{"id":162714,"date":"2026-02-04T00:01:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T00:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/162714\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T00:01:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T00:01:13","slug":"lbsu-kicks-off-stretch-of-important-home-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/162714\/","title":{"rendered":"LBSU Kicks Off Stretch of Important Home Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n Game Notes (PDF)<\/a>
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\n Triton Box Office<\/a>
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LA JOLLA, Calif. \u2013\u00a0UC San Diego is back at LionTreee Arena on Thursday when the Tritons welcome Long Beach State to La Jolla for the annual Celebrating Black Excellence game. UC San Diego (15-8 overall, 5-6 Big West) has dropped three straight conference games for the first time in three years.
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\nLong Beach State (8-15, 4-7) sits one game behind the Tritons in The Big West standings. The top eight teams will qualify for the championship tournament next month in Henderson, Nev.
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\nWhen these teams met two months ago in the conference opener, UC San Diego earned a six-point win at Long Beach. Thursday’s contest gets underway at 7 p.m. and tickets are available through the Triton Box Office<\/a>. The game will feature live broadcasts on ESPN+ and KSDT, with a link to live stats on UCSDTritons.com.
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\nDETAILS<\/p>\n


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\n\t\t\tGame 24: UC San Diego (15-8, 5-6) vs. Long Beach State (8-15, 4-7)
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\n\t\t\tThursday, Feb. 5 | 7 p.m.
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\n\t\t\tLionTree Arena (4,000) | La Jolla
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\n\t\t\tESPN+<\/a> | KSDT<\/a> | Live Stats<\/a>
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\n\t\t\tSeries Record: UC San Diego leads, 5-4 (all Division I)
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\n\t\t\tLast Meeting: Tritons 80, LBSU 74 (Dec. 6)
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\nABOUT THE TRITONS
\nRoster<\/a> | Schedule<\/a> | Stats<\/a>
\nOverall: 15-8
\nBig West: 5-6
\nHome: 5-5
\nAway: 6-3
\nNeutral: 4-0
\nvs. Ranked Opponents: 0-0
\nStreak: L3
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\nABOUT THE BEACH
\nRoster<\/a> | Schedule<\/a> | Stats<\/a>
\nOverall: 8-15
\nBig West: 4-7
\nHome: 7-5
\nAway: 1-10
\nNeutral: 0-0
\nvs. Ranked Opponents: 0-0
\nStreak: L4<\/p>\n

WHAT’S NEXT

\nUC San Diego heads west to take on Hawai’i Saturday night on O’ahu. The game tips at 9 pm PT and will be broadcast on ESPN+ and 97.3 The Fan in San Diego, with a link to live stats on UCSDTritons.com.

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\nLAST TIME OUT: CSUN 81, TRITONS 64 Stats<\/a>

\nUC San Diego freshman\u00a0Hudson Mayes<\/a><\/a>\u00a0scored 11 points, pulled down eight rebounds and had five assists, but it wasn’t enough as host CSUN bested the Tritons, 81-64, Saturday inside Premier America Credit Union Arena.\u00a0Leo Beath<\/a><\/a>\u00a0added 10 points and seven rebounds,\u00a0Alex Chaikin<\/a><\/a>\u00a0chipped in ten and\u00a0Bol Dengdit<\/a><\/a>\u00a0scored nine and grabbed six rebounds. The loss was the third straight for UC San Diego (15-8 overall, 5-6 Big West).

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\nFour Matadors scored in double figures in the win. Josiah Davis scored 10 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had ten assists for CSUN (13-10, 6-5). Mahmoud Fofana led all scorers with 22.

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\nLAST TIME VS. LONG BEACH STATE: TRITONS 80, BEACH 74 (Dec. 6) Stats<\/a>

\nUC San Diego junior\u00a0Aidan Burke<\/a>\u00a0scored a career-high 18 points as the Tritons began Big West play with an 80-74 win at Long Beach State Saturday night inside the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid. The Tritons shot 52% overall and 45% from distance on the way to the victory.

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\nBol Dengdit<\/a><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Leo Beath<\/a><\/a>\u00a0each scored 14 in the win, with\u00a0Alex Chaikin<\/a><\/a>\u00a0adding 11. UC San Diego improved to 8-1 overall (1-0 Big West) while the Beach wraps up Big West Bold Week with a 2-8 record (0-2 in conference).

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\nTHE COMFORTS OF HOME

\nUC San Diego will play five of its seven games in February inside LionTree Arena. The only road tests will take place against the top two teams in the standings: Saturday at Hawai’i and Feb. 21 at UC Irvine.

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\nCHAIKIN IT UP

\nUC San Diego adjusted its starting lineup for the first time this season when sophomore Alex Chaikin<\/a> was inserted into the first five vs. CSUN (Jan. 15). Chaikin responded with a season high 22 points and six three-pointers in the game. Against Big West opponents, Chaikin is second in The Big West, shooting 46.5% from beyond the arc. His 3.0 threes per game ranks third.

