8:07 p.m. The Tritons blow past the Gauchos, 69-51, advancing to their first-ever Big West Championship final in their first season of eligibility. After a rough first half, UCSD pulled away in the second to take a comfortable victory.
8:04 p.m Gray records his second steal of the game, tying the Big West single-season steals record set by UNLV’s Greg Anthony in 1989-90. Gray currently leads the country in steals per game and defensive win shares. The Tritons are up 67-49 with only a minute left.
7:58 p.m. UCSB does not look like it has a lot left offensively, and the Gauchos have struggled to get back into this game, with a recent five-minute stretch where they failed to score a single field goal. UCSD is still up by double digits, 60-45, with four minutes remaining.
7:30 p.m. Kapic with the triple! The Tritons are on a 15-0 run after a technical foul was assessed to Shtolzberg. Highlights during the run include a Howell slam and a beautiful 3-pointer from sophomore guard Aidan Burke. UCSD is now up 46-32, with 12 minutes remaining.
7:08 p.m. The second half is now underway here at Lee’s Family Forum. The Tritons struggled early on, but down only one, they are still very much in this game.
6:51 p.m. Niwa comes alive! Tait-Jones has scored the last 7 points for the Tritons after a rough start to the game. The Tritons are down 27-26 as we enter halftime.
6:43 p.m. UCSB takes its first lead of the game on a triple from graduate student guard Stephan Swenson, and a stepback jumper by junior guard Ben Shtolzberg widens the lead to five. The Gauchos are now on an 11-0 run; they lead 24-19 with three minutes remaining in the half.
6:30 p.m. The Triton defensive scheme is working excellently against the Gauchos early on. UCSB is shooting under 30% from the floor and has been forced to chuck up bad shots on several possessions. The Tritons lead 17-13 with just under eight minutes left in the half.
6:02 p.m. No surprises in the UCSD lineup tonight: senior guard Hayden Gray, junior guard Chris Howell, senior guard Tyler McGhie, senior forward Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, and junior forward Nordin Kapic. Tip off goes to the Gauchos.
5:45 p.m. We are 15 minutes away from tip off in Henderson, Nevada, at tonight’s Big West semifinal matchup. The No.1-seeded Tritons (28-4, 18-2 Big West) will look to extend their 13-game winning streak, the second longest in the country, against their opponents, No. 5 UC Santa Barbara (21-12, 11-9 Big West). I’m Alan Zhang, and I’ll have live updates and analyses for you throughout the game.
