LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego senior Bryce Pope was named Big West Men's Basketball Player of the Week as announced by the conference office on Monday afternoon. The honor is the third of the season for Pope, who helped the Tritons move into a first place tie with two more conference wins last week, the program's first Division I win at UC Riverside Thursday and a 32-point effort to lead UC San Diego past UC Irvine in overtime on Saturday.
 
Pope hit a dramatic buzzer-beater and scored a career-high 32 points on 11-of-19 shooting as UC San Diego moved back into a first-place tie in The Big West with an overtime win against the Anteaters Saturday afternoon at LionTree Arena. In the process, he moved into sixth place all-time at UC San Diego with 1,530 career points. For the week, Pope averaged 19 points and 5.5 rebounds per game as the Tritons went 2-0.
 
The Big West honor is the third of Pope's career, and he is one of two Tritons to earn Big West Player of the Week honors to date this season. Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones was recognized on Nov. 13 following the season's first week of play. In the program's brief Division I history, three UC San Diego players have captured the award. In addition to Pope and Tait-Jones this season, Toni Rocak was recognized twice in the 2021-22 season.

UC San Diego embarks on the final road trip of the regular season beginning Thursday, when the Tritons visit Cal State Bakersfield (7 p.m.). The trip concludes with a Saturday evening match-up at CSUN (5 p.m.). Both games can be seen live on ESPN+ with live stats available on UCSDTritons.com.

PAST BIG WEST WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
Bryce Pope (Jan. 29, 2024)
Bryce Pope (Jan. 15, 2024)
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones (Nov. 13, 2023)
Toni Rocak (Jan. 3, 2022)
Toni Rocak (Nov. 15, 2021)
 
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 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.