UC San Diego and the University of San Diego each scored wins Saturday as they head toward Friday night’s crosstown meeting at LionTree Arena.
Forwards Leo Beath and Emanuel Prospere II scored 21 and 20 points, respectively, as the Tritons improved to 9-1 with a 93-67 rout of Tulane late Saturday night at the Jack Jones Classic in Henderson, Nev.
And the Toreros snapped a five-game losing streak Saturday afternoon in a 78-69 victory over Northern Arizona at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
UC San Diego outscored the 7-4 Green Wave 35-15 over the final 12-plus minutes of the first half to open a 53-31 lead at intermission. The Tritons shot 46.7% from the field (35-for-75), outrebounded the Green Wave 50-34 and turned the ball over just 12 times while making 10 steals. Seventeen of the Tritons’ rebounds came on the offensive end.
Prospere, a 6-foot-5 graduate transfer from Missouri-St. Louis, scored 12 of the Tritons’ first 20 points. He had 16 of his 20 points in the first half, plus three assists and three steals.
“Tulane played a matchup zone and we wanted to get it to Emanuel in that soft spot in the middle,” said UCSD coach Clint Allard. The Tritons finished the game with 46 points in the paint.
Also helping the Tritons to their third 50-point half of the season was the offensive rebounding.
“We took the right shots,” said Allard. “We had their defense scrambling. When we missed, we were able to chase the offensive rebounds down. I think we always have a spurt in us. We downed some perimeter shots in the first half.”
Beath finished with eight rebounds and six assists to go with his 21 points. Prospere finished with his 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. Tom Beattie had 12 points and six rebounds. Bol Dengit had 10 points. And guard Aidan Burke had nine points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
The game was played at the site of the Big West Conference Tournament that was won by UCSD last season in its first year of eligibility. The 9-1 start to the 2025-2026 season represents the Tritons’ best start as a Division I program.
Meanwhile, guard Ty-Laur Johnson scored 10 of his game-high 23 points during a game-closing 18-12 USD run. Guard Toneari Lane hit five 3-point shots for USD, which also got 10 points from guard Adrian McIntyre. Eleven Toreros scored and 10 played at least nine minutes as balanced USD improved to 4-6. Northern Arizona fell to 4-6.
“We’re glad to get back into the winner’s circle,” said USD coach Steve Lavin. “It’s for morale as much as the win itself. But you also need that pep in your step as you finish out the semester. I think we’re going to see some significant progress. It’s going to be all basketball, practice and games, until the start of the spring semester.
“We shot the ball well today. Confidence is an element, I thought we saw that today. We know we have the potential to shoot well. And we were sharing the ball. Johnson had no turnovers and 20-plus points. Lane hit those 3s, which allowed us to keep some distance. And there’s five players rotating on the front line. They are all different which creates some matchups for us.”
USD shot 50% from the floor and went 10-for-23 from 3-point range. The Toreros got 21 points off turnovers.