Men’s Basketball: UCI picked to win Big West

UC Irvine, which returns four staters from the 2014 Big West Conference men’s basketball champion, has been picked to defend its title in the preseason media poll announced Thursday.

Coach Russell Turner’s Anteaters, who were 13-3 in regular-season conference games a year ago, received 20 of 26 first-place votes and topped the poll with 221 points, 26 better than UC Santa Barbara.

UCSB had two first-place votes, while Long Beach State garnered three and Cal State Northridge one.

The 49ers compiled 180 points, followed by Northridge (165), Hawaii (119), Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (109), UC Davis (79), Cal State Fullerton (64) and UC Riverside (38).

UCI sophomore Mamadou Ndiaye, the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman, was UCI’s lone representative on the six-player preseason all-conference team.

The 7-foot-6 Ndiaye, blocked a Big West single-season record 106 shots last season, ranking No. 6 in the nation in that department. He averaged eight points and 6.2 rebounds per contest and shot 70.7% from the field.

UCI, which lost only one senior from last year’s 23-12 squad, also returns starters Luke Nelson, the Big West Freshman of the Year last season, senior forward Will Davis and junior guard Alex Young.

Nelson, who averaged a team-best 11.8 points, was a second-team all-conference honoree.

The Anteaters play host to Simon Fraser University of Canada in an exhibition game Nov. 8, before opening their regular season on Nov. 14 at home against Chapman.

— From staff reports