CHICO, Calif. ? The UC San Diego men's basketball team limited host Chico State to just one made jump shot ? Jon Baird's 14-footer with 2:28 to play ? and cruised to a 69-54 victory in a game in which no 3-pointers were made.
UC San Diego, which entered the game averaging more than six made threes per game, was 0-for-6 from beyond the arc. Chico State, averaging more than eight threes made per game, was 0-for-9.
Henry Patterson led four Tritons in double-figures with 16 points. Shane Poppen finished with 14 points. Robby Peters and Clint Allard scored 10 points each for UC San Diego, which was coming off a 116-103 quadruple-overtime victory at Cal State Stanislaus and improved to 8-10 overall and 6-7 in the CCAA.
True freshman Frank Igbekoyi led Chico State (6-13, 4-10 CCAA) with 17 points and a career-high nine rebounds. Justin Argenal scored 14 points for the Wildcats, who have now lost five straight games and seven of their last eight.
UC San Diego never trailed in the game and led by as many as 12 in the first half. The lead remained between eight and 16 throughout the second half.
Head coach Bill Carr's squad will now return home to RIMAC Arena for seven of its final nine regular season contests beginning with three next week. The Tritons will host Cal State Dominguez Hills on Tuesday, Sonoma State on Friday and Humboldt State on Saturday. All three games are slated for 7:30 p.m. tip-offs.
