SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's basketball team began its 2006-07 season with an exhibition loss to NCAA Division I foe UC Santa Barbara by a 62-51 score on Wednesday evening in The Thunderdome on the UCSB campus. The Tritons will play one more exhibition game, taking on the University of San Diego on November 13, before beginning regular season play at San Diego State on Wednesday, November 15.
Head coach Bill Carr's team struggled in the first half, falling behind by 19 points, but rallied with a strong second half to narrow the gap. The Tritons out-scored the Gauchos by a 35-27 margin the second half, getting as close as six points with just under six minutes to go before UCSB pulled away for the 11-point margin of victory.
Sophomore Henry Patterson led the UC San Diego offense, scoring 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the floor. Fellow sophomore Shane Poppen added eight points and a team-high six rebounds for the Tritons, who held a 34-26 advantage on the boards.
Junior Andrew Hatch added nine points and a team-high three assists while senior Robby Peters netted eight points on 3-for-10 shooting from the floor that included 2-for-7 shooting from long range.
Alex Harris led the Gauchos' offense, scoring a game-high 23 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the floor. He also went 12-for-15 from the charity stripe, grabbed three rebounds and dished out two assists. James Powell added 10 points and a team-high six rebounds in the win.
UCSD committed 21 turnovers in the game but pulled down 15 offensive rebounds to keep itself in the contest. The Tritons made only 7-of-21 shots from the floor in the first half but bounced back to knock down 14-of-27 in the second half to spark the comeback that came up just a little short.
The Tritons' regular season opener at San Diego State will is slated for a 7 p.m. tip-off at Cox Arena on the SDSU campus. Following that contest, UCSD will travel to Phoenix, Ariz., to take on Grand Canyon University at 7 p.m. on Monday night, November 20.
UC San Diego's home opener will be on Friday, December 1, as the Tritons will welcome Chico State to RIMAC Arena for the California Collegiate Athletic Association opener.
