SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team (4-1) returned to The Thunderdome as they continued with non-conference play against the UTEP Miners. After going down by 10 early in the game, the Gauchos could not fully recover from the deficit as they lost their first game of the season with a score of 79-76.
 
FROM HEAD COACH JOE PASTERNACK
"As I told our team just now, this was totally on me. I thought we didn't have great practices the last two days to prepare us for a game like this, and we got what we deserved. The first four minutes, it was 12 to 2, and we couldn't recover from there. I thought our guys fought back, but they shocked us, they punched us in the face. We played very comfortably. We've been very comfortable the last three days, and that's 100% on me to not allow anyone in this program to feel comfortable."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Miners had a hot start here in The Thunderdome as they went on 10-point run early in the game, giving the visitors a big advantage. It took some time for the Gauchos to get in a rhythm, but once they did, they started to close in on their guests. However, this tough UTEP team picked up the pace yet again, going on another eight-point run caused by the Gauchos' turnovers. This resulted in the Miners growing their lead to 15, but that was it. UC Santa Barbara responded, going on a 10-point run thanks to Kenny Pohto and Stephan Swenson. By the time the first half was over, the Gauchos were only down by five as the score sat at 37-32.
 
The second half was a slow start for the Gauchos yet again as they went on a three-minute scoring drought that put them down by 10. With the help of Swenson's eight-straight points, UC Santa Barbara started to chip away at the Miners' lead. But every time the Gauchos got within five, the Miners would find a way to grow the lead yet again. This lasted all the way through the final five seconds before Swenson made one final basket. Even with that three-pointer, UC Santa Barbara was still three points short as they fell to UTEP 79-76.
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Kenny Pohto finished the night with his second-straight double-double as he secured 21 points and 10 rebounds. Along with that, he added on two assists, a steal and a block.
• Jason Fontenet II had a great showing for the Gauchos as well. He secured 20 points and eight rebounds.
• Stephan Swenson continues to be an asset for the Gauchos. He notched 17 points and six assists in tonight's game.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will spend the weekend prepping for the Mountain to Sea Showcase hosted by the Gauchos and the University of Utah. UC Santa Barbara will kick off this tournament against Eastern Washington on Tuesday, Nov. 26. Tipoff for this game will be at 7 p.m. in The Thunderdome. For those who can't make it to Santa Barbara can watch through ESPN+.