On Thursday, Jan. 8, UC San Diego men’s basketball (13-4, 3-2 Big West) fell 88-71 to Cal State Fullerton (8-10, 3-3 Big West), a shocking blow to the Tritons’ Big West title hopes. UCSD entered as favorites against a Titan team that was 1-3 in the Big West, but the Tritons’ 17 turnovers swung the night in Fullerton’s favor.
“Not our best effort tonight, didn’t do a lot of things we talked about,” head coach Clint Allard said in a postgame interview with The UCSD Guardian. “Big emphasis today was taking care of the ball. Turning it over 17 times was really a big difference in the game; 26 points off turnovers, gonna be hard to win any game like that, especially against a good team.”
UCSD started the game off hot, jumping out to a 10-point lead after just 10 minutes. Redshirt junior forward Bol Dengdit and sophomore guard Alex Chaikin led the Tritons’ efforts, each tallying 8 points on 50% shooting.
Although UCSD saw its lead dwindle to just one with under four minutes remaining in the first period, redshirt freshman guard Trap Johnson drained two threes on back-to-back possessions to extend the Tritons’ advantage to seven.
However, Johnson’s threes were the last points the Tritons saw in the first half. Titan junior forward Kendrick De Luna’s block and fastbreak layup capped off Fullerton’s 10-0 run to end the first period, with the Titans leading 35-32 at the half. UCSD staggered into the break with a glaring 10 turnovers, going scoreless for nearly four minutes to close the first.
Fullerton continued to stay hot and active in the second period, using live ball pressure to force turnovers and turn them into fast-break points and extra possessions. The Titans boasted a 71.4% field-goal percentage in the first 10 minutes of the period. Titan freshman guard Christian Williams led the charge, putting up 11 points and giving Fullerton a 14-point lead. On the other end, the Tritons went 1 for 6 from beyond the arc and added five more turnovers. Titan guards senior Joshua Ward and graduate student Jaden Henderson pushed Fullerton to a game-high 20-point lead, UCSD’s largest deficit of the season, as the Titans shot an impressive 75% in the second period.
“The initial thing will be cutting down the turnovers, something that is usually a strength for us,” Allard said. “I thought our defense wasn’t good enough, especially in the second half, so we weren’t able to generate anything offensively. We’re kind of always chasing them, so [we have to] try to put ourselves in a better spot and not relax when we get a little bit of a lead.”
This loss flipped the script on what was supposed to be a routine Big West win. UCSD continued its struggles on the road against UC Riverside on Saturday, Jan. 10. After falling behind by double digits, the Tritons escaped with a 69-66 victory. They return home to play Cal State Northridge on Thursday, Jan. 15, hoping to bounce back from consecutive underwhelming performances.
