Freshman Luke Nelson’s (Worthing, England/The Henley College) clutch play helped UC Irvine take over sole possession of first place and earned him Big West Men’s Basketball Player of the Week.

The Anteaters posted close victories over Long Beach State (61-58) and UC Davis (61-59), aided in large part from Nelson’s contributions.

Nelson notched a career-high 28 points on 10 of 15 shooting in the win over the 49ers as UCI swept the season series for the first time since 2007-08.  The 6-3 guard hit 5 of 8 from three-point territory and made four steals.  Two of those steals led to layups in a span of 1:20 in the second half.  Nelson also drained a pull-up jumper with 44 seconds left to give UCI a 60-57 lead and sank a free throw with 7.3 seconds remaining for the final margin.

Against the Aggies, Nelson scored just six points but it was his driving layup through traffic with 1:50 left that gave UCI the lead for good at 60-59, helping the Anteaters wipe out an 11-point second half deficit.  Nelson also had an impact on the defensive end as his effort helped shut down UC Davis leading scorer Corey Hawkins for the final 3:25 of the game.

For the week, Nelson shot 60.0% (12 of 20) from the field.

Others nominated: Stephan Hicks (Cal State Northridge); Dan Jennings (Long Beach State); Taylor Johns (UC Riverside); Alan Williams (UC Santa Barbara); Isaac Fotu (Hawai‘i)