SAN FRANCISCO – Senior forward
Christian Oshita notched his tenth career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds as fifth-ranked UC San Diego won 81-56 at San Francisco State on Thursday night. The victory was the Tritons' 10th in a row – their longest streak since winning 12 straight in 2017 on their way to the NCAA West Regional Final.
UC San Diego is off to the best start in program history at 18-1 (12-1 California Collegiate Athletic Association). The Gators (8-11 overall, 5-8 CCAA) had their three-game win streak snapped with Thursday's setback.
"Our poise was pretty good throughout, and we let the game come to us," said UC San Diego head coach
Eric Olen. "We settled in defensively, and were good in transition, so our offense came from strong defense."
The Gators scored six straight points out of the gate to go up 6-0 just 61 seconds into the contest. For context, the Tritons had only trailed for a combined 2:58 over their last four games entering Thursday night's showdown.
UC San Diego settled in, and methodically sliced into San Francisco State's lead. The visitors tied the contest at 17-17 when junior guard
Gabe Hadley buried a three-pointer with 11:45 to go in the first half. From there, the Tritons sprinted out on a 13-2 run to go up 27-19 at the 6:45 mark. Hadley drained another three with 42 seconds to go in the half, and the Tritons led 37-27 at the break.
Oshita paced the Tritons with 12 points and five boards in the first half. Hadley added eight off the bench. As a team, UC San Diego shot an uncharacteristically low 42% in the first half, but the Tritons did hit seven 3-pointers and held an 18-15 rebounding edge.
UC San Diego began the second half as it ended the first – knocking down shots. The Tritons scored the first five points of the second half to go up 42-27 at 19:03. In the process, Oshita connected on his third 3-pointer of the night, making him the fifth Triton in the program's NCAA Division II history to hit 200 career threes.
The Tritons used their lethal combination of long-distance sharpshooting and strong free throw shooting to extend their lead for the remainder of the second half. UC San Diego connected on 16 3-pointers in the win – the seventh time this season the Tritons have made 15 or more shots from beyond the arc.
Oshita's 19 point, 10 rebound effort paced UC San Diego in the victory. Hadley chipped in 17 points on five 3-pointers. Sophomore guard
Tyrell Roberts, the reigning CCAA Player of the Week, scored 15 points and senior forward
Scott Everman scored 13 and pulled down six boards.
Led by Hadley, UC San Diego scored 29 bench points Thursday night. Senior guard
Connor Peterson scored five points and registered three assists in 17 minutes off the bench – all season highs.
"Connor gave us spark off bench," Olen added. "Combined with strong games from Gabe and Hugh [Baxter], that's a big ingredient in our success – especially this time of year."
No. 5 UC San Diego wraps up its two-game Northern California swing on Saturday afternoon, when the Tritons visit Sonoma State. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. from The Wolves' Den in Rohnert Park.
About UC San Diego Athletics
With 30 national team championships, nearly 150 individual titles and the top student-athlete graduation rate among Division II institutions in the United States, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program annually ranks as one of the most successful in the country. The Tritons sponsor 23 intercollegiate sport programs that compete on the NCAA Division I and II levels and, in summer 2020, will transition into full Division I status as a member of the Big West Conference. UC San Diego student-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent. A total of 82 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. In competition, more than 1,300 UC San Diego student-athletes have earned All-America honors.
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