The men’s basketball team opened its regular season at Cox
Arena on Nov. 17 against cross-town Division I foe
front of 6,706 fans — the largest home-opening crowd for
the Tritons proved they could at least compete with the Aztecs, but eventually
fell 60-76.
Leading off with a three-pointer by junior forward Darryl
Lawlor and ahead 9-4 early on, the Tritons controlled the opening-period tempo,
hitting the boards to limit SDSU’s second-chance opportunities and working the
ball around in search of the best shot. The Aztecs would not tie the score
until 12:23 in the first half, taking their first lead with 11:45 remaining on
a layup by Aztec forward Ryan Amoroso. However, junior forward Henry Patterson
would respond for the Tritons with a layup of his own on the other end, tying
it up again at 13.
Tritons head coach Chris Carlson said he was satisfied with
his team’s early efforts.
“We did the things we wanted to do,” Carlson said. “We
contested every shot pretty well. We boxed-out, rebounded and for the most part
we took care of the ball. That allowed us to execute some things offensively
and get some open shots, which we made.”
Despite their size disadvantage, the Tritons battled on the
boards and refused to let four blocked shots from the Aztecs hurt their
confidence or aggressiveness in attacking the basket.
Down five with over nine minutes left in the half, Patterson
worked his way inside for another lay-up. On UCSD’s next possession, senior
guard Clint Allard rebounded a blocked shot and passed it off to sophomore
guard Jordan Lawley, who hit a jumper, drew a foul and converted the free throw
to tie the score at 18 with 8:14 left to play.
Coming out of a timeout with 6:46 in the first half, UCSD
again trailed, 20-18, and the Aztecs turned up the intensity with full-court
pressure on the Tritons. After a near turnover, an Aztec foul gave the Tritons
the ball at mid-court. Junior center A.J. Maulhardt tipped an offensive rebound
to sophomore forward Andrew Browning, who found Lawley for a three-pointer that
put the Tritons back on top 21-20 with 6:02 left to play. One of two free
throws by SDSU senior Matt Thomas tied the game, but junior guard Kelvin Kim
got UCSD into the penalty with 5:17 left in the game and knocked down the first
of a one-and-one to put the Tritons ahead again, 22-21. Unfortunately, it would
be the last lead for the Tritons in the half, as SDSU scored five straight
baskets and went into the break ahead 36-27.
Despite the deficit, the Tritons played well in the opening
half, nearly doubling their first-half output from the two team’s previous
match-up and keeping close to a Division-I squad that has made the postseason
two straight years.
“We competed hard and for a half and we out-rebounded a
very, very good team,” Carlson said. “That’s an NCAA Tournament team. I really
believe that.”
The Tritons pulled down 18 boards in the first half over the
Aztecs’ 16, and Carlson praised his team’s ability to compete with a formidable
squad.
“Our effort was there,” he said. “Even when we were a step
away or just didn’t react the right way or even when we missed shots, I thought
we were executing for the most part.”
The Tritons again struck first in the second half, scoring the
first three baskets on a layup by Patterson, jumper by Allard and layup by
Lawley to pull within one possession at 36-33. Unfortunately, a three-pointer,
steal and an alley-oop slam by the Aztecs put the lead back to eight, the
closest deficit the Tritons would have during the second half.
Despite being unable to regain the lead, the Tritons
responded to the Aztec offense throughout the second half, trailing at most by
18 before the final score of 76-60, which represented a 20-point improvement
from last season’s 84-48 loss at Cox Arena. UCSD also limited the Aztecs to
their fewest points in a game between the two teams since their 2003 meeting,
and the Tritons scored the most points against SDSU since the teams’ second
meeting in 1981.
Carlson was happy about the Tritons’ showing against the
Aztecs but said the team is already looking forward to its next game.
“I tell these guys all the time, ‘You play how you
practice,’ and we had a great week of practice,” Carlson said. “For us it’s all
about getting back to work on Monday, trying to have a good week of practice,
and try and perform well against a good Grand Canyon team next Saturday, which
is a regional game for us. It’s a huge game.”
After a 1-1 exhibition season, UCSD’s regular-season record
now stands at 0-1 with its next game on the road against Grand Canyon
University on Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. The Tritons open their conference schedule at
home on Nov. 30, hosting Cal State Stanislaus with a 7:30 p.m. scheduled
tip-off at RIMAC Arena.
