IRVINE, Calif. – UC Santa Barbara's Alex Hart made all seven of his field goal attempts and scored a career-high 16 points on Wednesday night, but in the end it wasn't enough as UC Irvine won going away, 64-47. 

The Gauchos (3-19 overall, 1-9 in the Big West) lost for the sixth time in a row while UCI (14-12, 7-3) ended a three-game losing streak.

UCSB trailed 27-18 at halftime and Hart made a lay-up to begin the second half, cutting the gap to 27-20. But despite holding the Anteaters without a field goal for the first three minutes of the second half the Gauchos could get no closer. 

"We needed to take advantage of that stretch and we didn't," said UCSB head coach Bob Williams. "Neither team was shooting the ball well and when we made our first shot I hoped we might go on a little run, but that wasn't the case." 

UCI's only point over those first three minutes was a free throw by Jonathan Galloway, but the lay-up by Hart preceded three straight missed shots by the Gauchos. 

A lay-up by Luke Nelson ended the drought for the Anteaters. Eric Childress responded with a basket of his own to cut the lead back to single-digits at 30-22, but UCSB would draw no closer. 

UCI extended the lead to 21 at 64-43 before settling for the 17-point final margin. The Anteaters proved too much for the Gauchos inside as they had a 46-30 rebounding edge. 

"They are a lot bigger than us, but that's just an excuse," Williams said. "You can't get outrebounded the way we have in the last two games and expect to win."

UCSB was outrebounded by 11 in a loss to UC Davis on Saturday.

Hart scored 14 of his career-high 16 points in the second half for Santa Barbara. Childress added 11 in the game. Ioannis Dimakopoulos led UCI with 15 points. Nelson finished with 11 and Galloway added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. 

As a team, UCSB once again had its issues shooting the ball, particularly in the first half when it made just 7-of-27 from the field, 25.9%. A 42.9% second half got the Gauchos to 34.5% for the game. The Anteaters were just 41.7% for the game but they made a respectable 45.2% in the second half.

The Gauchos travel to Cal State Northridge on Saturday, Feb. 11 to take on the Matadors in a 7:30 p.m. game that will be televised on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.