UC Irvine boasts of tallest lineup in hoops history
UC Irvine boasted it was starting the "tallest lineup in college basketball history" on Friday night, and whether it was or not, the Anteaters had enough to beat Division III Chapman University, 65-51.
UC Irvine's starting lineup included a pair of 7-footers, 7-6 Mamadou Ndiaye and 7-2 Ioannis Dimakopoulos, and two more standing at 6-foot-10, Mike Best and Jonathan Galloway. At 6-8, Shawn Ray was the smallest of the bunch.
Tonight, we're making history. #TogetherWeZot pic.twitter.com/otCa4Qs2nN
— UCI M Basketball (@UCImbb) December 18, 2015
UC Irvine's starting lineup tonight. 6-10 point guard and 7-2 shooting guard. Totals 36 feet between the five. pic.twitter.com/1Hn82BalQH
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) December 19, 2015
Chapman's tallest player is 6-8 James Taylor, the team's second-leading scorer at 14.5 points per game and its only player over 6-6.
UC Irvine (8-4), the reigning Big West champion, already made news this season against Central Florida when Ndiaye squared off with 7-foot-6 freshman Tacko Fall. The junior from Senegal is the Anteaters' leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker while the other four play supporting roles.
Ndiaye scored 13 points, had seven rebounds and four of Irvine's 13 blocked shots to lead the win over Chapman. However the tall lineup came up short against the Anteaters' bench, getting outscored 35-30.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
