DENVER – UC San Diego was unable to overcome a cold shooting night as the Tritons fell 64-56 at Denver Wednesday night inside Hamilton Gymnasium on the DU campus.
UC San Diego (5-4) shot just 33% for the game and made only eight of 32 three-point tries. The Pioneers (4-9) shot 48% on the night in the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Denver was up 4-0 before an 8-0 run from the Tritons punctuated by a
Jake Killingsworth three gave the visitors an 8-4 lead over the Pioneers with 15:05 left in the half.
After missing the last two games due to injury,
Toni Rocak returned to the UC San Diego lineup and immediately made an impact.
Denver got a three-pointer from Payton Moore as time expired and the Pioneers took a 24-20 lead into the half.
UC San Diego connected on a season-low seven first half field goals on 28 attempts. Five of the Tritons' buckets came from beyond the three-point arc. Killingsworth led the Tritons with six first half points and two blocked shots.
Francis Nwaokorie grabbed five rebounds.
In the second half, Denver built a nine-point lead – 42-33 – with 9:27 to play. During the stretch, the Pioneers hit 8-of-9 field goals. Meantime, the Tritons began the second half just 1-for-9 in three-point field goals.
The Pioneers were up 50-38 when UC San Diego responded with an 8-0 run to draw within four with four minutes left. The Tritons got a pair of free throws from Nwaokorie and three-pointers from
Kaden Rasheed and Killingsworth.
UC San Diego's spurt wasn't enough as Denver hit enough free throws down the stretch to earn the win.
Bryce Pope led the Tritons with 13 points. Rasheed finished with a career-high 11 points on a personal-best 3 three-pointers. He also grabbed five rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench.
QUOTABLE
"I felt like we had some opportunities in the first half that just didn't go in said UC San Diego head coach
Eric Olen. "I thought our defensive effort was really good and gave us a chance so in the second half when we did hit a couple [of shots], we were able to get it back within reach late."
"Kaden's been one of our most consistent guys. He gives us good energy, he's active on the glass, and he's capable of knocking down some shots like we saw tonight," Olen added. "He definitely gave us a boost and hopefully that's something he can build on going forward."
TRITON TIDBITS
- Rocak finished with four points, two assists and a steal over 10 minutes in his first action since Dec. 2.
- The Tritons scored a season-low 20 points in the first half.
- Denver scored 36 points in the paint to just 20 for the Tritons.
- This was the first meeting between the Tritons and the Pioneers since a DU win in 1976.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego returns home on Dec. 18 to host Caltech. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets at
UCSDTritons.com/tickets. For those who can't attend the game, UC San Diego will provide a free live stream and live stats on UCSDTritons.com.
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 38 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
