UC San Diego, in its first season of NCAA Tournament eligibility, is going to the Big Dance after clinching its first Big West championship with a 75-61 victory over UC Irvine on Saturday night in Henderson,

Jones' 20 points, the top-seeded UC San Diego Tritons defeated the No. 5-seeded UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 69-51 in the Big West Conference Tournament semifinals

UCSD won five of the seven awards handed out by the league. UC Irvine’s Jurian Dixon, a St. Augustine High School graduate, was named the Big West Freshman of the Year and Cal State Bakersfield’s Jemel Jones, a transfer from South Suburban College, was named Newcomer of the Year.