SAN DIEGO – The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team (13-11) made the trek down to San Diego as they took on the Tritons of UC San Diego. The very first point went to the Tritons, and they were the ones to ultimately end up on top as UC Santa Barbara lost this game 61-46.  
 
FROM HEAD COACH JOE PASTERNACK
"The credit goes to UC San Diego. They are a very good, experienced team. I thought the rebounding differential is what really hurt us tonight."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons came out hot on their home court as they worked for the early 4-0 advantage. Even though the Gauchos tied the score up quickly, that was the last time this game would be tied. UC Santa Barbara made their efforts to try and stop their opponents' attack, but UC San Diego could not be stopped as they ended the first half on top with a score of 39-20.
 
The second half began similarly to the first as the Tritons went on an 11-point run to grow their lead to 27. With 13 minutes left in the second half, UC Santa Barbara chiseled away at their lead, slowly trying to get themselves back into this game. Despite outscoring the Tritons in the second half, their efforts fell short as UC Santa Barbara lost their third-straight game 61-46.
 
LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS

• Yohan Traore led the team on offense, securing 14 points against the Tritons while shooting at 50 percent from the field. Along with that, he was tied for the most rebounds on the team with six.
• Ajay Mitchell was second on the team in points, adding on eight. He also led the team in blocks with two. 

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will return to The Thunderdome for a Saturday afternoon game against the Rainbow Warriors of Hawai'i. Tip-off will be at 1 p.m. with the game being shown on Spectrum Sports. For those who don't have Spectrum, they can watch the game through ESPN+.