HAYWARD, Calif. - Senior forward Drew Dyer scored a game-high 18 points to lead the 14th-ranked UC San Diego men's basketball team to a 64-43 conference win at Cal State East Bay Friday evening.
With its fourth straight victory, UCSD bettered itself to 13-2 overall and 8-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). The Tritons, who entered the day tied with Cal Poly Pomona for first place in the league, are now in sole possession of the top spot as the Broncos were defeated, 47-45, at Cal State L.A.
"I thought we did a nice job on the defensive end," said UCSD head coach Eric Olen. "It felt like we made them work for everything and forced mostly contested shots. We were efficient on the offensive end, but had too many empty possessions due to turnovers."
Dyer was on point from the floor, hitting six of his seven shots, including both of his attempts from behind the three-point line. Guards Adam Klie and Grant Jackson both went 4-for-6 shooting, with Klie totaling 12 points and Jackson 11. Jackson tossed out three assists and guard Aleks Lipovic led all players with eight rebounds.
For the 11th time in 15 games this season, UC San Diego shot over 50 percent, finishing at 53.5 (23-43). Cal State East Bay managed to sink just 29.1 percent (16-55) of its shots. Owning the top three-point defense in the country, UCSD held CSUEB to a single trey in 16 attempts, a paltry 6.3 percent.
The 43 points were the second-fewest surrendered by UC San Diego this season (36 at Notre Dame de Namur).
The Tritons were also strong on the boards, out-rebounding the Pioneers, 39-26. In addition, they collected a season-high six blocks, with Klie and freshman center Chris Hansen each posting two.
With just over four minutes gone in the game and the score 7-5 in favor of CSUEB (6-9, 2-6), UCSD went on a 10-0 run, ignited by back-to-back three-pointers from Dyer and Klie. The Tritons led for the rest of the game.
A Klie layup with 5:42 left in the game put UCSD up by 26 points, 58-32, its largest lead of the night.
Ryan Okwudibonye led Cal State East Bay with 12 points, eight of those coming in the opening stanza.
UCSD now heads to the coast to play at Cal State Monterey Bay Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Tritons return to RIMAC Arena next week, hosting Cal State Dominguez Hills for Spirit Night on Jan. 22 and Cal State L.A. on Jan. 23. Both of those games also begin at 7:30 p.m.
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