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UC San Diego (8-2) has won six straight and is off to a 2-0 start to Big West Conference play following last Saturday’s 81-60 home win over Cal State Bakersfield.
Coach Eric Olen’s team is No. 20 in the Mid-Major Top 25 and now faces a three-game non-conference road swing starting with Sunday’s game at Idaho (4-6) and continuing Tuesday at Utah State (9-0) and next Saturday at USD (3-7).
One important element to the team’s success has been turnover differential.
One key has been the emergence of junior forward Nordin Kapic, a transfer from Lynn University in Florida who grew up in Vienna, Austria.
After matching a season-high with 19 points in a Dec. 5 win at UC Santa Barbara, the 6-foot-8 Kapic scored 25 in the win over Bakersfield while making a season-high seven 3-pointers on eight attempts.
“He’s played really well for us, made a ton of progress,” Olen said. “He did not shoot the ball well (at Santa Barbara) so I am really proud of him for just coming out and just sticking with the process. Trust his work. He knows what shots we want him to shoot and we have confidence he’ll make ‘em.”
Next up: 4 p.m. Sunday at Idaho (4-6). TV/streaming: ESPN+
Toreros look to snap 3-game skid
It’s been tough sledding for coach Steve Lavin’s USD team. The Toreros (3-7) who have dropped three straight, including Tuesday’s 76-70 home loss to a 4-8 Long Beach State squad.
The Toreros have enjoyed some strong individual performances but have an effective field goal percentage of 45.5%. which ranks 336th in Division I. Their 3-point shooting percentage of 25.7% ranks 351st.
“It’s a season where we knew coming in that we had a lot of new pieces, 15 underclassmen, the youngest team in school history for the second consecutive year and seven new pieces as well,” coach Lavin said. “And so, we’ve been disjointed, the hope is to get to a place where we have a more level or consistent performance and that starts in practice.”
Next up: 4 p.m. Saturday at Fresno State (3-7). TV/streaming: Mountain West Network.
PLNU off to hot start
So far, so good for Point Loma Nazarene (10-2, 3-0 PacWest).
The No. 24-ranked Sea Lions have won six of their last seven, including Wednesday’s 82-67 home victory over Biola (8-2, 2-1 PacWest). PLNU trailed by 13 in the first half but scored 51 in the second and committed a season-low four turnovers in the win over a Biola team that received votes in last week’s Division II poll.
The Sea Lions are seeking a fourth consecutive PacWest regular season title.
Next up: 7 p.m. Saturday at Concordia (6-3, 1-1 PacWest). Streaming: Team1Sports.com
Clippres hit busy stretch
Paced by RayJ Dennis’ season-high 24 points and 12 assists and 17 forced turnovers, the San Diego Clippers (7-5) pulled out a 115-113 win at Salt Lake Thursday night.
The team continues a three-games-in-four-days stretch this weekend at Santa Cruz. The Clippers will then wait to find out who they play in the G League showcase, which runs from Dec. 19-22 in Orlando, Fla.
Next up: 7 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday at Santa Cruz (6-6). Streaming: NBAGleague.com.
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