UC San Diego Tritons men's basketball

The UC San Diego Tritons men's basketball team is the men's college basketball program that represents the University of California, San Diego. The Tritons compete in NCAA Division I as a member of the Big West Conference (BWC). The team plays its home games at LionTree Arena.

UC San Diego Tritons
2024–25 UC San Diego Tritons men's basketball team
University	University of California San Diego
First season	1965
All-time record	712–683 (.510)[1]
Head coach	Eric Olen (12th season)
Conference	Big West Conference
Location	La Jolla, California
Arena	LionTree Arena (capacity: 4,200)
Nickname	Tritons
Colors	Blue and gold[2]
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
Division III: 1991 Division II: 2016, 2017
NCAA tournament round of 32
Division III: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994 Division II: 2016, 2017, 2019
NCAA tournament appearances
Division III: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994 Division II: 2008, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
Conference tournament champions
CCAA 2008, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Conference regular season champions
CCAA 2017, 2019, 2020

For information on all UC San Diego sports, see UC San Diego Tritons

History

At the end of the 2007–08 season, they won the CCAA tournament and advanced to the first round of the NCAA West Regionals. After a relatively dry spell, the team has seen most of its success in recent years under Eric Olen. In 2015–16, they were the NCAA West Region runners-up. The 2016–17 season was the first in which they won the CCAA regular-season title; they also won the CCAA Tournament and were again NCAA West Region runners-up.^[3] The team won the CCAA Tournament again in 2017–18, but dropped in the NCAA West Regional quarterfinals. The Tritons have the most CCAA Tournament titles of any current CCAA member school, with three.

Triton basketball transitioned to NCAA Division I and the Big West Conference in 2020. They will not be eligible to participate in March Madness until the reclassification period ends in 2024.^[4]

Postseason results

The Tritons have appeared in six Division II tournaments and four Division III tournaments.

NCAA Division II tournament results

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2008	First Round	Alaska Anchorage	L 60–80
2016	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	Chico State Cal Baptist Western Oregon	W 76–64 W 71–69 L 55–60
2017	First Round	Dixie State Cal Baptist Chico State	W 94–68 W 84–80 L 86–94
2018	First Round	Cal Baptist	L 67–81
2019	First Round Second Round	Cal Poly Pomona Point Loma Nazarene	W 61–50 L 50–73
2020	First Round	Western Washington	Cancelled

NCAA Division III tournament results

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1990	Second Round	Nebraska Wesleyan	L 75–77
1991	Second Round Sectional Semifinal	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Otterbein	W 76–72 L 95–108
1992	Second Round	Cal Lutheran	L 70–88
1994	First Round Second Round	Pomona-Pitzer Cal Lutheran	W 67–66 L 81–95

CBI results

The Tritons have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) once in 2024. Their combined record is 0–1.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2024	First Round	Chicago State	L 75-77[5]

