WASHINGTON – UC San Diego guard
Bryce Pope scored a career-high 31 points on 11-for-16 shooting as the visiting Tritons earned a 75-70 victory over host George Washington inside the Charles E. Smith Center Tuesday night.
UC San Diego (2-4) shot a season-best 52% in the win. The Colonials fell to 3-2.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons scored the first two buckets of the game thanks to some great defense.
Jace Roquemore deflected a pass that was scooped up by
J'Raan Brooks. Brooks fed a breaking Roquemore who laid it in to get the scoring started. On the next possession,
Francis Nwaokorie intercepted a pass and took it all the way to the other end to give the Tritons an early 4-0 advantage.
Trailing 9-8,
Emmanuel Tshimanga sank a pair of free throws to give UC San Diego a 10-9 lead. That also triggered an 8-0 run for the Tritons as
Roddie Anderson III and
Jake Kosakowski knocked down back-to-back three-pointers. Suddenly, the visitors were up 16-9 at the 12:29 mark of the first.
Up three, UC San Diego used a quick 5-0 burst to go up 23-15 on a layup from Anderson, forcing the Colonials to call timeout with 6:39 in the first. Leading 27-21, Kosakowski buried a contested three from the top of the key, and
Francis Nwaokorie converted a driving layup and was fouled on the play. The ensuing free throw put the visitors up, 33-21, with 2:56 on the clock.
Late in the half,
Bryce Pope sank back-to-back threes, the first of which came on a slick no-look pass from
Jace Roquemore.
The Tritons led 41-25 at the half thanks to 53% shooting overall and 6-of-11 from beyond the arc. Pope led all scorers with 15 including three makes from distance.
In the second half, the Tritons stretched their lead thanks to a big steal and dunk from Anderson.
GW began to claw back and got within two points (72-70, 22 seconds), but the Tritons made just enough free throws to hold on down the stretch.
Pope was the lone scorer in double figures for the Tritons. Roquemore added nine, with Anderson and Tshimanga adding eight apiece. Tshimanga pulled down seven rebounds in the win.
James Bishop led GW with 25 points and Brendan Adams added 20 for the home team.
QUOTABLE
TRITON TIDBITS
- 75 points marked a season high for the Tritons.
- UC San Diego led 41-25 at halftime. The Tritons have been on top at the half in both road games this season.
- Anderson fouled out with 22 seconds remaining, having scored eight points with three rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
- The Tritons shot a season-low 52% (11-of-21) from the free throw line in the win.
- UC San Diego improved to 2-0 all-time vs. George Washington with Tuesday's victory.
UP NEXT
The Tritons wrap up their four game Eastern time zone swing when they travel to Ypsilanti, Mich. on Sunday to visit Eastern Michigan. Tip-off from the George Gervin GameAbove Center is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST (11 a.m. PST) with the game televised on ESPN+. Live stats will be available 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 began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West 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 earned 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.
