UCSB men’s basketball defeats Long Beach State

By KRISTEN KELLER UCSB SPORTS

The UCSB men’s basketball team (19-4, 10-2 Big West) made their way south as the Gauchos took on Long Beach State on ESPNU. After 11 lead changes and 16 ties, it was UCSB who pulled out the win, defeating the Beach 75-72.

“Long Beach is such a good team and they are wellcoached,” said UCSB Coach Joe Pasternack said. “They’re just a tough team to play against, especially on the boards. We may have lost the rebounding war, but our guys played hard.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

From the moment these two teams hit the court, everyone in the Pyramid knew it would be a highcaliber contest. The Beach came out strong with their fan base behind them, taking an early lead in the first half. However, adversity never stopped the Gauchos. With key plays from Ajay Mitchell and Josh Pierre-Louis, the Gauchos pushed their way back into the game to take the lead with less than six minutes to go in the first half. This didn’t come without resistance from the Beach as the home team went on a late run to take the first half 43-38.

Miles Norris led the offensive efforts in the first 20 minutes as he secured nine points along with two assists. Helping him out was Andre Kelly, who not only registered eight points, but added on seven rebounds.

At the start of the second half, neither team was able to get into a rhythm before the first timeout on the floor. Once that hit, both teams picked up their games. Both the Beach and the Gauchos wanted to come out with the win as they exchanged the lead nine times on the way to deciding a winner. With the whole team working together and Calvin Wishart making two key free throws, the Gauchos pulled ahead in the last three seconds to give them the 75-72 win over the Beach.

LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Mitchell ended the night with a double-double, putting up 17 points and 10 assists. With numbers like this, he contributed to 40 of the team’s 75 total points.

• Kelly not only scored points on offense, but he hit the boards hard. He earned his seventh doubledouble of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds, four of which he grabbed on offense. On his way to 14 points, he made 70 percent of his shots.

• Norris and Pierre-Louis were also instrumental parts of this offense as the seniors recorded 13 points apiece. To top it all off, Pierre-Louis added on eight boards and two steals.

• On the way to beating the home team, the Gauchos were more efficient from the field with a 50.9 field goal percentage while also turning over the ball three less times than the Beach.

UP NEXT

The Gauchos will return to The Thunderdome today, as they host the Aggies of UC Davis. Tipoff will be at 7 p.m. with a live stream available through ESPN+.

Kristen Keller is the associate athletic director for communications and digital strategy at UCSB. email: sports@newspress.com