IRVINE, Calif. – Three players scored more than 20 points – including junior
Bryce Pope who scored his 1,000th-career point – as UC San Diego earned an impressive 99-91 Big West win over first place UC Irvine in front of 2,339 inside Bren Events Center on Thursday night. The victory was the Tritons' first over the Anteaters since beginning the Division I transition in 2020-21.
Freshman
Roddie Anderson III dropped 26, Pope added 24, and sophomore
Francis Nwaokorie scored 22 in the win.
The Tritons drained 15 three-pointers Thursday, improving to 10-19 overall and 5-12 in The Big West. The Anteaters dropped to 20-9 overall, 13-4 in conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Nwaokorie scored the Tritons' first seven points of the game, and a three-pointer from Anderson gave the visitors an early 10-7 lead. The Tritons had a 24-20 lead when Anderson knocked down a step-back three at the shot clock buzzer. Moments later,
Jace Roquemore fed Nwaokorie who buried his third three of the half, forcing UCI to call timeout.
The Tritons remained hot, knocking down 8-of-9 shots while limiting the Anteaters to just 1-of-8 during the same stretch, and UC San Diego built a 40-23 lead with just under three minutes left in the half.
Bryce Pope scored on a floater in the lane – his only points of the first half – as the Tritons took a 47-29 lead into halftime. The 18-point advantage marked the Tritons' largest in a Big West game this season.
UC San Diego drained six of its final seven three-point tries to end the half (10-for-20 in the first half). The Tritons overall sank 16-of-32 field goal attempts while limiting UC Irvine to just 36% shooting.
Anderson led all scorers with 17 in the first half with Nwaokorie adding 13 and six rebounds. The Tritons held a 21-19 edge on the glass.
In the second half, the teams played evenly until a 14-3 UC Irvine run down the stretch made it closer than UC San Diego would have liked. The Tritons hit free throws in the final two minutes and earned their first-ever win inside Bren Events Center.
In Anderson, Nwaokorie, and Pope, the Tritons had multiple 20-point scorers in the same game for the first time since three UC San Diego players scored 20-plus in a three-overtime marathon against Long Beach State.
Pope scored 22 after halftime, including 11-for-12 from the free throw line. His 20-point effort Thursday gives him 1,006 for his career.
Dawson Baker led all scorers with 33, including 27 in the second half.
QUOTABLE
TRITON TIDBITS
- Anderson's six three-pointers mark a new career high (his previous personal best was two).
- Thursday's 47-point effort marked the most points the Tritons have scored in a half during Big West play.
- UC San Diego has led at halftime in 12 of its 17 Big West games.
- The Tritons improved to 4-1 on the road in Thursday night Big West action.
- UC Irvine leads the series between these two schools, 5-1, since the Tritons began their NCAA Division I transition prior to the 2020-21 season.
- UC San Diego used a starting lineup of Roddie Anderson III, Jace Roquemore, Bryce Pope, Jake Kosakowski, and Francis Nwaokorie for the 11th game in a row.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego is back home to face UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT and the contest will have live broadcasts on ESPN+ and KSDT Radio. Tickets can be purchased through
Triton Box Office.
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.
