“”Fitting.””
Senior guard Robby Peters made 13 three-pointers in the 100-82 win over Cal State Monterey Bay on March 2 to break the all-time UCSD record for the most three-pointers in one game and in a single career. He is also the three-point leader in both NCAA Divisions I and II this season.
That’s how senior guard Robby Peters described his final weekend of Triton basketball as the team truly went out on a high note, setting school records for three-pointers in one game, three-pointers in a career and establishing a new career-high in scoring as he led the Tritons to commanding wins in their final two games of the season.
On March 2, Peters connected on an incredible 13 three-pointers, more than any other player at the Division I or II levels this season. On the strength of his career-high 43 points, the Tritons picked up a 100-82 win over Cal State Monterey Bay. The next night, Peters came out firing again, knocking down five three-pointers to again lead the Tritons in scoring and to a 73-47 win over San Francisco State. The back-to-back wins ended a five-game losing streak and gave the Tritons a final record of 12-15, 10-12 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play.
After Cal State Monterey Bay scored the first bucket of the game, Peters responded with a three-pointer on the other end and set the tempo for the contest. The Otters would never lead after that point, with UCSD building an advantage as large as 15 points and taking a nine-point lead into the break. Peters ended the first half 4-of-5 from three-point territory with a then-game-high 16 points.
Sophomore guard Kelvin Kim outlasted the Otters to close out the weekend with a convincing win over San Francisco State 73-47 in the Tritons’ last CCAA game of the season.
Rather than cooling down in the second half, as had been the case in earlier contests, Peters seemed to get hotter, fueling his run of nine straight points. The Otters would get no closer than eight points in the second half as Peters was solid on his first seven three-point attempts of the second period, with the crowd and his teammates matching and possibly exceeding Peters’ excitement as three-pointers dropped from a variety of angles and against numerous coverage schemes – even nailing one as a foul was called away from the ball.
“”I didn’t even realize how many I had until we had the game in hand, and then I was like, ‘I’m just going to start shooting a few more,'”” Peters said of his career night. “”It was an amazing feeling.””
Coming off the court in the final seconds of the game, Peters received a standing ovation, with much of the crowd remaining to greet him after the game as he emerged from the locker room. The 13 three-pointers were four better than the previous UCSD record, held by Mike Thimgan, while the 43 points bested Peters’ previous career high of 27, set last year at Chico State. Peters’ night ranked second all-time in the UCSD record books, three shy of John Spence’s record set against the University of Redlands during the 1992-93 season.
“”Rob has worked hard since he got here and he’s made himself a really good player,”” head coach Bill Carr said. “”Tonight was just a culmination of all his hard work. It’s great to see a guy have that success on the court … because he’s a real self-made player.””
As a team, the Tritons were 18-of-22 from three-point range, with the 81.8 percent success rate besting the previous single-game record of 63.6 percent from a 1997 home contest against UC Santa Cruz. UCSD shot 64.2 percent overall from the field and connected on 77.8 percent of its free-throw shots, withstanding 27 and 23 points, respectively, from Otter guards Dante Green and D’Shon Cannon. Cannon, who holds the all-time CCAA record with 57 points in one game, scored all of his points in the second half, with the majority of his points coming on 13-of-13 free-throw shooting.
“”I would love to be a run-and-gun team,”” said sophomore forward Henry Patterson, who scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds as UCSD scored 100 points in a regulation game for the first time since November 2003. “”I don’t know what it’s going to have to take for us to do that, but getting up and down the floor and getting those baskets and transitions are our goals. If we can get maybe five to 10 layups off fast breaks, transition layups, we’re going to be in good position to win any game.””
The Tritons led from the beginning against the Gators, with two Patterson free throws extending that lead to double digits with 3 minutes and 23 seconds to play in the first half. Despite never trailing against San Francisco State, the outcome of the game was still uncertain at halftime with UCSD holding only a seven-point advantage. However, the Tritons went on a 15-8 run in the first six minutes of the second half and slowly continued to build the advantage. The Otters were never closer than 13 points after the opening stretch as Carr played all active Tritons in the season finale, with each player getting at least seven minutes of court time. The Tritons held their opponent to the second-lowest scoring total of the season and emerged with a 26-point victory – their largest of the season.
“”I think it was huge to get the momentum of home victories going into next season,”” said sophomore guard Alan Husted, who scored six points and grabbed three rebounds in 10 minutes off the bench. “”We are losing Robby, which is huge, but we’re returning 13 to 14 guys, getting [junior guard Andrew] Hatch back next year, so we have a safe core group of guys coming back.””
Peters, the lone senior on the UCSD squad, was honored in a pregame ceremony and entered the game only four shy of the UCSD career three-point record of 252, set by Mike Wall during the 1995-99 seasons. After knocking down 2-of-5 from long range in the first half, Peters wasted little time, tying the record 49 seconds after halftime and breaking the mark just over two minutes into the second period. Adding one final three-pointer to push the career mark to 254 and set a new single-season best with 74, Peters finished the game and his UCSD career with team highs of 17 points and six rebounds.
“”I ran into ‘Big Dave’ [Wahlstrom, UCSD’s associate athletics director and sports information director] in the hall and he told me, ‘You’re 16 away,’ and I laughed, and was like, ‘There’s no way,'”” Peters said. “”But it happened and it was nice and something that I appreciated.””
The Tritons will now look to build off this year’s experience and success as they continue their quest for their ultimate goal next season.
“”Every year we expect to win the conference,”” Carr said, reflecting on the Triton’s season. “”I want to win the conference and I think this year we took a step forward winning three top-25 games and playing the top teams in the league close. This program is going in the right direction, so we’re really happy about that.””
