UC San Diego men’s basketball (0–1, 0–0 Big West) opened their season with a 58–63 loss in a crosstown matchup against San Diego State University (1–0, 0–0 Mountain West) on Wednesday night. The Aztecs finished the previous season ranked No. 17 in the AP poll, and before the game, they hung up their fourth Sweet Sixteen banner. The Tritons, however, remained unfazed by the pre-game celebrations and left with a respectable 5-point loss. This was the second consecutive year where the match ended close; last December’s game between the two teams ended with a heartbreaking last-second loss for the Tritons.
This year’s edition of the crosstown matchup featured a new cast of characters for UCSD. Bryce Pope, the Tritons’ leading scorer from last season, transferred to the University of Southern California, while Francis Nwaokorie, another starter, transferred to Loyola University Chicago. Entering the fold this season are five new transfers, including junior forward Nordin Kapic and junior guard Chris Howell — both of whom won positions in the starting lineup.
While a number of players left through the transfer portal, some core members of the team remained, including senior forward Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, who was selected to the All-Big West Preseason Team. UCSD Head Coach Eric Olen, entering his 12th season at the helm, expected a good performance from the experienced players.
“We have an older group, and those guys played a lot of basketball last season for us; they know what we’re trying to do on the floor, and they’re good basketball players. I know that not everyone in the building expected us to play well, but we expect to have success,” he said in a post-game interview with The UCSD Guardian.
The Tritons started the game strong, jumping out to a 5–2 lead, but things quickly went downhill. They scored only 1 field goal of 19 during an abysmal stretch, as SDSU’s strong interior defense prevented Triton points in the paint. Even though they drew free throws, the Tritons only shot 36.4% from the line in the first half.
“I think that we left some points on the board in the first half, around the basket and at the free throw line, and we felt like we had some opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on,” Olen said.
Things started to click late in the half, and UCSD went on a 12–0 run. The Tritons weren’t playing at their best, but the Aztecs’ shots stopped falling, and UCSD was able to capitalize. They entered halftime only down 2 points, with the momentum in their favor.
The first half was marred by poor shooting from both teams; the Aztecs managed to shoot 32% from the field, while the Tritons shot a dismal 18%. The lone bright spot for the Tritons was senior guard Tyler McGhie’s performance, splashing 3 threes in the first half.
UCSD carried their momentum from the first half into the second and came out hot after halftime. Shots began to fall as the Tritons found themselves in open space. Leading the charge was McGhie, who scored 12 points on perfect shooting in the first few minutes of the half. The senior was the catalyst for a 12–2 Triton run that pushed UCSD into the lead.
“My teammates were giving me open looks; [I was] thankful for them,” McGhie said after the game. “It was good stuff, and the ball was just going in, and I was glad.”
There were 7 minutes left in the game, and the Tritons were up by 5. The SDSU student section sat silent. Last year, with 7 minutes left, the Tritons had a 14-point lead, but they proceeded to go scoreless for 5 minutes. With a lead and 7 minutes left on the clock this year, the Tritons once again failed to score for the next 4 minutes, and the Aztecs took back the lead on a 12–0 run.
In the final minutes of both games, the Aztecs were able to make the necessary defensive stops that the Tritons could not. “There’s two teams out there, and I think both times, they were the team that made the plays in crunch time situations,” Coach Olen said. “We’ll watch the film and figure out some things that we can improve on, but I don’t know that I can point to one thing.”
During this crucial stretch, McGhie did not shoot the ball.
“It was tough. I don’t know, I was trying to get open. That’s something I’m gonna work on, for sure,” McGhie said.
The Tritons never recovered from the Aztecs’ run. A late three from Howell provided a glimmer of hope, but with time running out, the Tritons were unable to rally late. The game ended in a 58–63 defeat.
Despite not taking a shot in the final 10 minutes, McGhie finished the game leading the Tritons in scoring with 21 points, including 5 threes. Tait-Jones also contributed 13 points, most of which came in the second half, before fouling out late. While the Tritons didn’t take the win, McGhie was pleased with their defensive performance.
“I was proud of our defense. It’s a great team, obviously, probably one of the best on our schedule, and we came here and competed really hard,” he said.
This is the closest that SDSU has come to losing their season opener since the 2012-13 season when they lost to a No. 9 Syracuse team that would go on to make the Final Four. The Aztecs’ next opponent will be Occidental College on Tuesday.
UCSD’s home opener was on Saturday against Pepperdine, where they took their first win of the season. With the Division I transition period over, the Tritons will look to qualify for the Big West tournament and March Madness for the first time this season.