ISLA VISTA, Calif. – A pair of Tritons finished in double figures, but it wasn't enough as UC Santa Barbara earned a 69-52 victory over visiting UC San Diego on Friday evening at the Thunderdome in the Tritons' Big West opener.
 
The win was the third in a row for the Gauchos (7-3, 3-2 Big West) while UC San Diego (2-2, 0-1) dropped its second straight.
 
A driving layup from senior Hugh Baxter put the Tritons out front early, as they took an 8-7 lead with 15:42 on the clock. Thirty seconds later, redshirt freshman Bryce Pope knocked down a three-pointer to give UC San Diego an 11-7 advantage.
 
The back-and-forth first half featured three ties and eight lead changes. Neither team led by more than five, and the Gauchos took a 35-30 advantage into halftime.
 
Baxter and Pope led the Tritons with eight points apiece in the first half. Redshirt senior Mikey Howell – who missed last week's game – was back in the starting lineup and dished out four first half assists. As a team, the Tritons were 6-13 from beyond the arc in the first half.
 
Up three in the second half, the Gauchos went on a 6-0 run over a four-minute span to extend their lead to nine, 48-39 with 9:04 to play. UCSB never trailed after that.
 
UCSB's Amadou Sow scored a game-high 14 points in the win. The Tritons were paced by 13 from Pope and 12 from Howell.
 

Rocak ?? Killingsworth = and one!#GoTritons pic.twitter.com/Y8KfW8i1u4

— UC San Diego Men's Hoops (@UCSDmbb) January 16, 2021

UC San Diego shot 39% for the game overall, while limiting the Gauchos to 43.9% shooting. The Triton defense limited UC Santa Barbara to more than nine points below its per-game scoring average.
 
QUOTABLE
"I thought that we played well for stretches and we did some good things, but ultimately they made a few more plays and we weren't able to take care of the ball well enough or rebound the ball well enough to get the result we were looking for," said UC San Diego head coach Eric Olen.


 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Friday marked UC San Diego's first-ever Big West Conference game. The first four scheduled conference matchups were canceled due to COVID-related concerns involving the opposition.
• This was UC San Diego's first road game since Feb. 29, 2020 – their final regular season game as a Division II institution. The Tritons won that game, 99-86 at Cal State San Marcos.
• The Tritons and Gauchos had never met on the hardwood prior to Friday.
• This game marked the first this season in which UC San Diego trailed at halftime.

UP NEXT
UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara meet again Saturday in a Big West Conference matchup. Game time is set for 5 p.m. from the Thunderdome, and the contest will be broadcast on ESPN3.
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDTritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.