UC San Diego Makes Boardwalk Battle Look Easy, Hammering Toledo 80-45

Tyler McGhie had 27 points as UC San Diego rolled over Toledo 80-45 Saturday to win the Boardwalk Battle championship in Florida.

McGhie averaged 21 points and four three-pointers per game to be named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

He went 10 for 16 Saturday, including 7 for 11 from beyond the arc for the Tritons (5-2). Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones scored 19 points and added five rebounds to make the All-Tournament Team.

Hayden Gray went 4 of 7 from the field – 2 for 5 from 3-point range – to finish with 10 points. He also had four more steals to lead the nation with 27 on the season.

UC San Diego head coach Eric Olen called his team’s three wins in Daytona Beach “a complete performance.”

“Playing three games in three days was a good test for us,” he continued. “We need to be able to get rest, take care of our bodies, recover and get ready for the next one in these tournament environments – and we did that well this weekend.”

The Rockets (5-2) were led in scoring by Seth Hubbard, who finished with 10 points. Toledo also got 10 points from Sonny Wilson. Javan Simmons had seven points. The loss broke the Rockets’ five-game winning streak.

UCSD took the lead with 8:50 left in the first half and did not relinquish it. McGhie led his team in scoring with 16 points in the first half to help put them up 34-25 at the break.

The Tritons, fueled by an 11-0 scoring run to start the half, extended their lead to 45-25.

McGhie scored a team-high 11 points in the half as his team closed out the win by outscoring Toledo 46-20 after halftime.

UCSD opened the tournament with a 72-67 victory over unbeaten La Salle and earned a spot in the final by capitalizing on 11 JMU turnovers to win 73-67.

The Tritons return to LionTree Arena to host La Verne at 4 p.m. Nov. 30.