UC Irvine 67, Hawaii 58: Luke Nelson scored 17 points as the third-seeded Anteaters defeated the fifth-seeded Rainbow Warriors to win the Big West title game in Anaheim and qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

Will Davis II had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Alex Young also had 10 points as UC Irvine (21-12) claimed the Big West crown for the first time in five championship game appearances. Mamadou Ndiaye, the 7-6 center, had eight points and two blocked shots and altered several others.

Aaron Valdes had 17 points and seven rebounds for Hawaii (22-13), which had an early 13-point lead before faltering. Garrett Nevels added 14 points for the Rainbow Warriors, who were 4-of-9 from the free-throw line.

Nelson scored four points during an 8-0 surge as the Anteaters took a 52-47 lead with 4:09 remaining before Valdes knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:03 left to pull Hawaii within two. Nelson hit a 3-pointer to give UC Irvine a seven-point edge with 1:22 left and the Rainbow Warriors were unable to get closer than three as Davis capped off UC Irvine’s inaugural title with a ferocious dunk with 6.6 seconds to play.

Hawaii jumped out to early leads of 14-4 and 20-7 before the Anteaters began working their way back into the contest and trailed 33-29 at the break. UC Irvine tied the game on four occasions in the second half before taking its first lead 41-39 on a basket by Ioannis Dimakopoulos with 11 minutes remaining.