Trailing the Gauchos after only five minutes, UC San Diego men’s basketball (15-8, 5-6 Big West) was unable to catch up with UC Santa Barbara (15-7, 8-3 Big West), resulting in a painful 62-48 loss on Thursday. The low-scoring game followed a heartbreaking loss against the Anteaters only five days prior, pushing the reigning champions down to sixth in the Big West standings.
The game kicked off with the Gauchos scoring in the first minute. Redshirt junior forward Bol Dengdit responded with the Tritons’ first 2 points, leading the team with 15 points scored throughout the game.
“I really liked his approach and mentality,” head coach Clint Allard said in a postgame interview with The UCSD Guardian. “He wasn’t forcing; I think he was aggressive but let the game come to him.”
After some back-and-forth between the two teams, UCSB took the lead five minutes in, not letting the Tritons catch up for the rest of the game.
Coming into the game, UCSB boasted an average season field-goal percentage of 48.6%, the highest in the Big West — giving the Gauchos any opportunity to score was a big mistake. As the Tritons struggled to control the ball, the Gauchos took advantage of easy scoring opportunities. Fumble after fumble led to points for the Gauchos, who scored 10 off Triton turnovers in the first half alone.
“Clearly, we struggled on the offensive end,” Allard said. “We competed defensively against the best offense in our league and made it hard on them. But offensively, between missing some shots around the rim and the biggest thing, obviously, was the turnovers — can’t have 19 turnovers.”
After eight Triton turnovers, a meager lead time of a minute and a half, and a field-goal percentage of 33.3%, the first half ended 35-22 in UCSB’s favor.
Despite UCSD’s efforts, the gap between the Tritons and the Gauchos only grew during the second half. The Tritons committed 11 turnovers throughout the half; freshman forward Jaden Vance led the team with five overall.
Fouling also became an issue for the Tritons in the second half. Sophomore guard Alex Chaikin amassed three fouls in the second half, which gave way to three easy points for the Gauchos, who had a free-throw average of 70%.
“A lot of that came down to decision-making,” Allard said. “We need to do a better job of helping these guys figure out what decisions [to make] because obviously, [the] game [is] full of them, and we made too many of the wrong ones today.”
Where the Gauchos were dynamic and synchronized, the Tritons tripped over their feet — both literally and figuratively. Poor decision-making, incomplete passes, and fumbles led to a brutal 62-48 loss.
On Saturday, the Tritons extended their losing streak to three in a bitter 81-64 loss against Cal State Northridge. The Tritons will return to LionTree Arena on Thursday to face Long Beach State. UCSD will look to hand the Beach another loss after an 80-74 win in their previous meeting on Dec. 6.
