SAN FRANCISCO - Facing their toughest opponent so far this season, UC Santa Cruz fell into an early hole it couldn't recover from in a 93-45 loss at San Francisco State on Tuesday night.

The Division II Gators started the game on a 19-0 run. The Banana Slugs (2-13) didn't hit their first basket until almost eight minutes had been played when Sohan Kshirsagar connected on a three-pointer. The hosts however kept the lead in double-digits throughout the contest, which was the first meeting between the two schools in 13 years.

Ian McCloskey led UCSC with 9 points shooting 4-8 from the field. McCloskey also had a team-high 4  assists. Kshirsagar had 8 points. One bright spot for the Banana Slugs was free-throw shooting, where the team combined for a perfect 8-8 from the line.
Jalen Chandler had a game-high 26 points for San Francisco State (7-8), including a perfect 7-7 from three-point shooting.

The Banana Slugs return home for a two-game homestand against ninth-ranked Christopher Newport, starting Friday night at Kaiser Permanente Arena.