AWARD-WINNERS
After posting an 18-2 conference record on the way to its first regular season men's basketball title, UC San Diego earned five of the conference's seven major awards Tuesday. Senior guard/forward Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones is The Big West Player of the Year, Triton head coach Eric Olen is Coach of the Year for the second straight season, senior point guard Hayden Gray captured Best Defensive player, junior Chris Howell is the Best Hustle Player, and junior Justin Rochelin garnered the conference's Best Sixth Player award.
 
In addition, Tait-Jones and senior Tyler McGhie were named All-Big West First Team and Gray garnered All-Big West Second Team accolades. For the second season in a row, the Tritons are the only Big West program to win multiple major awards.
 
HAYDEN'S GRAY-TNESS
UC San Diego senior point guard Hayden Gray has been named one of ten finalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. The award will be presented at this year's Final Four in Glendale, Ariz. On Tuesday, Gray became the first Triton to be named The Big West's Best Defensive Player. He leads the nation in steals (104) and steals per game (3.25). Gray has amassed 104 steals this season while committing just 44 turnovers. Gray was also named to the All-Big West Second Team and he's registered two games this season with seven steals.
 

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GOING STREAKING
UC San Diego enters the tournament riding a 13-game win streak. Eleven of the 13 wins have come by double digits, with five victories of 20 points or more.
 
TRIPLE DIGITS x 3
UC San Diego downed Cal State Fullerton 100-55 (March 1). In addition to the Tritons scoring 100 points for the third time this season, Hayden Gray crossed 100 steals for the season (101), and Tyler McGhie drained his 100th three-pointer of the season (101).
 
BIG WEST POSTSEASON
UC San Diego's win at CSUN (Feb. 27) clinched a spot in The Big West Championship semifinals for the Tritons. UC San Diego will take the court as the top seed at Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nev. on March 14. Conference policy prohibited UC San Diego from taking part in this event in the past – despite the Tritons finishing second in the conference standings last season.
 
POLL POSITION
UC San Diego is ranked No. 2 in this week's Mid-Major Top 25® college basketball poll, the Tritons' highest-ever ranking in this survey. UC San Diego also received votes in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll (32) and Associated Press Top 25 (39).
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Tritons are second nationally in wins away from home (road + neutral). UC San Diego is 15-2 in games outside of LionTree Arena: 12-2 on the road and 3-0 at neutral sites.
 
TIME TRAVELERS
UC San Diego has played games in four time zones this season. In addition to the Boardwalk Battle in Florida (Eastern Time) and home games in the Pacific Time Zone, the Tritons played at Utah State (Mountain Time) and Hawai'i (Hawai'i-Aleutian Time). All told, UC San Diego will play games in at least six states this season. The Tritons are 6-0 in games played outside of the Golden State.
 
NOTHIN' BUT NET
UC San Diego has a NET Ranking of 35 as of Wednesday and the Tritons are No. 39 in KenPom – both highest in The Big West.
 
MARGIN OF VICTORY
UC San Diego leads NCAA Division I with a turnover margin of +7.5. The Tritons have won the turnover battle in 31 of their 32 games.
 
MARGIN OF VICTORY II
The Tritons are tops in The Big West with a scoring margin of 18.3. Nationally, UC San Diego's margin of victory sits second.
 
STINGY ON D
UC San Diego leads The Big West in scoring defense, allowing just 62.0 points per game. Nationally, that mark is eighth best.
 
SHARING THE ROCK
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones and Hayden Gray lead UC San Diego with 110 assists this season, followed closely by Chris Howell (98). All three rank top ten in The Big West in assists per game.
 
TAIT-JONES TAKES CHARGE
Big West Player of the Year Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones scored his 2,000th career point in a win at Cal State Bakersfield (Feb. 13) and his 1,000th as a Triton in a win over Hawai'i (Feb. 22). He was named Big West Player of the Week twice, and he earned Lou Henson National Player of the Week honors on Jan. 27. Tait-Jones leads the nation in free throw attempts (274) and is second in free throws made (210). He ranks third in The Big West in scoring at 19.8 points per game. Last year, the New Zealand captured Big West Newcomer of the Year honors – the first Triton to win this award – and he was also named Honorable Mention All-Big West.
 
UC SAN DIEGO 30-POINT GAMES, DIVISION I

Name	Date	Opponent	Points	Game Score
Toni Rocak	Dec. 30, 2021	vs. UC Santa Barbara	34	W, 85-83 (OT)
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones	Jan. 25, 2025	vs. CSUN	32	W, 79-54
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones	Jan. 18, 2025	at UC Riverside	32	L, 85-81
Bryce Pope	Feb. 24, 2024	vs. UC Irvine	32	W, 92-88 (OT)
Bryce Pope	Nov. 22, 2022	at George Washington	31	W, 75-70

 
WHOLE LOTTA POINTS
UC San Diego is one of 7 Division I institutions with six or more active 1,000-point scorers on its roster. Here are the team's current leading scorers (includes games played at other institutions):
 

Name	Games Played	Points
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones	127	2,146
Tyler McGhie	125	1,774
Nordin Kapic	83	1,329
Milos Vicentic	74	1,229
Hayden Gray	126	1,225
Maximo Milovich	131	1,001

 
TY'S THE GUY
All-Big West First Team selection Tyler McGhie tied the UC San Diego single season record with 111 three-pointers this season – fifth-most in Division I. His 3.47 threes per game is tops in The Big West and ranks fourth nationally. McGhie captured conference Player of the Week honors twice. Last year, McGhie was named the conference's Best Sixth Player and captured Honorable Mention All-Big West recognition.
 
THIEVERY!
UC San Diego is one of three Division I programs to have two players averaging 2.0+ steals per game (Mississippi State and UTEP). Hayden Gray (3.3) and Chris Howell (2.2) lead the way for the Tritons.
 
HEAD COACH ERIC OLEN
Now in his 12th season as head coach, UC San Diego head coach Eric Olen has transformed the program. The Big West Coach of the Year in each of the last two seasons, he is a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award for the second season in a row. Olen is the program's all-time leader in victories.

In Division II, Olen led the Tritons to three California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) regular season titles, four consecutive CCAA tournament crowns over seven seasons. In Division II, he posted a .740 winning percentage, and he was named NABC West Region Coach of the Year for the first time in 2019-20 after leading the Tritons to a 30-1 record and the top seed in the NCAA West Region.
 
Olen's career coaching record stands at 238-118 (.669).
  
HOOPS TALK ON UC SAN DIEGO ATHLETICS' PODCAST
As part of UC San Diego's transition to Division I, the Athletics Department launched a weekly podcast, Tritoncast. Produced by UC San Diego Athletics Communications, Tritoncast features in-depth interviews with UC San Diego personalities including scholar-athletes, alums, coaches, and administrators. Triton fans will get an inside look at the UC San Diego Athletics Department as the program transitions to NCAA Division I and The Big West. New episodes of Tritoncast are available each week on the most popular podcasting apps. In addition, each episode can be heard and downloaded on UCSDTritons.com. For individual show information and listen links, follow Tritoncast on X @Tritoncast.
 
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 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 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.