UC San Diego Tritons at California Golden Bears
· NCAA Men's Basketball
Cal has 26-point lead erased before beating UC San Diego 71-67
Cal and UC San Diego met for the third consecutive season, with the Tritons winning the past two matchups.
Aimaq threw down an alley-oop dunk, off a nice pass by Jaylon Tyson, to give Cal a 65-61 lead. Emmanuel Tshimanga made two free throws for UCSD, but Jalen Celestine answered with a 3-pointer for a five-point lead.
Tshimanga made two more free throws and Cal turned it over, leading to Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones' layup to get UCSD within 68-67 with 22 seconds left. Keonte Kennedy hit two free throws for Cal — which started the game going 6 of 14 from the stripe — for a 70-67 lead.
Tyler McGhie was short on a 3-pointer for UCSD and Celestine sealed it by making 1 of 2 free throws.
Tyson came off the bench to score 13 points for California (4-7). Celestine scored 12 and Kennedy had 10 points, five assists, three steals and two blocks.
Cal scored the opening 10 points of the game and extended its lead to 21-2. The Golden Bears also went on a 9-0 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 34-8.
UC San Diego scored 21 of the first 27 points of the second half to get within 50-48. Cal went without a point for over five minutes, missing six straight shots, during UCSD’s 14-0 run.
UCSD took its first lead of the game at 56-55 on Bryce Pope’s deep 3-pointer with 8:55 remaining, erasing Cal’s 26-point advantage.
McGhie had 20 points and five 3-pointers for UC San Diego (6-6). Pope added 14 points.
Six of UC San Diego’s seven field goals in the first half were from behind the 3-point arc. The Tritons shot just 25% from the field, while Cal went 18 of 30 (60%).
Cal, which concluded its noncoference schedule, will open Pac-12 Conference play against No. 4 Arizona on Dec. 29. The Bears were coming off an 88-78 loss to hot-shooting Ole Miss in San Antonio last Saturday.
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Recent Plays
| 2nd 0:00 | End of Game | 67 - 71 |
| 2nd 0:00 | End of 2nd half | 67 - 71 |
| 2nd 0:00 | California Deadball Team Rebound. | 67 - 71 |
| 2nd 0:00 | Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones missed Jumper. | 67 - 71 |
| 2nd 0:09 | Jalen Celestine made Free Throw. | 67 - 71 |
Statistics
 UCSD |
 CAL |
|
|---|---|---|
| 19-57 | FG | 26-54 |
| 33 | Field Goal % | 48 |
| 11-33 | 3PT | 10-22 |
| 33 | Three Point % | 45 |
| 18-25 | FT | 9-18 |
| 72 | Free Throw % | 50 |
| 43 | Rebounds | 30 |
| 14 | Offensive Rebounds | 5 |
| 29 | Defensive Rebounds | 25 |
| 14 | Assists | 19 |
| 4 | Steals | 9 |
| 0 | Blocks | 5 |
| 13 | Turnovers | 9 |
| 0 | Team Turnovers | 0 |
| 13 | Total Turnovers | 9 |
| 0 | Technical Fouls | 2 |
| 0 | Total Technical Fouls | 2 |
| 0 | Flagrant Fouls | 0 |
| 14 | Points Off Turnovers | 16 |
| 5 | Fast Break Points | 19 |
| 14 | Points in Paint | 32 |
| 15 | Fouls | 18 |
| 3 | Largest Lead | 26 |
Game Information
Location: Berkeley, CA
Attendance: 2,516 | Capacity:
2025-26 Big West Conference Standings
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVER |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawai'i | 2-0 | - | 10-2 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 2-0 | - | 8-4 |
| UC Irvine | 2-0 | - | 7-5 |
| UC San Diego | 1-0 | 0.5 | 10-2 |
| Cal State Northridge | 1-1 | 1 | 7-5 |
| UC Riverside | 1-1 | 1 | 6-6 |
| Cal Poly | 1-1 | 1 | 5-8 |
| UC Davis | 0-1 | 1.5 | 5-5 |
| Cal State Fullerton | 0-2 | 2 | 5-7 |
| Cal State Bakersfield | 0-2 | 2 | 5-8 |
| Long Beach State | 0-2 | 2 | 3-9 |
2025-26 Atlantic Coast Conference Standings
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVER |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 0-0 | - | 11-0 |
| California | 0-0 | - | 11-1 |
| North Carolina | 0-0 | - | 10-1 |
| Virginia | 0-0 | - | 9-1 |
| Miami | 0-0 | - | 10-2 |
| Virginia Tech | 0-0 | - | 10-2 |
| Louisville | 0-0 | - | 9-2 |
| SMU | 0-0 | - | 9-2 |
| Stanford | 0-0 | - | 9-2 |
| Clemson | 0-0 | - | 9-3 |
| Notre Dame | 0-0 | - | 9-3 |
| Wake Forest | 0-0 | - | 9-3 |
| NC State | 0-0 | - | 8-4 |
| Georgia Tech | 0-0 | - | 7-4 |
| Syracuse | 0-0 | - | 7-4 |
| Florida State | 0-0 | - | 6-6 |
| Pittsburgh | 0-0 | - | 6-6 |
| Boston College | 0-0 | - | 5-6 |