UC Irvine moves on with 76-67 win over UC Riverside (Mar 09, 2017)
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) Jaron Martin and Luke Nelson each scored 19 points, Jonathan Galloway grabbed 13 rebounds and No. 1-seeded UC Irvine beat UC Riverside 76-67 on Thursday night in the Big West Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
UC Irvine (20-13) will play the Hawaii-Long Beach State winner in the semifinals on Friday.
Tommy Rutherford's jumper with 11:56 remaining put the Anteaters on top 53-43. Chance Murray's 3-pointer started a 9-2 Highlanders' run, and UC Riverside closed to within three with 8:52 left. UC Irvine scored the next six points when Ioannis Dimakopoulos sandwiched a pair of jumpers between a Galloway layup and the Anteaters weren't threatened again.
UC Irvine owned a 45-28 rebounding edge and led for more than 37 minutes of the contest. The Anteaters have won seven of their last eight since losing three straight.
Secean Johnson led UC Riverside (7-21) with 22 points. Dikymbe Martin had 12 points, Murray 11 and Menno Dijkstra 10.
