off the bench to the tune of 14 points and 3 assists to just one turnover.

Aleks Lipovic led the way for the Tritons with 16 points, knocking down 4 of 5 from behind the arc. Forward Drew Dyer was the only other Triton to score in double figures with 10 points.

UCI scored the first 8 points of the contest and never looked back on the way to a 20 point halftime lead. Midway through a dominant first half, Ndiaye let loose a signature thunderous jam sparking the relentless home crowd.

Before tip-off, last year’s Anteater team was honored with a banner signifying their NCAA tournament appearance, the first such accomplishment in the program’s 50-year history. On the heels of their NCAA tournament berth, UCI kept the success rolling in their regular season debut.

Although the attendance was well short of capacity, the student section better known as the Antourage was raucous throughout and filled the gym with their cheers and choruses of U-C-I-Zot! and U-C…Ir-Vine! They took their cues from one blue-and-gold-clad fan in the front row armed with nothing more than a bullhorn and school spirit.

Matt Levin, is the co-president of Antourage and a 4th year senior studying business information management, and has officially led cheers for the student section for the last two seasons. He has seen a transformation of basketball support since he first started coming to games as a freshmen.

“We look good,” said Levin, eyebrows raised. “The crowd’s into it, great way to start the season.”

Levin attributes recent attention to the basketball team on the NCAA tournament berth, as well as the arrival of Mamadou Ndiaye on campus.

The 7’6’’ junior from Senegal is the tallest player in college basketball, and is responsible for bringing more fans into Bren Events Center to support the team. His trademark rejections and rim-rocking slam dunks incite the frenzied Anteater faithful on game days.

Coach Russell Turner, in his 6th year as head coach, did not seem to share the optimism. While he acknowledged some positives, he mentioned that the Anteaters have a long way to go to replicate the success of last year.

“I’m disappointed though that we’re not firing at loose balls a little bit better than we are, and that’s a big concern to have about a team that we expect to be playing at a championship level already,” he said in an interview with UCI broadcaster Michael O’Sullivan after the game.

UCI hopes to improve on those shortcomings as they host a tough Loyola Marymount squad on Monday.