UC San Diego: 2024-25 Big West Men's (and Women's) Basketball Champions

HENDERSON, Nev. — The UC San Diego women’s basketball team cut down the net in the Lee’s Family Forum after winning the Big West tournament Saturday to claim an elusive NCAA berth in the university’s first year of full Division I membership.

Workers emerged from the back, climbed up a ladder and replaced the net.

Three hours later, the UCSD men’s team cut it down again.

Snip, snip, snip. It’s a beautiful sound.

The fever dream continues for the Tritons, beating UC Irvine 75-61 to win their 30th game of the season and now go national with what has heretofore been a regional phenomenon.

That makes it a record three San Diego men’s or women’s teams to qualify for the Division I Big Dance. A fourth, San Diego State’s men, will learn if it receives an at-large berth during the Selection Show on Sunday afternoon (3 p.m., CBS).

There was some question whether top-seeded UCSD (30-4), with major metrics in the top 40, would receive an at-large berth should they lose in the Big West tournament and need one. We’ll never know because they overcame a nine-point deficit in the first half, then gradually pulled away from the second-seeded Anteaters behind a barrage of 3-pointers from senior guard Hayden Gray, one deeper than the last.

Gray finished with a Division I career-high 22 points on 8 of 10 shooting (6 of 7 from 3) on a night when UC Irvine bottled up UCSD’s top two scorers.

The other star was their defense, holding the Anteaters to 33.9% shooting and 7-foot-1 German center Bent Leuchten to 10 points after he had 23 in each of the two regular-season meetings.

The Tritons built their dream season on a five-out offense predicated on the 3-ball and a matchup zone defense that teams generally don’t see. But their real secret might be something else: turnover margin.

It’s simple mathematics. If you attempt more shots than your opponent, you have a better chance of winning. And if you turn it over, you’re not taking a shot.

They entered the game ranked fourth nationally with only 13.2% of possessions ending in a miscue, and second nationally with their opponents coughing it up 23.5%. In the semifinals Friday night against UC Santa Barbara, they had a season-low three.

A day later, they had three in the opening 12 minutes and seven by halftime, an inordinate number for them. The Anteaters converted them into seven points and built a 25-16 lead.

All things considered, though, trailing just 33-31 at intermission was a blessing of sorts, because it could have been far worse. Leading scorer Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones had six points but needed nine shots to get them. Tyler McGhie, their second leading scorer, had two points and two fouls.

Gray came to the rescue, scoring their next eight points after coach Eric Olen called timeout down nine. But Gray needs to produce the way the Anteaters defend the Tritons, putting Leuchten on Tait-Jones and parking him under the basket (given Tait-Jones’ hesitancy to shoot 3s) and face-guarding McGhie to limit his clean 3-point looks.

The unique defensive scheme worked in the first meeting, a 60-52 Anteaters win at LionTree Arena on Jan. 11. It didn’t work as well in the return game at UC Irvine, an 85-67 Tritons win on Feb. 8. McGhie had five points in each.

And it was more of the same Saturday night on a neutral floor.

The Tritons got their first lead since 12-9 on a lean-in baseline jumper by McGhie with 17:25 to go, and they never trailed again.

UC Irvine got within four with four minutes left, but Devin Tillis drove baseline and lost the ball into the basket standard. UCSD went to the other end, and Nordin Kapic splashed a 3 from the right corner.

Next Irvine possession: Another turnover.

Next UCSD possession: McGhie 3, his first of the game after being 0 of 5.

Next Irvine possession: turnover.

Next UCSD possession: A free throw by Tait-Jones (14 points) for an 11-point lead with 2:34 to go.

The Tritons — yes, the program that was Division II five years ago — are going dancing.

Snip, snip, snip.

Forget the fish and chips...I'll stick to fasting.

As I got back from watching the home team fare well in women's tennis and women's hoops (finally!), I made a recent discovery

So Ted Neeley is well into that Farewell Tour, in the most recent incarnation of Jesus Christ Superstar. For someone who is 64 years old and counting, and reprising the lead role he had in the 1973 film, as well as other tours...I have more respect for him now that I did before I heard about the tour. It takes courage to nail an old man to a cross, even if it's in the name of dramatizing a rock opera who's namesake piece is a favorite of my band.

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Speaking of which, I found out that Northern Iowa's marching band also plays Jesus Christ Superstar. At least we're not the only one making this a tradition.

That's one of the traditions that our university's pep band still plays to this day. This has been a tradition since the 1970's. It's a favorite for nearly four decades at this university. One time last year, a few Irvine stiffs showed a sign questioning the choice of song our guys played. I said, "It's a tradition here. Don't mess with it, you shirtlifting Zots."

