UC Irvine cruises by Long Beach St in Big West opener (Jan 04, 2017)

By AP
Published

IRVINE, Calif. (AP) Ioannis Dimakopoulos scored 18 points and UC Irvine opened Big West Conference play with an 82-67 win over Long Beach State on Wednesday night.

The win was the Anteaters' third straight overall following a four-game losing streak.

Dimakopoulos finished 7 of 8 from the field and hit all four of his 3-pointers. Luke Nelson finished with 16 points for UC Irvine (8-9, 1-0), and Jaron Martin added 12.

The Anteaters shot 52.7 percent from the field, hit 80 percent at the line, and held a 36-27 edge on the glass.

Evan Payne scored 19 points for the 49ers (5-12, 0-1), who have lost back-to-back games following a season long three-game win streak. Justin Bibbins and Noah Blackwell each added 13 points for Long Beach State.

UC Irvine led by 14 at the half and extended the lead past 20 on a Dimakopoulos 3 with 10:10 left. The 49ers never got back to single digits.