SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State men's basketball team clinched a playoff berth for a fourth consecutive season on Thursday with an 87-60 victory over Cal State San Marcos.
Junior Jase Wickliffe led the Golden Gators (16-8/12-7 CCAA) with a career-high 30 points as the Gators cruised past the Cougars (6-19/3-16 CCAA) for SF State's fifth win of the season by 20 or more points.
- The Gators held Cal State San Marcos to 34.9 percent (22-of-63) from the field. The Gators are 9-0 when holding opponents to less than 37 percent.
- SF State is 6-0 this season when holding opponents to 60 points or fewer.
- Chiefy Ugbaja made history with steal with 13:16 to go in the second half. It was the 153rd of his career, which moved him into sole possession of the program lead in career steals. He passed Nefi Perdomo (2009-14), who he tied with in the Gators' win over Cal State Monterey Bay.
- Jiday Ugbaja scored 15 points, his 17th time this season in double digits.
- Big men Zane Paddon and Ryne Williams both went 2-for-5 from distance and added eight points apiece.
- The Gators dominated the glass 44-30, led by 11 from Chiefy Ugbaja. Tyler Jackson and Michael Diaz both matched career highs with nine and eight, respectively.
- Wickliffe became the fourth Gator this season to register a 30-point game (Ryne Williams, 33; Jiday Ugbaja, 31; Jordan Balser, 31)
- As part of the team's Purple Out promotion, the Gators wore purple at home for the first time this season and improved to 3-2 in the purple jerseys. They'll return to the home whites on Saturday for Senior Day and are 9-3 in that uniform. SF State is 4-3 in the team's black road uniforms.
SF State led wire-to-wire. The Gators started off with a long ball from Williams and never looked back.
Michael Diaz's free throw at the 14-minute mark put the Gators up 10. The Cougars stuck around and a Darae Elliott steal and dunk pulled CSUSM to within three.
Jiday Ugbaja and Williams each scored five consecutive points to run the lead back to double digits, 26-13. The Cougars countered with a 10-0 run that pulled the Cougars within two points. The teams traded three-pointers and the Gators headed into the locker room up two, 37-35.
Wickliffe had just six points through the first 20 minutes but wasted no time in the second half. He buried a three-pointer and converted a pair of free throws to put the Gators up six.
Chiefy Ugbaja's historic steal with 13:16 to go led to an another Wickliffe bucket and a couple of
Chiefy Ugbaja buckets grew the lead back to double digits. With the crowd into it, SF State surged from there and outscored the Cougars 31-15 over the final nine minutes. The Gators were wildly effective, going 10-of-15 from the field while holding the Cougars to just 5-of-15 over that span.
The Gators will have Senior Day on Saturday, February 23 versus UC San Diego. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. The SF State Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will also be collecting non-perishable items for the CCAA Food Drive. Be sure to follow San Francisco State men's basketball on Twitter and Instagram at @sfstate_mbb.
