The Schedule
Game No. 19
UC San Diego Tritons (5-13, 4-11) @ Cal State Stanislaus Warriors (9-12, 5-11)
Friday, February 12, 2010
Warrior Arena (2,000) • 7:30 pm

Game No. 20
UC San Diego Tritons (5-13, 4-11) @ Chico State Wildcats (12-9, 8-8)
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Acker Gymnasium (2,143) • 7:30 pm

What's On Tap
After snapping a five-game skid with an impressive victory over Cal State L.A. on Saturday, the UC San Diego men's basketball team will look to carry the momentum into a pair of critical road contests this week. The Tritons will head to Cal State Stanislaus for a matchup with the Warriors on Friday, before traveling to Chico State to lock horns with the Wildcats on Saturday. As usual, both contests are scheduled to tip at approximately 7:30 p.m. following the women's games. After this weekend's contests, UCSD will return home for a single game against Cal State East Bay on Feb. 16, before taking on San Francisco State and Cal State Monterey Bay on the road Feb. 19 and 20.
 
For the Record
UCSD heads to Turlock with an overall record of 5-13 and a 4-11 mark in California Collegiate Athletic Association play after splitting home games with Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State L.A. last week. The Tritons' comeback bid fell short in a 68-58 loss to the Toros on Thursday, but they responded with one of their best performances of the season two nights later, leading wire-to-wire in an 83-77 triumph over the Golden Eagles. Saturday's win marked UCSD's first victory since defeating San Francisco State in double overtime on Jan. 16, a span of six games. The Tritons currently sit in 11th place in the conference standings, two games out of the final CCAA Tournament berth with seven to play.

Balance On Offense the Difference vs. CSULA
A total of four players reached double figures against Cal State L.A. on Saturday, as UCSD shot 47.5% from the field and scored 83 points in the six-point win over the Golden Eagles. While Jordan Lawley and Christian Hatch did the bulk of the scoring, tallying 29 and 23 respectively, Tyler Acevedo chipped in with 13 and Casey Ryan added 12, marking the second time this season four Tritons finished with 10 or more. The same four reached double figures in UCSD's win over San Francisco State three weeks ago, as the Tritons erupted for a season-high 93 points in a thrilling double overtime victory. Lawley leads the CCAA in scoring at over 21 points per game, but its easy to see that UCSD is a much better team when other people are contributing.  

Cal State Stanislaus At A Glance
Cal State Stanislaus carries an overall record of 9-12 and a 5-11 mark in the CCAA into Friday's game after falling at Chico State, 72-64, on Tuesday night. Jordan Stokes scored 13 points to lead the way for the Warriors, but the Wildcats drained 10 threes en route to the eight-point win. Stanislaus began the week ranked eighth in the conference offensively, averaging 63.5 points per game, while the defense has allowed 64.3, a figure that ranks seventh. Senior guard Chad Johnson is the only player averaging double figures for the Warriors at 10.1 points per game, while also dishing out a team-high 2.0 assists. Junior center Frank Monge is the team's leading rebounder, hauling in 7.0 boards per game to go with 9.0 points on 61% shooting. UCSD holds a narrow 15-13 advantage in the all-time series with Stanislaus after winning the first meeting of the year on Jan. 9. Jordan Lawley scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Jay Wey put in 13 off the bench in the 81-72 victory at RIMAC Arena.

Chico State At A Glance
Chico State currently holds an overall record of 12-9 and an even 8-8 mark in the CCAA after knocking off Cal State Stanislaus on Tuesday. Senior guard Jon Baird scored a game-high 21 points, as the Wildcats snapped a two-game losing streak. Chico entered competition this week with the conference's seventh-ranked offense, averaging 64.3 points per game, while the defense ranked eighth, giving up 64.5. Baird leads three Wildcats averaging double figures at 13.8 points per game and is the team's biggest three-point threat, with 63 triples on the season. Junior forward Roderick Hawkins is not far behind, averaging 11.3 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds through 21 games. The Tritons have won 10 of 21 previous meetings with Chico State, but the Wildcats took the first meeting of the year, 77-68, on Jan. 7 at RIMAC Arena. Lawley led all scorers with 22 points and Tyler Acevedo added 16, but it wasn't enough as Chico shot 53% in the second half and escaped with the nine-point win.

Law Man
Senior guard Jordan Lawley is having a career year for the Tritons and enters play this week leading the CCAA in scoring at 21.1 points per game. He has been on an absolute tear the last two months, scoring in double figures in 15 consecutive games and reaching the 20-point mark 11 times during that span. The Lodi native is also averaging a career-best 5.6 rebounds and dishing out a team-high 3.0 assists, while shooting 45% from the field. Lawley earned his second CCAA Player of the Week award of the season on Monday after averaging 26.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists against Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State L.A. last week. He scored a game-high 24 points in the 68-58 loss to the Toros, converting 7-of-10 attempts from the field and 3-of-4 from the three-point line, and also finished with a team-high seven boards. Lawley was even better in the 83-77 win over the Golden Eagles, tallying 29 points on 9-for-18 shooting to go with four rebounds, three assists, and a block. For the week, he shot better than 57% from the field and sank 5-of-11 from downtown, 45.5%.

Front and Center
Christian Hatch was tremendous in the Tritons' win over Cal State L.A. on Saturday, scoring a career-high 23 points and hauling down 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. After scoring just two points in UCSD's loss to CSUDH, the sophomore center converted 7-of-16 shots from the floor and went 9-for-12 at the free throw line against the Golden Eagles, recording his second double digit scoring effort in three games. Hatch has been in the starting lineup for all 18 games this season and enters competition this week averaging 7.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per night. A native of Henderson, Nev., he ranks third on the team in scoring and second in rebounding.  

Mr. Efficiency
Casey Ryan shot better than 82% from the field last week, converting 14-of-17 attempts against the Toros and Golden Eagles. The junior guard was tremendous in the loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills, scoring a career-high 19 points on a near-flawless 9-for-10 shooting performance from the floor. He also hauled down eight rebounds in a game-high 38 minutes. Ryan registered his second career double-double against Cal State L.A. two nights later, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go with 11 boards and four assists. After scoring in double figures just twice in UCSD's first 16 games, Ryan averaged 15.5 points last week and is now averaging 7.1 points on the season. He leads the team in field goal percentage at 59%, while his 6.9 boards are also tops on the squad.  

Lending A Hand
The Tritons have been sharing the ball well lately, averaging better than 13 assists over the last seven games. UCSD recorded 10 assists on 21 field goals in the 68-58 loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills on Thursday and then tallied 19 on 28 baskets in the 83-77 victory over Cal State L.A. two nights later. Saturday's total was just one shy of the team's season-high of 20 assists, which came against San Francisco State on Jan. 16 when the game went into double overtime. Four players finished with at least three dimes against the Golden Eagles, as Tyler Acevedo tallied five, Casey Ryan finished with four, and Jordan Lawley and Jake Tarabilda dished out three apiece. For the season, UCSD is averaging 11.7 assists per game, which ranks seventh in the conference.