After moving all its athletics programs from Division II to D-I, U.C. San Diego had to spend four years in an NCAA-mandated transition period where they were ineligible to participate in postseason tournaments.
Now that the Tritons men's basketball team is out of playoffs purgatory it looks like it wants revenge.
UCSD obliterated CSU-Fullerton 90-51 on Saturday night in Orange County for its 11th straight win. At one point the Tritons (13-2) outscored the Titans 46-11 as they ran up their largest margin of victory in a Big West Conference game.
Senior guard Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones almost threw a perfect game, going 8-for-10 from the field and making all eight of his free throw attempts for a game-high 24 points. Right behind him was fellow senior guard Tyler McGhie, who finished with 23 that included making four shots from 3-point range. McGhie leads the entire country with 62 made 3-pointers, a fact he's sometimes reminded of as he walks around campus.
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"I've got some people that tell me but I try not to worry about that," says McGhie. "You know, I just try to go out there, play my game. And it's really credit to my teammates, they're the ones that get me open shots."
Even if it's not an open shot, McGhie has the innate ability to get off a clean look because he has one of the quickest releases in the game. In fact, McGee figured out a way to eliminate the "dip" that most shooters use. That means he can catch a pass and go directly into a shooting motion without having to pull the ball down below the chin. It's an incredibly rare skill to possess.
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Amazingly, he only started working on that a year ago.
"It probably gets him an extra shot or two per game in terms of attempts, just because of how quickly he's able to get it off," says Tritons head coach Eric Olen. "That's not not an easy thing to do. It's not something everybody can do but he's been able to add that to his game and it's been significant for him."
And how was he able to perfect the move in such a staggeringly short amount of time?
"I don't know. I just kept working on it and kept doing it," says McGhie. "I feel like, once my feet are set, I can make any shot."
When he says any shot, he really means ANY shot, regardless of where he is on the floor of who's guarding him.
"Of course. I mean, I'm sure that's what I have to think," says McGhie. "My teammates, I feel like they think that way, too. You know, a couple shots go in and they're looking for me."
The NCAA single-season record for 3-pointers is 162, set by a former Davidson College guard named Stephen Curry. At his current pace, and if the Tritons earn that spot in March Madness, McGhie will have a chance to challenge that record.
The Tritons try to run their winning streak to 12 on Thursday night when they host Cal Poly for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff at LionTree Arena. Expect McGhie to launch ... and make ... a three or two.
