HONOLULU – Playing without three of its starters UC San Diego fell by to Hawai'i by a 79-56 score inside SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sherriff Center on Saturday night.
Toni Rocak scored 20 points and
Francis Nwaokorie added 14 for UC San Diego (8-8, 2-3 vs. Big West opponents). With the win, the Rainbow Warriors improved to 7-5.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game was back-and-forth for the first several minutes, and UC San Diego led 9-8 thanks to some big buckets early from Rocak.
A 13-0 run from Hawai'i – including a pair of three-pointers – made it 21-9 with 8:22 left in the first.
After the Tritons broke the scoring drought on a Rocak bucket, Nwaokorie drew the Tritons closer with a three pointer of his own.
The Rainbow Warriors responded with seven straight to go up by 19, 33-14.
Hawai'i led 41-18 at the half thanks to 58% shooting and a 22-8 rebounding advantage.
Rocak (7 points) and Nwaokorie (5) combined for two-thirds of the Tritons' offensive output in the first.
In the second half, the Tritons hit six of their first eight shots and UC San Diego shot 54% (13-24) after halftime.
Lunden Taylor scored five points down the stretch.
After each team committed five first half turnovers, UC San Diego forced eight Hawai'i turnovers after halftime.
The Tritons scored 32 points in the paint.
QUOTABLE
"I'm really proud of our guys and their effort tonight," said UC San Diego head coach
Eric Olen. "We competed for 40 minutes which is what we asked them to do. That was obviously not the result we wanted but we'll go through the film and find some areas where we can improve and find some things to build on."
TRITON TIDBITS
- Justin Pratt and Kaden Rasheed made their first career starts on Saturday. Vuk Vulikic made his first UC San Diego start after starting one game for UTEP last season.
- The Tritons had nine players available Saturday, all of whom saw action.
- Saturday's attendance was 3,376. It was UC San Diego's first game played in front of spectators since Dec. 22 at San Diego State.
- Neither team attempted a free throw until Nwaokorie knocked down a pair with 13:29 to play in the second half.
- The nine three-pointers made by Hawai'i matched the most by a Triton opponent this season.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego returns home for the first time in nearly three weeks, as the Tritons host Long Beach State Thursday night at RIMAC Arena.
Spectators will not be permitted, but the game will air live on ESPN+ at 7 p.m.
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.
