SAN DIEGO — In the first spot of a line that snaked nearly 100 yards from LionTree Arena along campus sidewalks, UC San Diego student Jakob Kridle beamed.

The economics major jump-started the mass of academic humanity at 3:15 p.m. Saturday, nearly four hours before the Tritons tipped off against UC Irvine.

A place known for American and international scholars, not athletics, was about to host arguably the biggest game in its basketball program’s history.

Two 14-2 teams. Two unbeatens in the Big West Conference. Second home sellout in history. First nationally televised game at their house, on ESPNU.

“I want the students to go crazy,” Kridle said before tip. “The stigma is that we’re socially dead. You know, UC Socially Dead. I’m so hyped. I’m eating this up. This is all I’ve been able to think about for two weeks.”

The students cooperated.

The shooting touch did not.

UCSD clanked and clanked from 3-point range against UC Irvine, hitting just 6 of 35, in a matchup of top-seven teams in the Mid-Major Top 25 coaches poll.

The 60-52 loss came on a night that was only partially about the final score, though.

This was one of those stops on the timeline. One of those “remember when” moments that color everything that comes next.

The Tritons, in the first season as a no-handcuffs Division I team, eligible to win the Big West title, eligible to go to postseason tournaments, waited.

They waited four long years during an NCAA-mandated reclassification period. Waited for this type of opportunity. Waited for this type of atmosphere.

“It’s hugely important for a program like ours that’s trying to establish ourselves,” UCSD coach Eric Olen said. “I think that the potential for what we can do here is unlimited and I think this is just a glimpse of it.

“… We’re just scratching the surface. Our potential is wild here and we’re really excited about it.”

The place was charged, literally from the opening tip.

When 6-foot-8 Nordin Kapic controlled the ball against 7-1 German skyscraper Bent Leuchten, the crowd roared as if it had been bottled up for all those years.When Chris Howell scored eight points and poked away three steals in the opening five minutes, the arena belted out its approval.

“Growing up in San Diego (playing at Torrey Pines), watching my brother Mikey, who’s now (an assistant coach for UCSD), seeing how the games were when he was here compared to tonight, it was absolutely surreal,” Howell said.

And that was the real and most concrete takeaway.

UCSD misfired on enough 3-point shots to make you think you were at an NBA game. Players too rarely finished in the mid-range game or at the rim, even when Leuchten was not there.

That’s the small picture. There’s a lot of season left.

“Obviously we’re disappointed with the result,” Olen said. “Not sure that’s our best performance, but Irvine deserves a lot of credit for playing well. They’re a very good defensive team that gave us some problems.”

There will be another regular-season matchup with the Anteaters and a possible if not likely meeting in Las Vegas at the conference tournament with an automatic NCAA Tournament berth on the line.

It felt like the beginning of something, though.

The Tritons pushed crosstown heavyweight San Diego State to the brink in each of the last two seasons. The No. 7 ranking in the mid-major poll is a program best. The No. 43 NET ranking, a key NCAA Tournament-determining indicator, also represents high water.

The student section swelled. There were signs, special shirts and big-head posters. The 4,000 fans ensured the second sellout in history, matching a Dec. 1, 2023 tangle with San Diego State.

This has percolated at perhaps the only gym in America with a list of its Nobel laureates on the wall.

“Honestly, it’s in the back of your head for sure,” Howell said the build-up and matchup. “It’s a big game. It’s a rivalry game. It’s nationally televised. But in the locker room, there was a sense of peace all throughout the week.

“… We know who we are. We know the players we have. We know the staff we have.”

UCSD answered the initial bell before a fast start turned dangerously wobbly.

The Tritons led for nearly the entirety of the opening 10 minutes before hemorrhaging all that steam. Irvine sprinted to a 15-3 run that pushed them in front by eight with less than five minutes until halftime.

Then, as Irvine inbounded for what appeared to be the final possession of the half, Howell stripped away the ball. As he raced to the other basket he was cut off. He kicked it out to Aidan Burke, who drained a 3 with three seconds on the clock.

The deficit was trimmed to 34-32.

“Chris is a huge part of what we’re doing (and) tonight’s not unique,” Olen said of Howell, who finished 11 points seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.

“… A terrific player who does all kinds of things that contribute to winning that don’t even show up in the box score.”

The Tritons led by six before allowing another deflating run, this one a 17-4 torpedo. In the final 12:14, UCSD scored three baskets. Too much long-range stuff. Not nearly enough of making the long-range stuff.

“I thought we had the right guys shooting them,” Olen said. “… I thought for the most part, we took great shots. Unfortunately, they didn’t go.”

The team that hit eight of nine free-throw attempts failed to attack inside and shoot more.

Olen chose the half-full glass.

“I liked our decision-making,” he said.

A glaring corner of the boxscore showed that Tyler McGhie, the team’s leading scorer, launched three shots — just one in the second half.

Olen shouldered that load.

“I think that’s on me for sure,” the coach said. “I’ve got to do a better job of making sure he gets a little more involved. … So that’s a coaching mistake.”

That was all just game talk on one night.

The reality: This was about the big picture and the prospect of nights like this to come.

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