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\nMAYES MAKES HIS MARK

\nFreshman Hudson Mayes<\/a> matched set a new career high with 19 points, pulling down a personal best 12 rebounds in a career-high 29 minutes off the bench at UC Davis (Jan. 22) \u2013 marking his second career double-double. Mayes leads the team in field goal percentage, connecting on 55.9% of his attempts. In Big West play, Mayes is tops in the conference from the free throw line, hitting 89.5% of his shots (34-38). Mayes made his first career start vs. UCSB (Jan. 29).

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\nON THE REBOUND

\nUC San Diego handed Hawai’i its first conference loss, 83-73 (Jan. 3). The Tritons outrebounded the Rainbow Warriors, 33-29, despite UH holding a league-best +11.2 rebound margin coming in.

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\nLOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK

\nThe Tritons dropped three consecutive Big West games for the first time since Feb. 2-15, 2023, when UC San Diego lost four straight conference games.

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\nPACKING ‘EM IN

\nUC San Diego played in front of a sellout crowd vs. UC Irvine on Jan. 24. The Tritons are second in The Big West in home attendance during conference play, averaging 2,953 per home game.

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\nA NEW FLOOR

\nUC San Diego scored a season-low 48 points in a loss to UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 29). The Tritons’ 22 first half points vs. the Gauchos is UC San Diego’s lowest scoring half this season.

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\nDOUBLE TROUBLE

\nFirst-year Triton Bol Dengdit<\/a> posted a double-double in back-to-back games: 10 points, 10 rebounds vs. Stanton (Dec. 28) and 12 points, 12 rebounds at Cal Poly (Jan. 1). He blocked three shots in back-to-back games (Dec. 19 vs. USD, Dec. 28 vs. Stanton).

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\nDRAINING ‘EM FROM DISTANCE

\nUC San Diego tied an NCAA Division I single game record when nine Tritons sank three-pointers in a win over Towson at Walt Disney World (Nov. 26). Over the three-day tournament, UC San Diego shot 51.9% from beyond the arc \u2013 hitting 40 of 77 attempts.

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\nA PROSPERE-OUS NIGHT

\nFirst year Triton Emanuel Prospere II<\/a> paced UC San Diego in a 26-point victory over Tulane in the Jack Jones Classic (Dec. 13). He scored 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting in the win. Prospere’s 20 points, eight rebounds, and four steals were all a season high.\u00a0

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\nKEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY

\nWith a 26-point victory over Tulane in the Jack Jones Classic (Dec. 13), UC San Diego has won all three games it’s played three games at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada. The Tritons also downed UC Santa Barbara in the 2025 Big West semifinal and UC Irvine in the 2025 Big West Championship. The conference’s postseason tournament will be held at that venue again in 2026.

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\nLISTEN UP!

\nUC San Diego and Audacy have partnered to bring Tritons basketball to 97.3 The Fan \u2013 home of the San Diego Padres \u2013 in a multi-year deal. All remaining Big West road games this season \u2013 plus postseason games \u2013 will air live on 97.3 The Fan and stream on the Audacy app.

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\nMICKEY’S MOST VALUABLE

\nFirst year Triton Leo Beath<\/a> was named Most Valuable Player at the Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational, leading UC San Diego to three wins in three days at Walt Disney World (Nov. 24-26). Beath averaged 23.7 points per game, shooting 61.9% over three games. He drained 9-of-13 three-point attempts (69.2%) and averaged four rebounds and 1.7 steals per game in the victories over Temple, Bradley, and Towson.

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\nRACKING UP THE AWARDS

\nAfter being named tournament MVP at the Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational, Leo Beath<\/a> piled up the awards. The following week, he was selected Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week by the USBWA, named the Lou Henson Award-winner as mid-major’s top performer, voted Big West Player of the Week, and garnered UCU Athlete of the Week honors on campus. The Big West honor was Beath’s second of the season (also Nov. 17). Beath was named to the Lou Henson Award watch list on Dec. 18.

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\nA YEAR TO REMEMBER

\nIncluding the postseason, the Tritons were 29-5 in 2025.

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\nTRITONS IN THE PROS

\nThree Tritons from last year’s Big West Championship team are playing professionally this year. Tyler McGhie<\/a> is playing for Gipuzkoa Basket in Spain, Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones<\/a> is competing with Valmiera Glass in Latvia, and Hayden Gray<\/a> is playing in the NBA G League for the Maine Celtics (Boston).

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\nAbout UC San Diego Athletics

\nAfter two decades as one of the most successful\u00a0programs in\u00a0NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as\u00a0a\u00a0member\u00a0of The Big West in\u00a0NCAA Division I. The 24-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in\u00a0Divisions\u00a0II\u00a0and III and helped guide\u00a01,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world’s preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in NCAA Division I or II.\u00a0For more information on the Tritons, visit\u00a0UCSDtritons.com<\/a>\u00a0or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media\u00a0@UCSDtritons<\/a>.\u00a0

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