DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – UC San Diego senior
Tyler McGhie scored a game-high 27 as the Tritons won the Boardwalk Battle championship with a convincing 80-45 win over Toledo Saturday evening at Ocean Center. McGhie averaged 21 points and better than four made three-pointers per game over the weekend and was named tournament's Most Valuable Player.
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones added 19 on 8-of-10 shooting and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Hayden Gray chipped in 10 and had four more steals – he leads the nation with 27 on the season – as UC San Diego (5-2) won its third game in three days. The Tritons outscored the Rockets, 46-20, after halftime.
Sonny Wilson and Seth Hubbard each had 10 for Toledo (5-2), whose five-game win streak was snapped with the loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game was back-and-forth throughout the early going with four ties and seven lead changes early in the first half. With the Rockets leading 15-14, UC San Diego went on a 6-0 run while holding Toledo scoreless for more than three minutes as the Tritons took a 20-15 lead. Tait-Jones was efficient early, scoring 10 quick points on 4-of-5 shooting.
The Tritons uncharacteristically struggled from distance for most of the half, making only two of their first 12 tries. However, UC San Diego did a great job of getting high percentage shots inside. The Tritons scored 14 points in the paint and were 8-of-11 inside the arc in building a 26-19 lead with four minutes remaining.
McGhie knocked down back-to-back threes late and he finished the period with a game-high 16 points (including four makes from beyond the arc). Tait-Jones added 12 as the Tritons took a 34-25 lead into the locker room at halftime. UC San Diego held an 18-14 lead on the glass over the first 20 minutes.
UC San Diego came out on fire out of the break, starting the second half on an 11-0 run to go up by 20, 45-25, and force a Rockets timeout just three minutes into the half. The Tritons hit 8 of their first 11 shots after halftime as they stretched their lead past 20 points.
Midway through the half, UC San Diego went on a 13-0 run while holding Toledo scoreless for more than six minutes as the Tritons went up 66-31 and put the game out of reach.
The Tritons connected on 66% of their shots (19-29) in the second half.
QUOTABLE
"I'm really proud of this team and the way we competed, and this was a complete performance," said UC San Diego head coach
Eric Olen. "Playing three games in three days was a good test for us. We need to be able to get rest, take care of our bodies, recover and get ready for the next one in these tournament environments – and we did that well this weekend."
TRITON TIDBITS
- The 45 points scored by Toledo are the fewest UC San Diego has ever allowed to a Division I opponent.
- The 35-point margin of victory is the Tritons' largest against a Division I foe.
- Saturday was the first time this season UC San Diego outrebounded its opponent.
- Justin Rochelin established a new career-high with eight rebounds over 21 minutes off the bench.
- UC San Diego wore its white uniforms as the designated home team for the third game in a row and UC San Diego is a perfect 5-0 in those uniforms.
- Saturday was the first-ever men's basketball meeting between the Rockets and Tritons.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego returns to LionTree Arena one week from today as the Tritons host La Verne on Nov. 30 at 4 p.m. The game can be seen 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.
