FULLERTON, Calif. – UC San Diego senior
Bryce Pope scored a season-high 29 points and matched his career-high with 11 field goals as the Tritons won their third straight Big West game, 76-58, Saturday night at Cal State Fullerton. The victory was UC San Diego's first at Titan Gym since joining The Big West.
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones added 12 and
Tyler McGhie chipped in nine – giving McGhie 1,001 career points.
UC San Diego (9-6, 3-0 Big West) has won three of its last four on the road. Cal State Fullerton dropped to 8-8 (1-3 Big West) with Saturday's loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Cal State Fullerton began the night with a 7-2 lead but a three from Pope and an
Emmanuel Tshimanga layup keyed a 7-0 Tritons run to give the visitors their first lead of the night, 9-7. The Titans briefly regained the lead before Pope took over.
Pope was 6-of-8 shooting in the first half (3-for-4 from distance), scoring 18 points as UC San Diego took a 40-26 lead into halftime. The Tritons closed the half on a 11-1 run thanks in large part to back-to-back three-pointers from
J'Raan Brooks.
UC San Diego shot a scorching 60% over the first 20 minutes (15-for-25), draining six shots from distance. The Tritons held a 15-10 advantage on the glass, getting six rebounds from
Francis Nwaokorie.
After halftime, the Tritons continued to shoot well, building a 17-point advantage, 53-36, with 12:52 left. Fullerton answered with a 6-0 run to draw within 11, but a three-point play from
Camden McCormick extended the lead back to 14 with 12 minutes left.
UC San Diego put the game out of reach with an 11-0 run to go up 67-45 at the under-8 timeout. The Tritons hit 8-of-9 shots and Pope continued with the hot hand in the road win.
QUOTABLE with Coach Eric Olen and ESPN's Steve Quis
TRITON TIDBITS
- Saturday's 18-point margin of victory was the Tritons' largest-ever in a Big West road game.
- UC San Diego is now 4-2 against Cal State Fullerton in Division I with Saturday marking the Tritons' first Big West win at Titan Gym.
- UC San Diego is one of three remaining unbeatens in The Big West (UC Irvine, CSUN).
- The Tritons improved to 3-0 in Big West play for the first time.
- Tyler McGhie is the 15th Triton to reach 1,000 career points scored. McGhie began his career at Western Carolina and most recently played at Southern Nazarene (Division II).
- Bryce Pope has scored 20 or more points in all three Big West games this season. He's scored 20-plus five times this season and 22 times in his UC San Diego career.
- UC San Diego's starting lineup consisted of Hayden Gray, Bryce Pope, Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, Francis Nwaokorie, and J'Raan Brooks for the 15th consecutive game.
UP NEXT
The Tritons return to LionTree Arena on Thursday to host Long Beach State (7 p.m., ESPN+). Tickets can be purchased through the
Triton Box Office and the first 500 UC San Diego students will get a free trucker hat. Both of last season's meetings between the Tritons and Beach went to overtime, with the road team winning both games.
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.
