The 2024–25 UC San Diego Tritons men's basketball team represented the University of California, San Diego during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Tritons, led by 12th-year head coach Eric Olen, played their home games at LionTree Arena in La Jolla, California, as members of the Big West Conference.
This was the first year that the team was eligible for the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, as UC San Diego officially completed their transition to Division I sports. In their non-conference play, the Tritons won the Boardwalk Battle regular season competition. UC San Diego finished the regular season with a record of 28–4, and went 18–2 in conference play with losses to UC Irvine at home and UC Riverside on the road, giving them the Big West regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in their first Big West Conference tournament, they defeated UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals and UC Irvine in the finals, securing them a bid to the NCAA tournament in their first year of eligibility.
In the NCAA Tournament, they were seeded as the No.12 seed in the South region, where they fell short to Michigan 68–65 in the first round. The Tritons ended their season 30–5, 18–2 in Big West play.
The Big West named Eric Olen as the conference’s coach of the year for the second time in a row. Senior Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones was selected on the All-Big West First Team alongside senior Tyler McGhie. Tait-Jones was also named Big West Player of the Year. Senior Hayden Gray was named Best Defensive Player as well as part of the All-Big West Second Team. Junior Chris Howell was named Best Hustle Player and redshirt junior Justin Rochelin was named Best Sixth Player.
Previous season The Tritons finished the 2023–24 season 21–12, 15–5 in Big West play to finish in second place. Since they were in the final year of the a four-year mandatory transition period from Division II to Division I, they were ineligible to participate in the Big West tournament. They received an invitation to the CBI, receiving the #2 seed, where they would be upset by Chicago State in the first round.
Offseason
Departures Seven players from the 2023-24 roster left UC San Diego, including one graduate and five transfers. Michael Pearson Jr. left for Cal State Los Angeles, and Justin DeGraaf donned the Grace College red and white. Francis Nwaokorie transferred to Loyola Chicago, Bryce Pope transferred to the Trojans and Emmanuel Tshimanga went to New Mexico State. J'Raan Brooks signed a contract to play professionally with the Leicester Riders.
DeparturesNameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometown Reason for departure 2 G 5'9" 160 RS Sophomore Tracy, CA Transferred to Cal State Los Angeles 3 F 6'7" 210 Junior Hudsonville, MI Transferred to Grace College 4 G 6'3" 185 RS Senior San Diego, CA Transferred to USC 14 F 6'6" 185 Freshman Lafayette, CA Not on team roster 25 C 7'0" 270 RS Senior Montreal, Quebec Transferred to New Mexico State 33 F 6'9" 215 RS Senior Seattle, WA Graduated 35 F 6'7" 220 Junior Brooklyn Park, MN Transferred to Loyola Chicago
Incoming transfers UC San Diego added five transfers to its lineup: Justin Rochelin from Oregon State, Chris Howell from Saint Mary's, Nordin Kapic from Lynn, Milos Vicentic from McKendree, and Maximo Milovich from Biola. Kapic, Vicentic and Milovich all transferred from Division II schools.
Incoming transfersNameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownPrevious School 5 G 6'5" 205 RS Junior Encino, CA Oregon State 8 G 6'6" 195 Junior San Diego, CA Saint Mary's 24 F 6'8" 245 Junior Vienna, Austria Lynn 31 F 6'7" 220 Graduate Student Belgrade, Serbia McKendree 33 F 6'8" 213 Graduate Student Buenos Aires, Argentina Biola
Recruits
Preseason Big West Conference Preseason Poll The Big West Conference released its preseason coaches' poll on October 15, 2024. The Tritons were predicted to finish third in the conference with 77 points.
RankTeamPoints 1.UC Irvine92 (8) 2.UC Santa Barbara85 (2) 3.UC San Diego77 4.UC Riverside75 (1) 5.UC Davis67 6.Cal State Northridge57 7.Hawai'i46 8.Long Beach State39 9.Cal State Bakersfield28 10.Cal State Fullerton22 11.Cal Poly11(#) first-place votes
Big West Preseason All-Big West Team
Senior guard/forward Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones was named to the preseason All-Big West Team.
Player SchoolBarrington HargressUC RiversideJustin HohnUC IrvineTY JohnsonUC DavisKeonte JonesCal State NorthridgeStephan SwensonUC Santa BarbaraAniwaniwa Tait-JonesUC San Diego
Roster
Regular season
Early non-conference games
San Diego State The Tritons started their season at a fully packed Viejas Arena against the San Diego State Aztecs. KSDT Sports, a UC San Diego student-run sports and radio organization, broadcast this event live. Both teams performed neck-to-neck, with six ties and eight changes in leading position, until San Diego State came back on top in the final ten minutes to secure a 63-58 win over UC San Diego. Senior Tyler McGhie led the Tritons with 21 points scored and five out of nine three pointers, while Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, another senior, was the only other Triton who scored double figures with 13 points. Junior Nordin Kapic led the Tritons with 8 assists and senior Hayden Gray led with 4 assists and 4 steals. Chris Howell, Milos Vicentic, Justin Rochelin and Maximo Milovich, as well as Kapic, all made their Triton debut, and all but Milovich scored in the game. Despite scoring 32.8% for field goals and 38.5% for three-pointers, the Tritons dropped to 0-1.
