PRINCETON, N.J. – UC San Diego men's basketball has earned the No. 2 seed in next week's Ro College Basketball Invitational. The Tritons will begin NCAA Division I postseason play for the first time on Saturday, March 23 against Chicago State with a tip time of 3:30 p.m. EDT. The 15-team Ro CBI will be held at Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Fla.
 
Playing in their fourth Division I season, the Tritons posted a 21-11 record and earned a second-place finish in The Big West with a 15-5 conference mark. Last week, five Tritons were honored by The Big West: Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones as Newcomer of the Year; Tyler McGhie Best Sixth Player; Eric Olen as Coach of the Year; Bryce Pope as First Team All-Big West; and Tait-Jones, McGhie, and Francis Nwaokorie each earning Honorable Mention. UC San Diego led The Big West in three-pointers per game, fewest turnovers per game, and assist-turnover ratio.
 
UC San Diego's first round opponent will be the Cougars from Chicago State. Playing as a Division I independent, the Cougars posted a 12-win season – the program's most since 2013-14 – despite not having played a game since Feb. 19. Chicago State will join the Northeast Conference (NEC) next year. Junior guard Wesley Cardet, Jr. led the Cougars with 18.1 points per game, followed closely by junior guard Jahsean Corbett who averaged 15.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per contest.
 
The winner of Saturday's first round game will face the winner of No. 7 Fairfield vs. No. 10 Little Rock on Monday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. EDT in the quarterfinal round.
 
Tickets for the Ro CBI are on sale through Ticketmaster.
 
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 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.