LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego led for almost the entire game but San Diego State's Jaedon LeDee grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a layup as time expired to propel the Aztecs to a 63-62 comeback victory over the host Tritons in front of a sellout crowd of 4,000 inside LionTree Arena Friday night.
San Diego natives
Bryce Pope and
Hayden Gray – along with
Francis Nwaokorie – all finished with 15 points to lead UC San Diego (4-4). As a team, the Tritons committed a season-low four turnovers.
San Diego State (7-1) won its sixth consecutive contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Hayden Gray got the scoring going with a driving and after the Aztecs tied it up on a pair of free throws, Gray buried a three at the shot clock buzzer two minutes into the game, sending the crowd into an early frenzy.
At the 15:24 mark,
Justin DeGraaf knocked down a three to give the Tritons an early 13-7 lead. UC San Diego connected on four of its first five from beyond the arc. The Tritons rebuilt a six-point advantage, 18-12.
UC San Diego led for almost the entirety of the first half, and the Tritons took a 31-30 advantage into the locker room at half time. Gray led all scorers with 10 and UC San Diego turned the ball over just twice in the first 20 minutes.
UC San Diego built a nine-point lead with 11 minutes remaining as
Francis Nwaokorie drained a three and
Bryce Pope knocked down a pull-up jumper. Shortly thereafter, the Tritons extended it to 12 on another three from Nwaokorie. Meantime, the UC San Diego defense held the Aztecs five minutes without scoring.
However, San Diego State responded with a 13-0 run over nearly five minutes to whittle a 14-point Triton lead down to one, 57-56, with just under two minutes to play.
Gray squashed the run with a corner three to give UC San Diego a 60-56 lead. SDSU's Elijah Saunders answered, and the Tritons' lead was one, 60-59, with a minute to go. Pope's jumper with 54.5 seconds left put the home team up, 62-59.
Down three, LeDee converted a layup with 38 seconds left to draw the Aztecs within one. San Diego State's Lamont Butler missed a three-pointer with just over two seconds left, but LeDee's offensive board led to the game winning shot as time expired.
QUOTABLE
TRITON TIDBITS
- The sellout crowd of 4,000 was the largest in UC San Diego basketball history.
- The meeting was the third Division I showdown between the two schools (13th overall) and the first-ever on the UC San Diego campus.
- The Tritons led for more than 35 minutes of action.
- San Diego State amassed a 43-28 advantage in rebounds.
- UC San Diego wore its alternate gold uniforms for the second consecutive game – and the first time at home.
- For the eighth consecutive game, UC San Diego used a starting lineup of Hayden Gray, Bryce Pope, Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, Francis Nwaokorie, and J'Raan Brooks.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego returns to LionTree Arena to host Occidental on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live stats 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 84 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.
