RENO, Nev. – UC San Diego junior
Leo Beath scored a game-high 17 points, but it wasn't enough as host Nevada handed the Tritons their first loss, 76-70, in front of 7,211 at Lawlor Events Center Tuesday night. The Wolf Pack limited UC San Diego – the top three-point shooting team in The Big West – to just 26% from distance.
The Tritons (7-1) had their 20-game regular season win streak snapped with the setback. Nevada had four in double figures and outrebounded the visitors, 45-36, to improve to 6-3.
Emanuel Prospere II scored 12 and
Tom Beattie added 11 for the Tritons, who did not commit a turnover in the second half.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Bol Dengdit scored the game's first points with a layup on the opening possession, but three early three-pointers from Nevada gave the Wolf Pack an early 9-4 advantage. Nevada continued to shoot the ball well, draining six straight to go up 24-16 with 7:50 left in the first.
Down 27-16, UC San Diego used an 11-2 run to draw within a bucket, 29-27, on a three-pointer from
Aidan Burke – UC San Diego's first of the night. The Wolf Pack scored the final six of the half to take a 35-27 lead into the locker room. Nevada shot 50% (15-30) while limiting the Tritons to just 1-of-10 from distance. Beath led all scorers with 11 on 5-for-8 shooting. Nevada held a slim 21-19 edge on the glass and each team scored 20 points in the paint.
The Tritons began the second half with threes from Beattie and Burke to draw within two, 35-33. UC San Diego took its first lead since the game's opening bucket, 47-46, when
Alex Chaikin buried a three from the corner off a feed from Burke with 11:51 to play.
The visitors' lead was short-lived, as Nevada used an 8-0 run to go back on top, 60-51, with six minutes left. The Wolf Pack stretched their lead, but the Tritons kept fighting. A three from Chaikin with 1:21 to go brought UC San Diego back within two, 68-66. It was back-and-forth from there, and a layup from Beattie with ten seconds left kept the visitors within two at 72-70 before Nevada free throws sealed the win.
The Tritons held the Wolf Pack without a field goal over the final 3:41.
TRITON TIDBITS
- The Tritons trailed at halftime for just the second time this season.
- UC San Diego scored a season-low 70 points Tuesday.
- The Tritons committed just four turnovers, a season low.
- UC San Diego scored 44 of its 70 points in the paint.
- Nevada has won both meetings between these two programs (also 2022).
- The UC San Diego starting lineup has been Emanuel Prospere II, Aidan Burke, Tom Beattie, Leo Beath and Bol Dengdit for each game this season.
QUOTABLE
"We weren't quite at our sharpest tonight, but I'm really proud of our effort," said UC San Diego head coach
Clint Allard '08. "Their defense did a good job of making us play one-on-one and we want to play a team brand of basketball. That showed itself by us not having a lot of assists. But we were still able to out-score them in the paint and the guys battled down the stretch and gave us a chance to win in a tough environment."
UP NEXT
UC San Diego begins defense of its Big West title on Saturday as conference play begins for the Tritons at Long Beach State. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. from LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid, with a live broadcast on ESPN+ and a link to 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 has begun a new era as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 24-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 garnered 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 NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
