SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – UC Santa Barbara jumped out to an early 8-1 lead and never looked back, handing visiting Cal State Fullerton its first Big West Conference loss on Wednesday night, 83-64.

The Gauchos (13-5 overall, 2-2 in Big West) led wire-to-wire and when they took a 25-14 lead on a three-point basket by Max Heidegger with 10:06 left in the first half, the Titans (11-6, 4-1) were never able to pull within single-digits the rest of the way.

"I thought that was one of our best and most complete games in a while," said head coach Joe Pasternack. "That (Fullerton) is a very good team and we were really ready to play." 

UCSB improved to 8-0 at home for the first time since the 1988-89 season. 

Heidegger led a balanced Gaucho attack with a game-high 24 points, including 16 in the decisive first half. He hit 10-of-15 field goals overall and 4-of-8 from three-point range. The sophomore added a team-high five assists and had just one turnover in his 34 minutes. 

"I felt good tonight," Heidegger said. "Offensively, we were in a good rhythm in the first half and we kind of kept that going most of the game."

Graduate transfer Marcus Jackson had his best offensive game since transferring to UCSB from Rice with 19 points. He made 6-of-11 field goals and tied his season-high with a trio of three-point baskets. 

"That was Marcus Jackson's best game," Pasternack said. "He shot the ball with a lot of confidence and I thought he was moving as well as he has in a while. He's a guy who averaged 15 a game at Rice and if we can get that Marcus, it would be great." 

Leland King II added 17 points and seven rebounds, Gabe Vincent had 11 points, four assists and a pair of steals, and Jalen Canty scored 10 points, grabbed seven rebounds and passed off for a career-high four assists.

"We had 23 assists on 34 made baskets," Pasternack said. "Our (assist-to-turnover) ratio is one of the best and tonight was a great example of that." 

UCSB had just eight turnovers on the night, the second straight game in which it had fewer than 10. 

The Gauchos had four players with at least four assists in the game. In addition to Heidegger and Canty, Christian Terrell had a career-high five in just 10 minutes, and Vincent contributed four. 

UCSB's lead ballooned to 24 at 67-43 on an acrobatic lay-up by Jackson with 8:18 left in the game. The advantage never dropped below 18 the rest of the way. 

Santa Barbara hit 34-of-61 field goal attempts, 55.7%, the team's fourth highest mark of the season. They also hit 9-of-21 from outside the three-point line. 

Fullerton was led by Khalil Ahmad who finished with 19 points on 8-of-15 from the field. Kyle Allman was the only other Titan in double-figures as he finished with 14 points, nine of which came on a 3-for-3 three-point performance. 

The visitors made just 11-of-26 shots in the pivotal first half, 42.3%. They did hit 10-of-20 in the second half to finish at 45.7% overall.

The Gauchos will remain at home for one more game, hosting UC Irvine in a 9:00 p.m. game on Saturday, Jan. 20. The game against the Anteaters will be carried live on ESPNU.