The last time UC San Diego lost a game, coach Eric Olen’s team responded by running off a 12-game winning streak.

Thursday, the Tritons (14-3, 4-1 Big West) visit Long Beach State (7-10, 3-2 Big West) with hopes of bouncing back from Saturday’s loss to UC Irvine. The Anteaters won 60-52 at LionTree Arena in a nationally televised game that propelled the Anteaters (15-2, 5-0 Big West) to a one-game lead for first place in the conference.

The loss was UC San Diego’s first since an 84-71 home loss to Seattle University on Nov. 16.  Still, the Tritons are ranked 10th in the latest Mid-Major Top 25 Poll — Irvine is third — and know that plenty of chances remain, including another shot against the Anteaters on Feb. 8.

UCSD struggled from the field Saturday, going 6 for 35 from 3-point range; the Tritons’ 52 points were a season low.

“The Big West and really, any conference regular season is unrelenting,” Olen said. “You have to learn from what you did and get better from it…Our process is pretty much the same no matter what. What did we do well? Let’s build on that. What didn’t we do well? Let’s improve it. We just keep working towards our best basketball and I feel confident that if we play our best basketball, the results will follow.”

Meanwhile, it’s been a strange season for Long Beach under first-year coach Chris Aker. The former San Diego State assistant led LBSU to a season-opening win over Division III La Verne, then lost eight in a row before winning five straight.

Long Beach is coming off an 84-73 win at UC Davis, paced by guard Devin Askew’s career-high 32 points.

Next up: 7 p.m. Thursday at Long Beach State. Streaming: ESPN+.

Toreros struggling

The University of San Diego (4-14, 1-4 WCC) has dropped four straight, none worse than Saturday’s 103-56 home loss to conference leader Saint Mary’s.

Sophomore guard Joey Chamma matched a career-high with 14 points against the Gaels, while freshman guard Tony Duckett (Carlsbad High School) fell a point shy of his fourth straight game in double figures. The previous high for points allowed was 93 in a loss at No. 18 Gonzaga on Jan. 8.

Thursday night, the Toreros will host Washington State (13-5, 3-2 WCC). The Cougars have dropped two straight, including an 88-75 road loss to Gonzaga on Saturday.

Next up: 7 p.m. Thursday vs Washington State. Streaming: ESPN+.

PLNU on a roll

Point Loma Nazarene (14-4, 7-1 PacWest) carries a four-game winning streak into Thursday’s game against third-place Biola (11-5, 5-3 PacWest).

The Sea Lions defeated Biola 82-67 at Golden Gymnasium on Dec.11.

Senior forward Luke Haupt (St. Augustine High School) has been named to the Bevo Francis Top-100 Watch List as announced by Small College Basketball. Haupt, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, has started all 18 games and is averaging 13 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists per game. His 31 steals are most on the team.

Next up: 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Biola. Streaming: team1sports.com/biola/.

Clippers head east

The G League’s San Diego Clippers (5-3) are coming off a 116-113 overtime win at Oklahoma City on Tuesday. They’ll visit Washington D.C. on Thursday for a game against the Capital City Go-Go (4-3). Forward Trentyn Flowers scored a career-high 32 points in Tuesday’s victory. The Clippers rank second in G League scoring with an average of 117.9 points per game.

Next up: 10 a.m. Thursday at Capital City. Streaming: ESPN+.