DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In a game that featured ten ties and 15 lead changes, UC San Diego erased a nine-point second half deficit, but Chicago State hung on for a 77-75 victory over the Tritons Saturday afternoon in the first round of the 2024 Ro College Basketball Invitational inside Ocean Center. Trailing by two in the waning seconds, UC San Diego missed a contested three-pointer and was unable to get a clean putback look as time expired.
With the setback, UC San Diego wraps its season with a 21-12 record. Chicago State (13-18) moves on to the Ro CBI quarterfinals Monday afternoon.
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones was one of three Tritons in double-figures, with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
Tyler McGhie also scored 17 thanks to 4-of-7 from distance.
Bryce Pope drained four three-pointers and scored 16.
Hayden Gray added eight points, a team-best nine rebounds, and six assists.
Chicago State's Wesley Cardet led all scorers with 30 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The entire first half was a tightly contested affair featuring eight ties and 12 lead changes. The Tritons took an early lead as Tait-Jones banked in a three-pointer at the shot clock buzzer.
UC San Diego built the largest lead of the half for either team, four points, when Pope sank the first of two threes in the half, giving the Tritons a 9-5 advantage three and a half minutes into the game. Despite not having played in over a month, the Cougars shot well (50%) and the game was tied at 38 at the half. Cardet and Jahsean Corbett combined for 26 of CSU's 38 points.
UC San Diego was 5-for-8 from beyond the arc and shot 52% overall. Tait-Jones led the Tritons with ten with
Tyler McGhie contributing eight off the bench.
In the second half, Chicago State built a 53-44 lead with 15:37 to play. The Tritons responded and held the Cougars scoreless for more than five minutes as UC San Diego came back. A
Francis Nwaokorie free throw tied the score, 55-55, with 8:52 remaining. UC San Diego forged ahead a minute later with a strong putback from
Emmanuel Tshimanga. The Tritons' 13-2 run over an eight-minute stretch gave UC San Diego a 57-55 advantage.
Chicago State responded and regained the lead, thanks in part to a pair of threes from Corbett. With the Cougars clinging to a two-point advantage, the Tritons were unable to net the tying basket as time expired.
TRITON TIDBITS
- UC San Diego shot 50% for the game and outrebounded the Cougars, 34-29.
- Bryce Pope is fourth on UC San Diego's career scoring list, now with 1,627 career points.
- Both teams connected on ten three-pointers.
- Saturday was the first meeting between the Tritons and Cougars.
- UC San Diego used the same starting lineup in all 33 games this season: Hayden Gray, Bryce Pope, Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, Francis Nwaokorie, and J'Raan Brooks. The Tritons were the only Division I team to use the same starting lineup in each of its games.
- The Tritons were the designated road team and wore the traveling blue uniforms.
QUOTABLE
"I'm obviously disappointed with the outcome today, but I'm proud of our team and the season that they had," said UC San Diego head coach
Eric Olen.
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.
