BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Host Cal State Bakersfield got a 29-point effort from Kaleb Higgins as the Roadrunners downed UC San Diego, 70-57, Thursday night at the Icardo Center. The loss snapped a four-game win streak for the Tritons (19-10 overall, 13-4 Big West), who fell one game back of UC Irvine in The Big West standings with three games to play.
Celebrating its seniors before the game, Cal State Bakersfield (12-17, 7-11) improved to 10-4 at home.
Tyler McGhie led UC San Diego with 16 points on four three-pointers,
Bryce Pope added 14,
J'Raan Brooks scored 12 and pulled down a season-high nine rebounds, and
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones scored ten and grabbed five rebounds for the Tritons.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a sluggish start for the Tritons, who turned the ball over four times early and trailed 7-0 at the first media timeout of the game. Bakersfield led 9-0 before a three from Brooks broke the Tritons' early scoring drought at 14:34.
UC San Diego trailed by 9 before a 7-0 run capped by a McGhie three-pointer and a Pope driving layup drew UC San Diego within two, 12-10, with 11:59 left in the half. UC San Diego tied the score for the first time at 23 apiece with a strong drive to the rim from
Francis Nwaokorie.
Cal State Bakersfield led 29-27 at the break. Bakersfield's Kaleb Higgins led all scorers with 17. Brooks paced the Tritons with 10 points and five rebounds. UC San Diego limited the 'Runners to just 33% shooting (10-for-30) and the Tritons held a slim 18-17 edge on the glass, but the Tritons committed an uncharacteristic nine first half turnovers.
UC San Diego took its first lead of the game, 37-36, on a three-pointer from McGhie at the 15:35 mark – his second triple of the night. A short time later, McGhie knocked down a three from the wing to put UC San Diego on top with its largest lead to that point, 43-41.
The game was tied at 52, but the 'Runners went on an 8-0 run. Cal State Bakersfield was up eight, 60-52, with 3:45 left thanks to a three-pointer from Marvin McGhee III. The home team had a couple of transition dunks down the stretch to pull out the win.
UC San Diego shot just 29% after halftime and the Tritons were an uncharacteristic 10-of-17 from the free throw line in the second half after sinking all six first half free throw tries.
TRITON TIDBITS
- UC San Diego has now trailed at halftime in each of the last two games, and for only the third time in a Big West game this season. Thursday was the first of those three in which the Tritons lost.
- The 13-point margin of defeat Thursday marked the Tritons' largest in Big West play this season.
- Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones registered his 21st game of the season scoring double figures.
- UC San Diego entered the game leading The Big West at just 9.4 turnovers per game. The Tritons committed 13 on Thursday.
- During the first meeting between these two teams in late December, the Tritons led from start to finish.
- UC San Diego has used the same starting lineup in all 29 games this season: Hayden Gray, Bryce Pope, Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, Francis Nwaokorie, and J'Raan Brooks. The Tritons are one of two Division I teams (along with Wisconsin) to use the same starting lineup in each of its games.
- Bryce Pope made his 100th career start for the Tritons (101 games played).
QUOTABLE
"Bakersfield deserves credit for the way they played, they made things really difficult for us," said UC San Diego head coach
Eric Olen. "This wasn't our best performance overall – specifically on the offensive end – but I liked our fight and I'm confident we'll bounce back."
UP NEXT
UC San Diego concludes its Big West road schedule on Saturday when the Tritons visit CSUN (5 p.m.). The game will air live on ESPN+ with live stats 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 Conference 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 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.