Yearly records

The Tritons tip off a 2016 home game against SFSU

Statistics overview

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Pre-Division II (1965–2000)
1965–66	Jack Shawcroft	1–1 (.500)
1966–67	Neale Stoner	9–10
1967–68	Neale Stoner	10–14
1968–69	Neale Stoner	19–8
Neale Stoner:		38–32 (.543)
1969–70	Barry Cunningham	13–14
1970–71	Barry Cunningham	14–12
1971–72	Barry Cunningham	13–13
Barry Cunningham (1969–72):		40–39 (.506)
1972–73	Bill Reeves	13–13
1973–74	Bill Reeves	14–12
Bill Reeves:		27–25 (.519)
1974–75	Barry Cunningham	13–13
1975–76	Barry Cunningham	11–15
Barry Cunningham (1974–76):		24–28 (.462)
1976–77	Dick Satterlee	4–24 (.143)
1977–78	Barry Cunningham	8–19
1978–79	Barry Cunningham	9–21
Barry Cunningham (1977–79):		17–40 (.298)
Barry Cunningham (overall):		81–107 (.431)
1979–80	Ron Carter	17–13 (.567)
1980–81	John Block	9–17
1981–82	John Block	10–16
1982–83	John Block	13–13
John Block:		32–46 (.410)
1983–84	Tom Marshall	11–17
1984–85	Tom Marshall	13–13
1985–86	Tom Marshall	14–12
1986–87	Tom Marshall	18–8
1987–88	Tom Marshall	17–9
1988–89	Tom Marshall	9–17
1989–90	Tom Marshall	20–7			NCAA DIII West Region 2nd round[6]
1990–91	Tom Marshall	23–4			NCAA DIII Sectional Semifinal
1991–92	Tom Marshall	22–5			NCAA DIII West Region 2nd round
1992–93	Tom Marshall	17–8
1993–94	Tom Marshall	21–5			NCAA DIII West Region 2nd round
Tom Marshall:		185–105 (.638)
1994–95	Greg Lanthier	12–13
1995–96	Greg Lanthier	11–14
1996–97	Greg Lanthier	17–8
1997–98	Greg Lanthier	18–7
1998–99	Greg Lanthier	20–5
1999–2000	Greg Lanthier	5–20
Greg Lanthier (Div. III):		83–67 (.553)
Pre-Division II Era:		185–105 (.638)
Division II Era (California Collegiate Athletic Association) (2000–2020)
2000–01	Greg Lanthier	4–23	3–19	12th
2001–02	Greg Lanthier	8–21	5–17	11th
2002–03	Greg Lanthier	7–21	6–16	10th
2003–04	Greg Lanthier	9–18	9–13	7th
Greg Lanthier (Div. II):		28–83 (.252)	23–65 (.261)
Greg Lanthier:		111–149 (.427)	23–65 (.261)
2004–05	Bill Carr	11–16	7–13	8th
2005–06	Bill Carr	15–14	12–8	T-4th
2006–07	Bill Carr	11–16	7–13	8th
Bill Carr:		38–45 (.458)	29–33 (.468)
2007–08	Chris Carlson	18–12	11–9	T-3rd	NCAA DII West Region Quarterfinals
2008–09	Chris Carlson	17–11	13–7	T-5th	CCAA tournament semifinals
2009–10	Chris Carlson	8–17	7–15	9th
2010–11	Chris Carlson	11–17	6–16	11th
2011–12	Chris Carlson	10–17	6–16	11th
2012–13	Chris Carlson	11–15	10–12	7th	CCAA Tournament quarterfinals
Chris Carlson:		75–89 (.457)	53–75 (.414)
2013–14	Eric Olen	15–11	11–11	7th
2014–15	Eric Olen	16–11	14–8	T-4th	CCAA Tournament quarterfinals
2015–16	Eric Olen	24–8	15–5	2nd	NCAA DII West Region Final
2016–17	Eric Olen	27–6	17–3	1st	NCAA DII West Region Final
2017–18	Eric Olen	21–11	15–7	T-3rd	NCAA DII West Region quarterfinal
2018–19	Eric Olen	26–8	17–5	T-1st	NCAA DII West Region semifinal
2019-20	Eric Olen	30-1	21-1	1st	NCAA DII West Region Tournament (Cancelled due to COVID-19)
Division II Era:		300–273 (.524)	215–213 (.502)
Division I Era (Big West Conference) (2020–Present)
2020-21	Eric Olen	7-10	--	No Placement
2021-22	Eric Olen	13-16	--	11th*
2022-23	Eric Olen	10-20	5-13	9th
2023-24	Eric Olen	21-12	15-5	2nd	CBI First Round
Eric Olen:		210-114 (.648)	130-58 (.691)
Total:		849–751 (.531)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

• Games against Big West opponents during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 season are considered non-conference games by the Big West Conference due to DI Reclassification. ^[7]
• UC San Diego is ineligible for conference or NCAA postseason events until the 2024-25 season due to DI reclassification restrictions.

References

1. "Basketball Record Book – UCSDTritons.com—Official Web Site of UC San Diego Athletics" (PDF). UCSDTritons.com. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
2. "UC San Diego Brand Guidelines" (PDF). July 6, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
3. Leonard, Tod (March 13, 2017). "UCSD falls to Chico St. in West Regional finals". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
4. Schneider, Gabe (November 27, 2017). "UC San Diego to Move to Division I Sports". The Triton. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
5. "Season Ends with Loss in Ro College Basketball Invitational". 23 March 2024.
6. "Men's Basketball Postseason History" (PDF). UCSDTritons.com. University of California San Diego. Retrieved March 17, 2018.
7. "2021-22 Men's Basketball Standings".