Pepperdine The Tritons next played against the Pepperdine Waves at Liontree Arena. This game served as the home opener for UC San Diego. Five Tritons scored in double figures: Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones with 25 points, Tyler McGhie with 20 points, Hayden Gray with 14 points, Nordin Kapic with 13 points and Justin Rochelin with 11 points, a career high; all of which contributed to a 94–76 win over Pepperdine. Tait-Jones scored 9 for 11, while Hayden Gray made 5 steals and 7 assists. UC San Diego was able to open the gap in the first half by some scoring runs, large enough to not turn over the tables when Pepperdine started doing so in the second half, and the Tritons responded with another run to gain space and achieve the win. Ryder Elisaldez, Jasen Brooks and Yaqub Mir all made their first Triton appearances on the court. UC San Diego scored 49.2% for field goals and 42.1% beyond the arc. The win moved the Tritons up to 1–1.
Sacramento State The Tritons continued their play at La Jolla, next facing the Sacramento State Hornets. Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones led with 21 points and 8 rebounds, Tyler McGhie added with 17 points, and Chris Howell set a career high in assists at a number of 7. The game stayed in the favor of the Tritons, who kept a lead in the entire game except for an early 4–4 tie, but Sacramento State made sure the gap wasn’t too large. They did attempt to decrease the gap, but that wasn’t enough as the Tritons won 64–54. Although the Tritons didn’t shoot ideally, it was sufficient to move them on to 2–1.
Seattle Next, the Tritons faced off the Seattle Redhawks at Liontree Arena. The match didn’t work in the Tritons’ favor, with the Redhawks producing layups, jumpers and three-pointers to lead 30-12 with 12 minutes into the game. After finishing 28-49 in the first half, the Tritons managed to reduce the gap, coming within single digits on some occasions, but that wasn’t enough to win over the Redhawks, and the Tritons suffered their second loss of the season, dropping to 2-2. Three Tritons scored in double figures: Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, Nordin Kapic and Tyler McGhie, all scoring at least 6 field goals and 1 free throw. Kapic scored a season high of 19 points.
Boardwalk Battle La Salle The Tritons then headed over to Daytona Beach, Florida to participate in the Boardwalk Battle. They were no strangers to Florida, having been upset by Chicago State last season in the College Basketball Invitational just at the Ocean Center. The first opponent in the tournament that the Tritons were facing was the La Salle Explorers, who was unbeaten so far in the season. The game opened strong for UC San Diego, and within five minutes, they led La Salle 17–3. But as the game progressed, the Explorers made its way back into the contention, and both teams went neck to neck in the remainder of the match, with neither team able to have a dominating lead. In the end, Tyler McGhie made two free throws that secured a 72–67 Triton win. McGhie was also the top scorer on the Tritons side, scoring 27 points and succeeding in all free throws awarded. Hayden Gray also scored double digits, but Nordin Kapic was the first Triton of the season to have a double-double — 18 points and 10 rebounds. The win moved the Tritons on to 3–2 on the season.
James Madison In the Boardwalk Battle semifinals, the Tritons went head-to-head with the James Madison Dukes. The Dukes started off with a 7–2 run, but a three pointer from Nordin Kapic and a layup by Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones started a long phase where both teams stuck close to each other, with 4 lead changes and 6 tie scores. In the final seven minutes of play, the Tritons broke off from a 57–57 tie and proceeded to the finals with a 73–67 win. This win moved the Tritons to 4–2. Tait-Jones led the Tritons with 21 points, while Hayden Gray led the entire NCAA Division I with 23 steals.
Toledo On November 23rd , the Tritons faced the Toledo Rockets at the Boardwalk Battle finals. After a back-and-forth first half with four ties and seven lead changes, the Tritons led 34–25 at the end. After halftime, the Tritons came back on a roll, knocking off with an 11–0 run, and after a Toledo timeout, brought out a 13–0 run. At that time, the gap was too large for the Rockets to launch themselves close enough to the Tritons, who won the championships with a 80–45 win. The Tritons set two records in this match: 45 points as the fewest points allowed to a D1 opponent, and 35 points as the largest margin of victory against a D1 opponent. Tritons shot 56.1% of their attempted field goals. Hayden Gray maintained his position as NCAA D1’s top stealer with 27 total steals, Tyler McGhie scored 27 points, including 7 three pointers, and was named the tournament MVP. Justin Rochelin set his career high with 8 rebounds.
La Verne Heading back to La Jolla, the Tritons faced the La Verne Leopards after a week’s break. This is the first time this season the Tritons are playing against a non Division 1 opponent. The Tritons started off strong with an 18–0 run, and the gap only went up until a 50–8 halftime score. In the second half, bench Triton players had more minutes to play, and the Tritons finished with a 109–33 win, the lowest amount of points that UC San Diego has given up since moving up to NCAA Division I. All 12 active Triton players participated in the game and scored at least 4 points along with 2 rebounds each. Half of them scored in double figures: Tyler McGhie, Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, Justin Rochelin, Aidan Burke, Ryder Elisaldez and Cade Pendleton. Justin Rochelin lead the team with 15 points, Hayden Gray added 4 more steals to his stats, while Aidan Burke scored four out of five beyond the arc.
Early conference games UC Santa Barbara