DAVIS, Calif. – UC San Diego senior
Tyler McGhie drained five three-pointers as the Tritons were a 68-57 winner over UC Davis inside UCU Center Saturday night. The win – the Tritons' 13th in a row – gives UC San Diego (28-4, 18-2 Big West) its first-ever outright Big West men's basketball regular season title. The 13-game win streak is the program's longest in its Division I era.
McGhie (18 points tonight) has hit 111 three-pointers – tying the UC San Diego single season record in any Division.
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones scored 15 and grabbed eight rebounds, and
Nordin Kapic added 16 points and seven rebounds in the win. UC San Diego led from start to finish.
The Aggies (15-16, 9-11) shot 35% for the game, and The Big West's leading scorer, TY Johnson, was limited to just five points on 2-of-15 shooting.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego's defense was particularly tough out of the gate, and UC Davis missed its first field goal attempts. Meantime, on the other end, McGhie drained a quick three and three free throws as the Tritons went up 8-0 at the 16:20 mark. He buried second three – an off-balance runner – and UC San Diego was up 11-3 at the first media timeout.
The Aggies got to within a bucket, 17-15, before the Tritons stretched the lead back out to nine.
Justin Rochelin had a thunderous dunk that silenced the crowd and then he knocked down a three.
The Aggies closed the half shooting just 2-for-10, and went scoreless for the final 2:15 as UC San Diego took a 34-22 lead into halftime. Kapic scored 11on 3-of-5 shooting to lead UC San Diego, with McGhie adding nine. UC San Diego connected on 42% of its shots overall and 42% from three. The Aggies shot just 29% in the half.
The second half began with another McGhie triple and UC San Diego scored eight of the half's first ten points – giving the Tritons an 18-point advantage, 42-24 and forcing an Aggies' timeout with 15:49 still to play.
UC San Diego used a 7-0 run to extend the advantage past 20, 52-31.
Aidan Burke had a super alert rebound and tip-in at the shot clock buzzer, and Tait-Jones had a fast break dunk to cap the spurt.
The Aggies cut the deficit to 11, before a three from Kapic in the final minute sealed the win.
QUOTABLE
TRITON TIDBITS
- UC San Diego ends the regular season 12-2 on the road. The Tritons' 15 wins away from home (3-0 neutral) are second-most nationally.
- UC San Diego had already clinched the upcoming conference tournament's top seed with its win on March 6.
- The Tritons improved to 24-0 when leading at halftime.
- Tyler McGhie has hit 111 three-pointers this season, tying the program's single season record (Tyrell Roberts, 2019-20, in NCAA Division II).
- UC San Diego sank ten three-pointers in the win – the 19th game this season the Tritons have hit 10 or more threes.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego heads to Henderson, Nev., to compete in the Hercules Tires Big West Championship for the first time. The Tritons will open play in the semifinal round as the No. 1 seed on Friday, March 14, at 6 p.m.
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 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.
