Box Score: UC San Diego 73, Sonoma State 64
LA JOLLA, Calif- Junior
Steven Pratt scored a season-high 19 points and added six assists and five rebounds while the Sonoma State men's basketball team led in virtually every statistical category. However, the Seawolves were plagued with fouls for much of the contest and host UC San Diego converted 29 of 38 free throws, helping the Tritons to a 73-64 victory on Thursday night at RIMAC Arena in La Jolla.
With the loss, Sonoma State falls below .500 at 4-5 overall and 2-3 in CCAA play. UC San Diego rises to 7-4 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
The Seawolves shot better (46.2 percent-44.4 percent), converted more three pointers (6-2), handed out more assists (15-13), rejected more shots (4-1), and had more steals (7-5), but the most lopsided number came at the free throw line -- and it didn't favor Sonoma State. While the Seawolves converted 10 of 12 shots from the charity stripe, the Tritons hit on 29 of 38 from the line, making 17 more free shots than SSU attempted.
UC San Diego's Ryan Casey hit on 13 of 18 from the line, en route to his game-high 28 points. He barely missed a double-double, corralling nine rebounds and passed out a team-high five assists. Christian Hatch dropped in 19 points for the Tritons and James McCann added 16.
Pratt, who shot 6 of 10 from the field, again led SSU with six assists, the eighth time he's led the team in that category this season.
Matthew French added double-figures in the loss, chipping in with 10 points.
Will Olsem scored the first two points of the game, giving the Seawolves an early lead, but the Tritons scored seven straight points and held the lead for much of the first half. Two free throws by UCSD's Ryan Wheeler gave the Tritons their largest first half lead at eight points with 11:15 left, but the Seawolves would chip away at the lead and knotted the game at 28-28 with 35 seconds left. Casey gave UC San Diego the halftime lead (30-28), though, on a layup with five seconds left.
In the second half, Olsem regained the lead for Sonoma State with a three-pointer at the 17:40 mark to take a 33-32 lead. However, it would be the last lead the Seawolves would see the rest of the way. The Tritons would eventually extend their lead to 11 points with under seven minutes remaining in the contest and the Seawolves could not get within seven points the rest of the way.
UCSD held a slight advantage on the boards (31-30) and forced 18 SSU turnovers. The Seawolves forced just 12 Triton miscues.
Sonoma State will ring in the new year on Sunday when it welcomes archrival Humboldt State to The Wolves' Den at a special 3 p.m. start time. It will kickoff a season-long five game home stand that will welcome in defending national champion Cal Poly Pomona (Jan. 6), Cal State San Bernardino (Jan. 8), San Francisco State (Jan. 13) and Cal State Monterey Bay (Jan. 15), all at 7:30 p.m. in Rohnert Park.