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I think we should make this song a favorite to listen to, especially since this is the Lenten season.

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I joked about the fish and chips that the Tritons owe us after the match. Ironically, devout Christians are not allowed to eat meat on Fridays, hence the fish and chips. Go figure.

Of course though, once the Tritons took Game 3 of the 4-game win for the Beach against UC San Diego, I thought, "Oh, forget it. Let's just make these guys pay for preventing the sweep of conventional wisdom," and they got it done. Mercy, that third game was the story of last year. When you are your own worst enemy (with apologies to Lit), your season will come to no Christian end. It's a fact.

Fish and chips and volleyball...a Friday night house party?

Sam German was a British chocolatier who introduced his own brand of chocolate, German chocolates, in 1852. Fast forward over a century later to 1957, when an anonymous homemaker (with presumably too much time on her hands) submitted the recipe for German chocolate cake (dispelling the myth that it was a creation from Germany). The recipe called for Sam's baker's chocolate, combined with coconut, and native pecans. Mr. German would be surprised that this was, in a way his legacy. And I don't think Hitler would have had the luxury to taste this treat. If he did, he'd embrace it just as much as exterminating the Jews, that's for sure.

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I'm blogging this outside the doors of the green entrance of the Mike & Arline Walter Pyramid. This is the smoking zone. Thank God there are no puffers right now. I write this at the top of the steps. Below me is the Ukleja Family Hall of Honor, where a meeting with Diane Higgs and the Graduate Program in Sport Management would be in order in a couple hours. (As of this blog, it's already done.)

The Dirtbags have finished their afternoon training, and have headed off to their dorms, homes, classes and what-have-you. They would clash with the National Chumps from Rice University in about two weeks time, kicking off a schedule to die for, especially if you're from the Boston Red Sox.

I am writing about Friday's volleyball contest against UC San Diego. A buzzer sounds. Practice is going on, with Mary Hegarty's women's basketball team practicing for the game against Pacific and Jake "the Snake" Harry on Thursday. Looking at the Tritons' record (4 wins and 7 losses) as the Campus Bell rings 5:00, the Tritons come into the contest like lambs to the slaughter. They are just as talented as, say, our men's basketball team. I have to question Monson's uniform last Saturday. I mean, what the hell what he trying to impersonate. Bloody Chuck Norris? An impersonation that Billy Barty could have done better at? Or has this poor guy lost his mind, like I did when we fell to Bakersfield (oh mercy, I don't want to take about that game)? I leave it to your responsibility to ask the Taekwondo Master about that. I was in awe with his ability to accurately kick the advertisement board in frustration like a side show gone wrong. I have my way of showing my frustration, but Dan Monson takes it to a higher [sic] level. The student is pleased.

Now, back to the fools from La Jolla. First off, WHY is Kevin Ring still their head coach? I mean, heading into the season he was 7 and 50. As in 7 wins, and 50 losses. (He currently is at 11-57 heading into this match.) Note that the Department of Athletics web site does not mention about the inept record in Ring's bio, because if that was mentioned, their would be severe recruiting repercussions.

Also, the team is playing without one of their aces, so to speak. Their Donovan Morris of the team, if you will. His name is Will Ehrman, a 5-11 sophomore from Punahou, in Honolulu, and he is out due to a severe injury. Because of this, the Tritons are playing the type of volleyball that is so poor, their women would dust them off. Atrocious. That's why they come into this match like lambs to the slaughter. Everyone in the Pyramid (even the UCSD faithful) knows that the Tritons are going to be sandwiched, roofed, aces, killed, and every expletive by the likes of Paul "The Chopman" Lotman, Dustin "The Stache" Watten, Mean Dean Bittner, Danny Arcadia (Dan Alexander), Michael P. Klipsch (Setterney At Law), Fletcher Anderson (a.k.a. #8), and Tommy "Cretino" Pestolesi and the crew.

Now here's the kicker: in our last game with these punks, we had a rough year of our own. One of those defeats (17 in all, against 11 wins), did come at the hands of the Tritons, in La Jolla. This was the first defeat in 10 matches, snapping a winning streak dating back to the days of the Great Touzinsky (Scott). And the kicker after that: the last time those Tritons won here was in 1983 - in the Gold Mine, during Ray Ratelle's second season, with Bob Ctvrtlik at the controls! Those punks have never won a match at the Myd, and the last time they won a game was in 1995, in Game 2. That was the only gmae they EVER one. The last time they were here, they were swept. Overall, they are 3-47 against us (as of right now).

I think the Tritons owing us some fish and chips after this glorified scrimmage is over has a nice Ring to it. Don't you think?