SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team (6-2) dropped their conference opener Thursday night to UC San Diego, 84-76. The Gauchos had four players score in double figures and Stephan Swenson led the team with a season-high 21.

FROM HEAD COACH JOE PASTERNACK
"UC San Diego deserves a lot of credit, they are a really talented team," said Pasternack. "They grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and that was the story of the game. If we were able to eliminate some those (offensive rebounds) and turnovers it would have been our game."

HOW IT HAPPENED
In the first half, UC San Diego started strong with and set an early pace to the game. UC Santa Barbara responded with Stephan Swenson hitting two, three-pointers, leading to a back-and-forth scoring exchange. During the middle of the first half, the Tritons forced several turnovers helping them take a two point lead. After some more back-and-forth by the teams the Gauchos were able to regain the lead after another Swenson three-pointer found the bottom of the bucket. But down the stretch UC San Diego went on a scoring run, and retook the lead. At the end of the first 20 minutes the Tritons would lead 42-33.

In the second half, UC Santa Barbara opened with Jason Fontenet II converting a jumper after a turnover by Tritons. The Tritons maintained their lead  for a most of the second half. After the under eight minute media timeout Deuce Turner responded with consecutive three-pointers bringing the Gauchos to within two, 54-52. Despite the late surge by the Gauchos, UCSD managed to secure a narrow victory with an 84-76 finish.

UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara will head north to take on UC Davis, Saturday, Dec. 7. The Gauchos and Aggies will tip off at 5 p.m. in Davis, California. For those unable to make the trip, the game will be streamed through ESPN+.