UC Irvine To Meet Hawaii, With NCAA Tournament Berth On The Line

ANAHEIM (CBSLA.com/AP) — UC Irvine stands one game away from its first trip to the NCAA basketball tournament after defeating UC Santa Barbara 72-63 in the Big West semifinals Friday night at Honda Center in Anaheim

Will Davis II had 18 points and 15 rebounds and Mamadou Ndiaye also scored 18 points for the third-seeded Anteaters, who won't have to face Big West regular season champ UC Davis in Saturday's final. That's because fifth-seeded Hawaii upset the Aggies 65-58 in Friday's first semifinal, likely dispatching UC Davis (25-6) to the NIT.

Luke Nelson added 14 points and seven assists for the Anteaters (20-12), who had a 34-27 lead at halftime before Santa Barbara closed the gap in the second half.

Alan Williams had 24 points and 15 rebounds for UC Santa Barbara (19-12). John Green had 14 points and six rebounds before fouling out in the final minutes of regulation. The loss ended a six-game winning streak by the Gauchos.

Santa Barbara had a chance to pull it out at the end of regulation, but Zalmico Harmon missed a 3-pointer and Williams missed a jumper in the final 16 seconds with the score tied at 59.

Davis and Ndiaye each hit a jumper in the first two minutes of the overtime, and Nelson capped a 7-0 run with a 3-pointer as the Anteaters took a 66-59 lead. Michael Bryson had the lone field goal for the Gauchos in the overtime.

(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)