Your Local SEO and Digital Marketing Experts in San Diego County
UC San Diego’s men’s basketball team will carry a nine-game winning streak into what amounts to a final tuneup before conference play when they take on Occidental on Saturday at LionTree Arena.
UCSD leads the all-time series 18-9; the Tritons won last season’s game 98-67.
The Tritons (11-2, 2-0 Big West) return to conference play when they visit Cal State Fullerton (4-9, 0-2 Big West) next Saturday at 6 p.m. (ESPN+).
Starting with that visit to Fullerton, the final 18 games will be against conference competition and the Tritons look to be strong candidates for taking the regular season crown and entering the March 12-15 conference tournament in Henderson, Nevada as a top seed.
A big reason has been how coach Eric Olen’s team has navigated a nonconference portion of the season well enough to rank 10th in the latest Mid-Major Top 25 Coaches Poll and 58th in the latest NCAA NET rankings.
No other Big West team is ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25 while UC Irvine is next in terms of NET at No. 59.
Additionally, UCSD’s most impressive win, a 75-73 road victory over previously unbeaten Utah State on Dec. 17, looks even better after Utah State won 75-68 at St. Mary’s (10-3, 1-0 WCC, NET of 56) last Sunday.
The Tritons have been models of consistency as Olen has gone with the same starting lineup for every game while utilizing a solid rotation of 8-10 players for most games.
Also, as senior guard Hayden Grey (Sante Fe Christian High School) pointed out after the win over USD, it’s a deeply experienced squad, particularly the senior trio of Grey, Anawaniwa Tait-Jones and Tyler McGhie.
“We have a lot of confidence in ourselves, in our coaches but also, a lot of us have played a ton of basketball,” said Grey, who leads the nation averaging 3.92 steals per game. “We’ve got guys who’ve logged so many minutes and been in tight situations numerous times. That gives us confidence as far as taking care of the ball, making the right decisions. We don’t really get rattled.”
Next up: 4 p.m. Saturday vs. Occidental (4-3) LionTree Arena. TV/streaming: ESPN+.
Toreros look to snap losing skid
USD (3-9) enters Saturday’s game against Grand Canyon (8-4) at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood looking to snap a four-game losing skid.
Coach Steve Lavin’s team has put together positive stretches of play and posted some encouraging individual efforts but a combination of youthful inexperience, injuries and poor shooting have contributed to the team’s poor record.
According to sophomore forward Santiago Trouet, who posted a career-high of 20 rebounds in last week’s loss to UCSD, players are doing their best to maintain a positive outlook.
The Toreros open a stretch of 18 straight WCC games to close the regular season on Monday when they host Pacific.
“It can be hard when you are losing the way we have but I think guys are sticking together and focusing on playing with energy,” Trouet. “It’s a long season and we have a lot of games to play, especially going into conference play, so we definitely have to stay positive.”
Next up: 4:30 p.m. Saturday vs. Grand Canyon in the West Coast Hoops Showcase at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. TV/streaming: None.
PLNU look to bounce back
Point Loma Nazarene (10-4, 3-1 PacWest) is coming off consecutive losses for the first time this season heading a stretch of 16 straight PacWest games to close the regular season.
The Sea Lions sit atop the league and remain favorites to capture a fourth straight regular season title but could face strong competition, particularly from Biola (9-3, 3-1 PW) and Academy of Art (7-4, 3-1 PW).
PLNU already owns wins over both teams and ranks near the top of the league in several statistical categories.
Next up: 4 p.m. Thursday vs. Fresno Pacific (4-9, 1-4 PW). Golden Gymnasium. TV/streaming: pacwestnetwork.tv.
Originally Published:
Your Local SEO and Digital Marketing Experts in San Diego County