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After First Victory, U.C. Irvine Could Get Used to This

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

For the uninitiated, the best nickname in the N.C.A.A. tournament hails from the University of California, Irvine: the Anteaters — though apparently the cognoscenti prefer an abridged moniker.

“We usually like to take off the ‘Ant’ and just say ‘Eaters,’” guard Evan Leonard said. “So I feel like Eater Nation, stuff like that, is pretty cool.”

Also pretty cool: claiming the first significant upset of the tournament. The No. 13 Anteaters — Eaters, excuse us — ousted No. 4 Kansas State from the South Region, winning by 70-64 to capture the program’s first N.