SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – UC San Diego freshman point guard
Roddie Anderson III scored a career-high 26 points and redshirt junior guard
Bryce Pope added 26 as the Tritons earned a 71-64 win over Cal Poly Thursday night in front of 2,283 inside Mott Athletics Center.
Francis Nwaokorie chipped in 10 as the Tritons (7-12 overall, 2-5 Big West) snapped a five-game slide.
The win marked the 186th coaching victory in the career of Triton head coach
Eric Olen, making him the all-time wins leader in UC San Diego men's basketball history.
The loss was the sixth straight for Cal Poly (7-12, 1-6).
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons got off to another fast start when
Bryce Pope knocked down a three-pointer and was fouled just 30 seconds into a game. A layup from Anderson gave the Tritons a quick 6-0 edge in the first 90 seconds.
The Mustangs responded with a 9-0 run and went up 9-6 as the Triton offense went nearly three minutes without a field goal. UC San Diego broke the drought on a baseline dunk in traffic from
Francis Nwaokorie.
The Tritons shot the ball well throughout the first half, building a 28-21 advantage with 6:48 left in the half. Anderson and Nwaokorie paced the offense and UC San Diego got a number of good looks inside.
Cal Poly used a 6-0 spurt to go back on top, 32-30, with 1:31 to play in the half. The Tritons answered with a quick catch-and-release three from
Jake Kosakowski to re-take the lead with a minute left.
UC San Diego shot 52% over the first 20 minutes and led 37-32 at the half. Anderson led all scorers with 14 and Nwaokorie added eight. The Tritons got 26 points in the paint.
After halftime, the Mustangs came out on an 11-2 run to forge ahead, 43-39. The Tritons' lone field goal during that stretch was a tremendous dunk in traffic by Anderson.
Pope broke the scoring drought with a three-pointer from the top of the key. UC San Diego shots began to drop, and the Tritons went up six, 54-48, with 8:40 to play thanks to a thunderous dunk from
Francis Nwaokorie.
The game was a back-and-forth affair from there. UC San Diego led 67-64 with 1:15 to play. UC San Diego hit free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
QUOTABLE
TRITON TIDBITS
- UC San Diego has led at halftime in five of their seven Big West games.
- Thursday marked the first time this season the Tritons have had multiple 20-point scorers in the same game. The last time UC San Diego did so: the 2021-22 season finale in this building when Toni Rocak scored 24 and Francis Nwaokorie added 21.
- Olen surpassed Tom Marshall atop the wins leaderboard. Marshall won 185 games as Triton head coach from 1983-1994 when UC San Diego competed in Division III.
- UC San Diego is now 1-2 against the Mustangs since moving to Division I in 2020-21. The teams played once at each venue last season, but the two 2021 meetings were canceled due to health and safety concerns stemming from COVID-19.
- The Tritons held an 18-2 advantage in points off turnovers.
- UC San Diego used a starting lineup of Roddie Anderson, Jace Roquemore, Bryce Pope, Jake Kosakowski, and Francis Nwaokorie – its sixth different starting lineup this season.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will return home to host Long Beach State on Saturday at 3 p.m. inside LionTree Arena. The game will air live on Spectrum SportsNet.
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.
