ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) Luke Nelson scored 17 points and UC Irvine earned its first ticket to the NCAA Tournament in the school's 38-year basketball program history with a 67-58 victory over Hawaii in the Big West championship game on Saturday night.
The Anteaters (21-12) lost all four previous times they went to the Big West title game (1988, 1994, 2008 and 2013). They were the top seed in the tournament last year, but lost in the semifinals to Cal Poly.
Aaron Valdes scored 17 points for Hawaii (22-12), 14 of them in the first half to pace the Rainbow Warriors to a 33-29 lead at intermission.
Valdes' layup in the final minute of the opening half stopped the bleeding after Alex Young's 3-pointer capped an 11-2 run that sliced Irvine's 11-point deficit to 31-29 with 1:04 left on the clock.
