Men’s Basketball Claims First-Ever Regular Season Big West Championship

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UC San Diego captured a share of its first-ever Big West regular season men's basketball title with a 70-63 victory over visiting Long Beach State Thursday night in LionTree Arena. Playing in their final regular season home game, Tyler McGhie and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones each scored 20 points in lifting UC San Diego (27-4 overall, 17-2 Big West) to the win the Tritons' 12th straight game. Chris Howell added six assists and five steals without committing a turnover—along with a huge block in the final minutes as UC San Diego wrapped up its home slate with a 13-2 record in LionTree Arena.

How it happened

In a sluggish first half, the Tritons still found themselves up by ten at halftime. UC San Diego shot just 38% but forced 13 Long Beach turnovers en route to the lead. The Tritons got a buzzer-beating three from McGhie to go into the locker room up double digits. McGhie led all scorers with eleven points in the first half, knocking down three three-pointers. Tait-Jones chipped in eight, and Howell added three assists and three steals. Keyed by two more threes from McGhie, the Tritons used a 10-0 run in the second half to go up 45-27, with 15:48 left—their largest lead of the night. Long Beach battled back with an 11-1 run. A layup and three-pointer from Long Beach's Devin Askew cut the deficit to single digits, 63-57, with 4:40 left. UC San Diego got the big block from Howell and some clutch free throws from McGhie to hold on down the stretch.