Box Score SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The first home game of 2022 came down to the wire for the UCSB Men's Basketball team, which crawled all the way back to nearly take its first lead of the game on the final shot. In the end, the Gauchos' comeback fell just short as visiting UC Irvine took the game 53-52
ON THE STAT SHEET
- Senior center Amadou Sow led the way notching his second straight double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds thanks to a 9-for-11 line from the free throw line
- UCSB took care of the ball better than they have all season committing a season-low nine turnovers compared to UCI's 20
- After allowing UCI to shoot 50% from the field in the first half the Gaucho defense stepped up in the final 20 minutes holding the 'Eaters to just 33.3% and 20 points in the second half
- Freshman Ajay Mitchell and senior Miles Norris each added eight points and junior Josh Pierre-Louis had a team-high four assists to go with a pair of steals and three rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF (33-21 UCI)
- UCI got out to an early lead keeping the Gauchos at bay with a potent offense that shot 50% from the field in the first half and seemed to make every open shot that was available
- The lead grew as large as 15 points for the visiting Anteaters in the first half but a massive transition dunk by Norris ignited the Gauchos offense which put together a run of its own at the end of the half to keep the game in striking distance
SECOND HALF (53-52 UCI)
- The second half brought about a newfound motivation for the Gauchos who began chipping away at the lead by getting the ball inside, drawing fouls, and playing incredible defense against a potent UCI team
- UCSB trailed by 10 with over seven minutes to go before Sow stepped up to dominate the paint making layups and heading to free-throw line multiple times as the clock continued to tick
- A pair of Sow free-throws brought the game to within four points at 53-49 with a minute and a half to go before UCSB forced a crucial Colin Welp turnover
- The Gauchos made the most of the opportunity dishing the ball over to Cole Anderson for the shot of his young career – A crucial corner three-pointer that it made it a one-point game at 53-52
- All the 'Eaters had to do was inbound the ball but UCSB's defense had other plans forcing a five-second call before the Anteater's inbounder could call timeout
- The final shot came down to Anderson who dribbled across the top of the key and fired off a two-pointer that rimmed out in UCI's favor
Up Next
The Gauchos will now host UC San Diego this Saturday in the Thunderdome at 1:00pm in the Spectrum Sports Game of the Week.
