No. 5 seed UC San Diego men’s basketball (23-10, 12-8 Big West) will live to see another day, downing No. 8 seed Cal Poly (14-19, 10-10 Big West) 72-69 on Wednesday in Henderson, Nevada. The Tritons quickly found themselves down by double digits; however, thanks to a strong second-half performance — buoyed by 23 points from freshman guard Hudson Mayes and a career-high 20 points from junior guard Tom Beattie — UCSD rallied to a late victory against the Mustangs.
In a turbulent start to conference play, UCSD posted a losing record in its first 13 Big West games. The Tritons rebounded to win six of their final seven games of the regular season, but a loss to Cal State Fullerton last week meant that the Tritons went into the Big West Championship without a coveted bye.
One of those late-season wins came against Cal Poly, and the Mustangs looked for revenge in the first half, jumping out to an early lead. A 7-0 run late in the period increased Cal Poly’s lead to 11 — its largest of the game — before a Mayes triple brought the Tritons back within single digits.
The Tritons finally found their offensive rhythm in the second half, shooting 54% from the field. A 6-0 stretch, capped off by a pair of free throws from sophomore guard Alex Chaikin, gave the Tritons their first lead of the game with 10 minutes remaining.
“Big thing [was] scoring around the basket a little better,” head coach Clint Allard said in a postgame press conference. “We were getting it in the paint, but they were winning the paint point battles in the first half.”
Mayes, who scored 16 points in 14 minutes, spearheaded UCSD’s second-half charge. However, his collegiate postseason debut ended early when Mayes drew his fifth foul with six minutes left.
“I was very aware I had three, four fouls at the time,” Mayes said. “So I tried to, you know, just show my hands as much as I can on defense. You know, obviously, it didn’t go my way a whole bunch. But yeah, I just tried to keep my aggression, but at the same time, be smart, you know, try not to get offensive fouls, which I’m kind of prone to getting because I’m so aggressive and physical on offense.”
Trailing 63-61 with two minutes remaining, Beattie nailed a crucial three from downtown to give UCSD a 1-point lead. Cal Poly scored on its ensuing possession, but redshirt junior forward Bol Dengdit banked in a shot through contact to give the Tritons the lead once again. Following a Mustang miss, Cal Poly resorted to intentionally fouling. A last-second Cal Poly heave from beyond half court fell well short — but not as short as the Mustangs’ season.
UCSD will continue its gauntlet against No. 4 seed Cal State Northridge in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The Tritons lost this year’s season series to CSUN for the first time since joining the Big West, but UCSD will hope to produce a better result with the rest of its season hanging in the balance.
