PULLMAN, Wash.– The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball Team (1-1) suffered its first loss of the year Monday night falling to Washington State (3-0) 73-65. A strong second half by the Gauchos saw them cut the first period lead in half, but the Cougars managed to stave off the UCSB comeback at Beasley Coliseum.

ON THE STAT SHEET

• Senior center Amadou Sow led all players in both points and rebounds tallying his 2^nd straight 25-point game and adding 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season
• Sow went 8-for-16 from the field and 9-for-11 from the free throw line
• After getting outshot .529 to .308 in the first half, UCSB flipped the script in the second half outshooting Wazzu .455 to .370
• Ajare Sanni notched double digit points scoring 12 to go along with four rebounds and a team-high five assists 

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Half (41-25 Washington State)

• Washington State got off to a hot start making eight of its first 11 field goal attempts to go up 18-6
• Early turnovers plagued the Gauchos in the first half committing seven in the first 10 minutes
• Everything seemed to fall for the Cougars who ended the half shooting 52.9% from the field
• UCSB found its footing late in the half ending it on a 9-2 run thanks to a pair of second chance buckets and success from the free throw line
• Sow and Sanni each had nine points at the half with Sow grabbing six rebounds and going 5-for-6 from the stripe 

Second Half (73-65 Washington State)

• The Gauchos won the second half outscoring Washington State 40-32
• After committing 10 turnovers in the first half, UCSB gave up just one in the second period giving the team several more field goal attempts and trips to the line
• Sow picked 16 of his 25 points in the final 20 minutes going 6-for-9 from the field
• Washington State led by as many as 20 early in the half but UCSB cut the final lead to single digits thanks to a deep Cole Anderson three-pointer that went through just before the buzzer

UP NEXT
UCSB now returns home for a five-game homestand that begins this Saturday in the Gauchos' matchup with Chicago State as a part of The Cerebro Sports Cali Jam. Tipoff is set for 1 PM PT in The Thunderdome.