LA JOLLA, Calif. ? To say that Robby Peters had a career-night would be an understatement. The senior from San Mateo, Calif., scored 43 points on 13-for-17 shooting from behind the 3-point arc to lead the UC San Diego men's basketball team to a stirring 100-82 victory over visiting CSU Monterey Bay on Friday night in RIMAC Arena.
The 43 points eclipsed his previous career high by 16 points while the 13 treys not only set a new school single-game record, but are the most made by any student-athlete in the nation this season at the NCAA Division I or II level.
Peters' four misses from long range were the only miscues on the night for the Tritons (11-15, 9-12 CCAA) from long range, as the team went 18-for-22 from behind the arc as a team. The .818 shooting percentage for UCSD set a new single-game record, besting the previous mark of 63.6% (14-for-22) from the 1997 game at home against UC Santa Cruz.
The Tritons trailed after the opening tip as CSUMB's Dante Green made a layup just nine seconds into the contest. Peters came right back and drained a 3-pointer to give UCSD a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the evening.
Extending its lead to as many as 15 in the first half, the Tritons led by only nine at halftime. Peters would leave little doubt about the outcome early in the second stanza, going 5-for-5 from long range in the first six minutes out of halftime.
Dante Green and D'Shon Cannon tried to keep the Otters (12-14, 9-12 CCAA) in the contest, scoring 27 and 23 points, respectively, but Peters' onslaught was just too much. His long range potency opened things up for teammates Henry Patterson and Clint Allard who both made several uncontested layups late in the second half as the CSUMB defense concentrated on sticking to Peters. Patterson finished with 13 points while Allard added 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Peters, whose previous career-high of 27 points that came via nine 3-pointers last year at Chico State, wound up just three points short of tying the all-time single game scoring record at UCSD held by John Spence who tallied 46 points in the game at home against Redlands on January 6, 1993.
Head coach Bill Carr and the rest of the Tritons will honor Peters on Saturday night as the senior plays his final collegiate ball game. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. tomorrow evening against San Francisco State and will be preceded by a brief ceremony to honor the lone senior on the UCSD squad this season.
