SAN DIEGO, Calif. ? The UC San Diego men's basketball team struggled through its season-opening loss at San Diego State on Wednesday evening, losing by an 84-48 margin at Cox Arena in front of an announced crowd of 6,017. With the victory the Aztecs improve to 4-0 on the year while UCSD falls to 0-1.
The Tritons struggled from the floor all night long, making only seven of their 26 first half shots to trail by a 41-14 margin at the break. UCSD converted on only 2-of-10 shots from long range in the first period.
Conversely, SDSU made 16 of its 27 first half shots, including a perfect 5-for-5 from behind the 3-point arc. The Aztecs continued their hot shooting in the second stanza, going 12-for-19 from the floor, including 4-for-6 from 3-point territory.
UCSD improved its field goal percentage in the second half, but only marginally, making 12-of-38 shots from the floor and 6-of-20 from long range. Despite the poor shooting, the Tritons were only out-scored by a 43-34 margin the second half.
SDSU out-rebounded the Tritons by 14, grabbing 39 boards in the contest, 10 of which were on the offensive end. The Aztecs did, however, commit 15 turnovers on the night, the same as UCSD who committed 25 on Monday night at USD.
Reigning Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, Brandon Heath, led five SDSU players in double-figure scoring, pouring in 18 on 8-for-10 shooting from the floor. Lorrenzo Wade added 15 while Jon Pastorek chipped in with 13. Mohamed Abukar and Richie Williams scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, to round out the Aztec double-digit scorers.
Freshman Jordan Lawley scored 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the floor in his first regular season collegiate contest. Lawley also grabbed a team-high five rebounds in the loss. Clint Allard added eight points while senior Robby Peters and freshman Kelvin Kim each chipped in with six.
The Tritons return to action on Monday evening, playing at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Ariz. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at Antelope Gymnasium. Following that contest, UCSD will take on 5th-ranked Seattle Pacific and 2nd-ranked Montevallo at the SPU Thanksgiving Tournament in Las Vegas on November 24 and 25 respectively.
Head coach Bill Carr's squad will open the 2006-07 CCAA schedule with its first home game of the year on Friday night, December 1. The Tritons will host Chico State at 7:30 p.m. in RIMCA Arena.
