There are many labs at UCSD, but the most riveting combustions on campus are crafted high above the rims at Liontree Arena. Amid a sea of bobbing yellow ducks on bucket hat night, a searing UCSD men’s basketball team (14-2, 4-0 Big West) captured their nation-leading 12th consecutive victory in a 95-68 dismantling of the woeful Cal Poly Mustangs (6-11, 0-5 Big West).
An alley-oop jam authored by junior guard Chris Howell gave the Tritons an early advantage but did little to quell a lethargic first half for head coach Eric Olen’s veteran squad. They “came out slow,” an overused yet applicable term on nights like these when premier programs permit duos of single-digit averaging freshmen to explode for 21 first-half points against them. The home team bricked nine early 3-pointers while Cal Poly more than doubled the dreadfully-shooting Tritons in first-half 3-point attempts, converting on 41.7% of their tries.
UCSD trailed by four at the half, but just as the possibility of hitting the over started to fade, they sprung to life. Senior guard Hayden Gray, whose 62 steals lead the nation, nabbed six Mustang pockets and added 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting. The Tritons would proceed to outscore Cal Poly by 31 points in the second frame and cruise to yet another a comfortable victory on an off night from the leading 3-point shooter in the country, senior guard Tyler McGhie. The Tritons instead rode a breakneck pace and found 57 second-half points as they leaned into the Mustangs, punishing them for opting to shoot twice as many 3-pointers.
The Tritons won behind 25 points from senior forward Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, second in the nation in free-throw conversions. Junior forward Nordin Kapic contributed 16 hard-earned points by prowling the baseline all night long, cleaning up messes and tracking down errant shots. His eyes were alert, and he instantly offloaded a rebound to McGhie, turning nothing into three Triton points quicker than you could say “reclassification period.”
Tait-Jones punctuated the rout with a two-handed dunk and raised his hands as the lead ballooned to eighteen, and the win was secured. Now, all eyes are back on Liontree Arena once again.
But this time there will be more eyes than once imagined possible. Today, Saturday, Jan. 11, UCSD will play host to UC Irvine — winners of nine straight — in the first-ever nationally televised home game in school history. The top spot in the conference is at stake; the winner will likely represent the Big West in the storied March Madness tournament.
Everybody is looking for the Big Time, but the Big Time is ungovernable. In 1999, a group of UCSD researchers discovered that people visiting New York were 134% more likely to die of a heart attack than people visiting other cities. Beware of the Big Time.
On a brutalist campus in La Jolla — where Michael Jordan and the 1992 Dream Team were pummeled by a group of college kids in a Main Gym scrimmage, where Rob Rittgers made 24 consecutive free throws in a 1988 game against Menlo, and where the past few seasons have all ended with the gut-wrenching finality of “tournament ineligibility due to reclassification period” — the Big Time found a glimmer of stardom and provided UCSD men’s basketball with an opportunity.
Tonight, the Big Time has offered a subtle showdown by the ocean. A Saturday in January is a fine time to make a name and a statement. Buckle up and enjoy the quiet: this is the catbird seat. Welcome to The Show.
