SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – UC San Diego freshman
Jaden Vance put in a layup with less than one second remaining to lift the Tritons to a 64-63 victory at UC Santa Barbara Saturday night in the regular season finale from UCSB Events Center. UC San Diego (22-10, 12-8 Big West) finished in a tie for third place in the conference standings. The Tritons will be the No. 5 seed and face No. 8 Cal Poly in the tournament's opening round Wednesday evening in Henderson, Nevada.
The Tritons came away with a season-high 16 steals in the win – including a career-high five from Vance. UC San Diego scored 20 points off UCSB turnovers and finished with 44 points in the paint in the victory.
Junior
Bol Dengdit led UC San Diego in the scoring column with 15 points, with
Tom Beattie adding 14 and
Hudson Mayes, 12. The Tritons earned their 12th win of the season away from La Jolla.
With the loss, UC Santa Barbara fell to 18-13 overall and 11-9 in Big West play. The Gauchos are the No. 7 seed and will face UC Davis in the tournament's opening round Wednesday.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Santa Barbara began the game with a three-pointer but then a 9-0 run gave the Tritons the advantage. A three-pointer from
Tom Beattie and a layup from Beattie sandwiched a fast break dunk by
Hudson Mayes during the spurt.
UC San Diego was up 9-3, but the Gauchos began to work their way back. Trailing by two, the home team reeled off 12 straight points to go on top, 19-13, and force a Triton timeout with 8:12 left in the half. The UC San Diego offense went cold during that stretch, missing seven consecutive shots.
The Tritons battled back, getting a big steal and thunderous dunk from
Jaden Vance along the way.
Leo Beath banked in a three-pointer as time expired, and UC San Diego took a 31-29 lead into halftime.
Both teams shot 40% in the first half. UC San Diego scored eight points off seven UCSB turnovers, while the Tritons turned it over only twice. Beath, Beattie, and Dengdit all scored seven for UC San Diego. Six different Tritons had a steal in the first half.
The second half was back-and-forth, with seven lead changes in the first eight minutes of the half. The Gauchos took a 47-43 lead on consecutive three-pointers from Colin Smith and Aidan Mahaney.
The game took several turns in the final minutes. UCSB went back in front on a CJ Shaw layup with just seven seconds to play. The Tritons elected not to use a timeout, and
Tom Beattie brought the ball up the sideline, dribbled through pressure, and found Vance underneath. The freshman's layup gave the Tritons the road win.
TRITON TIDBITS
- The game featured six ties and 17 lead changes.
- The Tritons forced 17 turnovers while committing just seven of their own.
- Leo Beath contributed nine points and eight rebounds in the win.
- The Tritons improved to 19-2 this season when leading at halftime.
- UC San Diego took a slim 7-6 lead in the all-time series between these programs.
QUOTABLE
UP NEXT
UC San Diego begins its quest for a second straight Big West title on Wednesday night, when the Tritons take on Cal Poly at 6 p.m. in the Big West opening round from Lee's Family Forum in Henderson. The game will feature live broadcasts on ESPN+ and 97.3 The Fan, 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.
