SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's basketball team trailed San Diego State by just three points at halftime but ultimately fell, 77-52, in an exhibition matchup with the Aztecs Saturday afternoon at Viejas Arena. Malcolm Thomas scored 20 points and hauled in nine rebounds to lead SDSU, while
Tyler Acevedo finished with 14 points for the Tritons.
UCSD will now travel to Pueblo, Colo. to open the regular season at the Al Kaly Classic next weekend. The Tritons will square off with Western State Friday at 4:00 p.m. PT, before facing host Colorado State-Pueblo Saturday at 6:00.
San Diego State, which opened the regular season against UC San Diego, shot 59% (32-54) from the field, while limiting UCSD to just a 34% clip (22-64). The Aztecs held a 43-28 advantage on the glass and were plus-13 at the free throw line.
"We definitely competed for the first 20 minutes," head coach Chris Carlson said. "I thought we got better today and I liked what I saw in the first half, but at this level, you have to compete for 40 minutes and we just didn't do that. San Diego State really pushed the tempo in the second half and forced us out of what we were trying to do."
After SDSU scored seven straight points to take a 16-8 advantage just over 10 minutes into the first half, UCSD responded with a 14-8 run to tie the game at 22-22. Acevedo scored eight points during the stretch, including a long three from the left side that evened the score with 6:26 remaining in the period.
The Aztecs then got three straight baskets from Thomas, Bryan Horton and Alec Williams to go back in front, 28-22, but Scott Krizman sank two free throws, Andrew Browning scored on a put-back and Casey Ryan converted a runner in the lane to tie things at 28 all with just over a minute remaining.
Thomas then scored the final three points of the half to give SDSU a 31-28 advantage at the break.
The Aztecs shot 54% (14-26) in the opening half, while the Tritons finished at 35.5% (11-31).
San Diego State scored the first 16 points of the second period to take a 47-28 advantage before Casey Ryan finally hit a jumper with 12:25 remaining. UCSD missed its first 13 shots of the half while the Aztecs turned a three-point lead into a 19-point cushion.
The Tritons closed to within 60-45 on another three-pointer from Acevedo, but Kawhi Leonard scored inside to ignite an 8-0 Aztec spurt that put the home team in front, 68-45, with 4:51 left to play. SDSU's lead would not dip below 20 the rest of the way.
Thomas finished 8-for-11 from the field for the Aztecs to lead all scorers, while Chase Tapley scored 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting, and Kelvin Davis added 10 points and three assists.
Acevedo was 5-of-17 from the floor, including 4-of-15 from beyond the three-point arc. Jordan Lawley scored nine points for UCSD, while Ryan finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
The Tritons are now 0-11 all-time against San Diego State.
