OCEANSIDE, Calif. - The 13th-ranked UC San Diego men's basketball team could not recover from a 18-point halftime deficit as the Tritons fell to Cal State San Marcos, 78-72, in a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) matchup Thursday night at MiraCosta College Gymnasium.
Second-place UCSD is now 19-5 overall and 14-4 in conference play with the loss. The Cougars improve to 14-10 overall and 10-7 in the CCAA.
Sophomore guard Grant Jackson scored a career-high 25 points to lead the Tritons, nearly doubling his previous best of 13. He was 4-for-6 from three-point range, achieving his top collegiate totals for makes and takes. Senior forward Drew Dyer was the only other UCSD player in double figures with 18 points, all coming in the second half. The Tritons shot 44 percent (11-25) from behind the arc.
CSUSM raced out to a 17-point advantage, 32-15, after a Darnell Taylor dunk. The Tritons briefly cut the margin to 13, but the Cougars ended the first half with a three-pointer from Akachi Okugo and two Taylor free throws. UCSD trailed 39-21 at the end of the first half. The Tritons couldn't get anything going in the first 20 minutes, shooting 29.2 percent (7-24) from the floor and 22.2 percent (2-9) from long distance.
“We didn't play with a sense of urgency that we need to have in the first half and we dug ourselves a big hole,” said head coach Eric Olen.
The Tritons had a much better second half, shooting 54.8 percent (17-31) from the field and 56.3 percent (9-16) from behind the arc. UCSD closed the gap to three points, 47-44, after going on a 23-8 run, capped off by a trey from junior guard Adam Klie. A free throw from Dyer made it a two-point game, 55-53, with 4:49 remaining. It would be the closest the Tritons would get as the Cougars made 14 out of 17 free throws down the stretch for the win.
“We found the energy we needed in the second half, but it was too little, too late,” added Olen.
Okugo and Taylor led CSUSM with 22 and 20 points, respectively.
UCSD closes out its regular season with two home dates. The Tritons host SF State on Friday, Feb. 26, and Sonoma State on Saturday, Feb. 27, for Senior Night. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 7:30 p.m.
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