Cal State Bakersfield downed UC San Diego, 70-57, Thursday, snapping a four-game win streak for the Tritons, who fell one game back in the Big West with three games to play.
Celebrating its seniors before the game, the Roadrunners (12-17, 7-11 Big West), led by Kaleb Higgins, improved to 10-4 at home at the expense of UCSD (19-10, 13-4 BW), which fell one game behind UC Irvine in the conference standings.
Tyler McGhie led the Tritons with 16 points on four three-pointers, and Bryce Pope added 14. J’Raan Brooks scored 12 and pulled down a season-high nine rebounds, while Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones scored ten and grabbed five rebounds.
“Bakersfield deserves credit for the way they played, they made things really difficult for us,” said UC San Diego head coach Eric Olen. “This wasn’t our best performance overall – specifically on the offensive end – but I liked our fight and I’m confident we’ll bounce back.”
It was a sluggish start for UCSD, as the team turned the ball over four times early and trailed 7-0 at the first media timeout. Bakersfield led 9-0 before a three from Brooks broke the Tritons’ early scoring drought.
UCSD, trailing by nine, embarked on a 7-0 run capped by a McGhie three and a Pope driving layup drew. The Tritons tied the score for the first time at 23 with a strong drive to the rim from Francis Nwaokorie.
Cal State Bakersfield led 29-27 at the break. Higgins led all scorers with 17. Brooks paced the Tritons with 10 points and five rebounds. UCSD limited the ‘Runners to 33% shooting (10-for-30) and the Tritons held a slim 18-17 edge on the glass, but the Tritons committed an uncharacteristic nine first-half turnovers.
UCSD took its first lead of the game, 37-36, on a three-pointer from McGhie at the 15:35 mark of the second half. A short time later, he knocked down a three from the wing to put the Tritons on top, 43-41.
But with the game tied at 52, the ‘Runners went on an 8-0 run, finished by a three-pointer from Marvin McGhee III. The home team had a couple of transition dunks down the stretch to pull out the win.
UC San Diego shot just 29% after the break and went an uncharacteristic 10-of-17 from the free throw line in the second half after sinking all six first half free throws.
The 13-point margin of defeat Thursday marked the Tritons’ largest in Big West play this season. During the first meeting between the two teams in late December, the Tritons led from start to finish.
UC San Diego concludes its Big West road schedule at 5 p.m. Saturday when the Tritons visit CSUN.
