LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego used a suffocating defense and three Tritons scored in double figures as the Tritons rolled to an 83-44 win over Hawai'i in front of 3,084 inside LionTree Arena Saturday night. The 39-point win was the Tritons' ninth straight, tying the largest margin of victory for the program in a Big West game. UC San Diego improved to 24-4 on the season (14-2 Big West), maintaining the program's one-game lead in The Big West standings.
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones scored 19 on 8-of-11 shooting, Tyler McGhie hit three three-pointers and scored 17, and Nordin Kapic added three triples and 13 points in the win.
Playing their lone game of the week, the Rainbow Warriors were limited to just 27% shooting. Hawai'i dropped to 14-13 overall and 6-10 in The Big West.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego got off to a white-hot start, draining seven of its first ten field goal attempts. Nordin Kapic and Tyler McGhie each buried early threes, and the Tritons used a 22-2 run to go up 26-7 less than ten minutes into the game. As a team, UC San Diego hit five of its first six attempts from distance.
Despite being out-sized, the Tritons used a suffocating defense to force four early turnovers and build an early 7-2 rebound advantage.
Tait-Jones hit 4-of-7 shots and scored 10 first half points, giving him an even 1,000 as a Triton.
Kapic and Gray added nine apiece as the Tritons led 42-17 at the half. UC San Diego hit 9-of-13 three-point tries, and, on the other end, the Tritons limited Hawai'i to just 6-of-32 shooting (19%).
In the second half,
Maximo Milovich got in on the action, burying a three-pointer to give him an even 1,000 career points.
A Tait-Jones driving layup gave UC San Diego a 34-point lead, 61-27, with 11:49 left – the Tritons' largest lead of the night to that point.
For the game, UC San Diego held a 40-33 edge on the glass. The Tritons are 12-0 when grabbing more rebounds than their opponent.
QUOTABLE
TRITON TIDBITS
- UC San Diego led 42-17 at halftime. The 17 points allowed are the fewest UC San Diego has surrendered in any Big West game this season, and the 25-point halftime advantage is the Tritons' largest.
- UC San Diego is one of seven Division I teams with six active 1,000-point scorers.
- The Tritons improved to 20-0 when leading at halftime.
- The Tritons forced 12 turnovers while committing just six. UC San Diego has won the turnover battle in 27 of its 28 games this season.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego is back on the road Thursday night to visit third-place CSUN. The game tips at 7 p.m. and will air on ESPN+ and KSDT radio, 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 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Divisions I and II.
