UC San Diego Tritons Basketball opens season against La Verne
Credit: UCSD Athletics
UC San Diego Men’s basketball kicks off the 2025-26 campaign at home on Monday.
The Tritons will host Division III La Verne Leopards at 7 pm.
UC San Diego is coming off a terrific first postseason-eligible year in Division I, going 30-5. Four of the five losses last year were by less than eight points.
UC San Diego earned five of The Big West’s seven major awards. Senior guard/forward Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones was the Big West Player of the Year, Triton head coach Eric Olen was Coach of the Year for the second straight season, senior point guard Hayden Gray captured Best Defensive Player, junior Chris Howell was named the Best Hustle Player, and junior Justin Rochelin garnered the conference’s Best Sixth Player award, according to UCSD athletics.
The Tritons look to continue their winning ways and defend their regular-season and tournament Big West titles.
The La Verne Leopards come into La Jolla after a disappointing season, ending 7-17. In their previous meeting, last November, the Tritions dispatched the Leopards easily. UCSD put up 109 points and only allowed 33 last time out. Even more impressive, the Tritons only allowed eight first-half points. Look for the Tritons to continue their stingy defense and winning ways against the Leopards.
Since the Tritons’ last game, an NCAA tournament loss to the University of Michigan, there have been several changes.
Head Coach Eric Olen left the Tritons to fill the vacancy at the University of New Mexico. The Tritons now look to former Triton player and captain Clint Allard to lead the team to another Big West title. From the Tritons team last year, there were 10 departures between graduates and transfers. They will return no starters from last year’s team. The Tritons managed to retool their team with an influx of two freshmen and eight transfers.
The Tritons gained transfers from Leo Beath (Lynn), Tom Beattie (Hawai’i), Alex Chaikin (Lafayette), Bol Dengdit (Portland), Tyson Dunn (Buffalo), Trap Johnson (Montana State), Emanuel Prospere II (Missouri-St. Louis), and Dimitrije Vukicevic (Washington State). These eight players bring a variety of experience and skills to this Tritons team. A big thing to look for is whether first-year coach Clint Allard can create cohesion in this group. Luckily for Allard and the Tritons, LionTree Arena has a home advantage with the Tritons holding a 24-7 record there over the last two seasons.
After a few warm-up games, the Tritons will face some challenging games away from La Jolla.
They travel to Orlando to take part in the ESPN Events Invitational, the Jack Jones Classic in Henderson, Nevada, to play Tulane. The Tritons have dates with Mountain West opponents Fresno State and Nevada, which will prove as challenging road matchups. The schedule includes WCC opponents LMU and cross-town rival USD. Of the nine remaining non-conference games for the Tritons, expect them to win at least seven. They would head into conference play at 7-2, mirroring last year’s record.
A Southern California kid from San Clemente, he attended Gonzaga University and obtained a degree in sports management with minors in digital marketing and public relations. Max has been a San Diego sports fan for life.