Shrewdly designed last-second play helps UC Irvine edge Cal Poly

It took one of the college basketball season's most cleverly designed plays for UC Irvine to avoid an upset on Wednesday night at Cal Poly.

With his team trailing by three and needing to traverse the length of the floor in 4.1 seconds, UC Irvine coach Russell Turner instructed guard Dominique Dunning to throw a baseball pass to 7-foot-6 center Mamadou N'Diaye standing on the left wing. It was Turner's hope that N'Diaye's height would allow him to catch a pinpoint pass cleanly and draw the attention of multiple defenders.

Two defenders rushed at N'Diaye as he caught the ball. N'Diaye threw a skip pass to a wide-open Jaron Martin spotted up on the other wing. The 38 percent 3-point shooter sank the game-tying jumper, enabling UC Irvine to force overtime and escape with a 78-72 victory.

N'Diaye's deft assist capped one of his finest performances. He had 21 points, eight blocks, four rebounds and a critical three-point play in overtime. Guard Luke Nelson also played all 40 minutes and scored 21 points for the Anteaters.

UC Irvine's road victory keeps it alone in first place in the Big West and sets up one of the league's games of the year next Thursday night. The Anteaters (18-6, 7-1) visit second-place Hawaii (16-3, 5-1) with first place likely on the line.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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