Schedule
Game No. 12
Thursday, Dec. 30 at 7:00 PM
UC Santa Barbara at UC San Diego
at RIMAC Arena – La Jolla, Calif.
ESPN+ | Audio | Live Stats

Schedule Changes
Changes have been made to the upcoming UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball schedule as announced by host institutions UC San Diego and UC Irvine. When the Gauchos open up Big West play this Thursday, December 30 at UC San Diego, spectators will not be permitted. UCSB's next scheduled game was set for Saturday, January 1st at UC Irvine, but has now been canceled. Both of these decisions were made as part of each school's Covid-19 protocol.

Further updates regarding schedule or protocol changes will continue to be made available on UCSBGauchos.com.

Clash with the Tritons
Although UCSD is a part of the Big West Conference, the Tritons are still going through their Division I transition period and as a result of that all games played against UCSD will be marked as "non-conference" events. The result will not affect the Gauchos' Big West record.

Last Week
UCSB closed out its non-conference schedule on a high note winning a pair of games over Florida A&M and Idaho State. The Gauchos knocked off the Rattlers 73-62 and saw an outstanding defensive effort against the Bengals holding the team to just 43 points and a 36.2% field-goal percentage in the 56-43 win.

Best in the (Big) West
UCSB ranks atop the Big West Conference in several statistical categories this season

Assist-to-Turnover Ratio – 1.20
Assists Per Game – 17.1 apg (26^th in NCAA DI)

Blocked Shots Per Game – 3.6 bpg
Field Goal Percentage – 50.2% (10^th in NCAA DI)
Free Throw Attempts - 249
Free Throws Made – 176
Rebound Margin – 7.8 rpg
Scoring Margin – 11.3 ppg
Scoring Offense (Points Per Game) – 76.8 ppg
Total Assists – 188
Total Blocks – 40
Total Rebounds - 425

The Gauchos also rank top three in defensive rebounds per game, defensive field-goal percentage, and three-point defense.

Milestone Watch
Head Coach Joe Pasternack is quickly approaching a pair of milestones. Pasternack is just one win away from reaching 150 in his career and is five wins away from reaching 100 wins at UCSB. He would become sixth Gaucho coach to do so.

1300-700 Club
In the Gauchos' 73-62 win over Florida A&M senior center Amadou Sow notched a nine-point, 10-rebound performance that put him over the 700-rebound mark in his career. He became just the fourth Gaucho in school history to hit 1300 points and 700 rebounds in a career joining Alan Williams, Doug Rex, and Chris Devine in that club.

Sow Leads the Way
Senior center Amadou Sow is off to the start that everyone expected posting four 20-point games including back-to-back 25-point performances to kick off the season. He is currently third in the conference in points per game (17.0), leads in field-goal percentage (61.5%), and is second in rebounds per game (7.6). His field-goal percentage mark ranks 24^th in NCAA DI.

Freshman on Fire
Freshman guard Ajay Mitchell has emerged as one of the top guards in the Big West Conference and the country through the early weeks of his young career. He currently leads the conference 2.58 assist-to-turnover ratio and is second with 4.5 assists per game. His assist-to-turnover ratio is good for top-50 in the country. Mitchell set an early career-high in the team's win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff dropping 10 dimes and committing zero turnovers, and followed that up with an eight assist-one turnover performance against Cal Lutheran.

SWishart
Junior guard Calvin Wishart had a remarkable first half performance off the bench in the team's victory over Pepperdine that ultimately helped the Gauchos keep pace with the Waves going into the locker room. Wishart scored a career-high 23 points, all in the first period, going a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, 4-for-4 from three, and 9-for-9 from the free throw line. He took and missed just one shot in the second half and totaled two rebounds, three assists, and two steals in the game.

Cerebro Sports Cali Jam All-Tournament Team
UCSB's games with Chicago State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff were a part of the Cerebro Sports Cali Jam tournament and at the contest's conclusion two Gauchos were named to the All-Tournament Team. Amadu Sow, who averaged 16.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, and shot 77.8% from the field in the two games was named the Tournament MVP. Freshman Ajay Mitchell, who averaged 8.5 ppg and 7.0 apg while also leading the team in minutes, was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Dome Sweet Dome
The Gauchos win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff marked the 20^th straight home win for the Gauchos, who were perfect in the Thunderdome from January 25, 2020 to November 24^th 2021. It is the longest streak in UCSB history.

History Made
UCSB's 119-65 win over San Francisco State on opening night broke several top-ten marks in the Gaucho record book:

- 29 assists, 3^rd most in program history
- 119 points, 4^th most in program history
- 65 rebounds, T-5^th most in program history
- 60 first half points, T-7^th most in program history
- 59 second half points, T-8^th most in program history
- 32 free throws made, T-10^th most in program history

Run it Back
The reigning Big West champions return to the court with a new goal this season and it's becoming the first Big West team to repeat since the Gauchos did 10 years ago and get back to the NCAA Tournament.

Last season, UCSB went 22-5 overall and 13-3 in Big West Conference play on its way to a Big West regular season title, a Big West Tournament Championship, and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. In addition to Norris and Sow, their key returners include Big West Sixth Man of the Year Ajare Sanni, senior forward Robinson Idehen, and junior guard Calvin Wishart, who will be making his Gaucho debut after redshirting last season.

UCSB Picked to Repeat in Preseason Polls
UCSB was picked as the unanimous regular season champion of the Big West in the annual preseason coaches' and media polls. The Gauchos accumulated 69 points and five first place votes in the coaches' poll beating out second-seeded UC Irvine by a narrow margin of just one point and one first place vote. The two teams spilt the nine first place nods.

In the media poll the Gauchos garnered 103 points and six first place votes to the Anteater's 100 points and two first place votes. Rounding out the top-four in both polls are UC Riverside and UC Davis finishing third and fourth, respectively.

Sow Named to Lou Henson Watch List
Just one day after being named to the Big West Preseason All-Conference Team, senior center Amadou Sow earned another preseason nod being named to the 2021-22 Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award watch list. The award is presented to the best mid-major men's basketball player of the year. He is one of just two Big West players to be named joining UC Irvine's Collin Welp.

Sow and Norris named to Preseason All-Conference Team
Along with the preseason polls came two different Preseason All-Conference teams. Senior center Amadou Sow picked up his third straight preseason nod as a unanimous preseason pick on both the coaches' and media poll. The Gaucho big averaged 13.0 points per game and 7.5 rebounds while shooting a potent 56.9% from the field last season.

Senior Forward Miles Norris was named to preseason team on the coaches' poll after exploding on to the scene in his first season with UCSB proving to be one of the most exciting players in conference. The 6-10 forward brought length, excellent shooting, and electric dunks to the Thunderdome on his way to averaging 9.6 points per game and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 39.4% from three and 49.2% from the field. He also led the team with 22 blocks.

Coming in at No. 14
College Insider released its preseason Men's Mid Major Top 25 list naming the Gauchos as the 14^th best mid major program in DI basketball. They were the only Big West team in the rankings and were the fourth highest ranked west coast team in the first edition of the poll.