LONG BEACH, Calif. – Bryce Pope scored a game-high 25 points and drained the game-winning jump shot with 1.3 seconds to play, lifting UC San Diego to an 85-83 overtime victory over Long Beach State at Walter Pyramid Thursday night in The Big West opener for both sides.
Pope was one of five Tritons in double figures in the win. After committing eight first half turnovers, UC San Diego turned the ball over just three times after halftime.
Both teams are now 6-7 overall after Thursday's contest. With the win, Tritons head coach
Eric Olen is now tied with Tom Marshall for the most victories by a UC San Diego men's basketball coach (185).
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons got off to a fast start for the second straight season in this building.
Bryce Pope buried a quick three and layups by
Emmanuel Tshimanga and
Roddie Anderson III gave the Tritons an early 7-2 lead.
The Beach closed to within one at 7-6, but UC San Diego responded with a 7-0 spurt over the next two minutes to go up 14-6 at the first media timeout. The Tritons hit six of their first nine field goal tries and ultimately went up 16-6 at the 14:22 mark.
Long Beach State responded and found success in the paint. The Beach went on top 27-23 before a three-pointer from
Jake Kosakowski drew the Tritons back within one. UC San Diego hung close, and Long Beach led 32-29 at the half.
Pope led all scorers with 10 in the first, connecting on 4-of-8 field goal tries. Despite the hot shooting start, the Tritons connected on just 34% of their first half shots.
Trailing by three early in the second half,
Francis Nwaokorie knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key to level the score at 38 apiece.
Anderson wowed the crowd inside Walter Pyramid with a steal and thunderous dunk with 14:33 to play.
Down a point with just over five minutes to play, Nwaokorie knocked down a three-pointer in the corner inf front of UC San Diego's bench, putting the Tritons back on top, 64-62.
It was a back-and-forth affair down the stretch. A Pope jumper put the Tritons on top with 52 seconds left, but Long Beach tied it up to send the game to overtime at 73-73.
In overtime, Pope hit two big shots as the Tritons held on for the road win.
Tshimanga finished with 12 points and eight boards before fouling out in OT. Pope's eight rebounds are a career high. Anderson and Nwaokorie each scored 10 points for UC San Diego.
QUOTABLE
TRITON TIDBITS
- The Big West has elected to include UC San Diego in the conference standings and statistics this season for the first time, meaning this was officially the Tritons' first-ever Big West game.
- Justin DeGraaf finished with a career-high 11 points. He was 5-for-5 at the free throw line.
- UC San Diego is now 3-0 in overtime against Big West foes.
- The Tritons won for the first time this season when trailing at the half.
- UC San Diego used a starting lineup of Roddie Anderson III, Bryce Pope, Jace Roquemore, Francis Nwaokorie, and Emmanuel Tshimanga for the fifth straight game.
- The win was the Tritons' first-ever against the Beach (now 1-2).
UP NEXT
UC San Diego plays at first place UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at 4 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN+ with 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 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Divisions I and II.
