SACRAMENTO – The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball will head back home after a hard-fought victory over Sacramento State on Tuesday night.
Aidan Mahaney,
Miro Little and
Colin Smith each scored 17 points in the win as the Gauchos held off the Hornets to improve to 3-0 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hornets and Gauchos started in a back-and-forth affair early, trading baskets and neither side gaining much ground on the other. As both teams settled into their games, Sacramento State looked to get out on the fast break and would convert when they did. The Hornets made three consecutive three-point shots. Fortunately, the Gauchos capitalized on their second chance opportunities to stay within two possessions of Sac State. Collin Smith buried a 3-pointer off a miss. The very next possession
Miro Little got a steal and made a layup in transition to cut the lead to one.
Out of the media timeout,
Aidan Mahaney scored four consecutive points to put the Gauchos ahead and lifting the defensive efforts up. UC Santa Barbara's defense forced multiple tough shots and used their defensive rebounds to get out in transition. The Gauchos were able to pull ahead after two
Michael Simcoe fastbreak baskets, including a layup and a dunk. The two baskets were a part of an 8-0 run to forcing Sac State to take a 30 second timeout. The Gauchos extended their lead to double digits after a Mahaney 3,
Hosana Kitenge layup and another Smith 3-pointer.
The Hornets started to find their offensive rhythm late in the half going on an 8-2 run that was ended by a
Zion Sensley 3-pointer. But, in the final four minutes of action, Sac State went on another run, this time 12-2 and cut the what was a 13-point lead to two.
Out of the break, the Gauchos forced the Hornets into tough shots and capitalized on the offensive end, extending their lead to 10 after Sensley nailed his second 3-pointer of the game. Throughout the middle part of the second half the Gauchos missed some shots that lead to Sac State getting back into the game and cutting the lead to two possessions after going on a 11-5 run.
Down the stretch,
Aidan Mahaney went on a surge helping the Gauchos to a 10-2 run and bringing the game back to a double-digit lead. UC Santa Barbara held on down the stretch and holding on to win 92-87.
NOTABLES
- Colin Smith has scored in double-figures in all three games this season.
- Miro Little has recorded three or more assists and one or fewer turnovers in all three games so far this season. Little tied his career-high in assists, recording eight tonight bringing his season assist-to-turnover ratio to 8.5 assist to every one turnover.
- Aidan Mahaney has found his offensive rhythm in the Gaucho offense scoring at least 17 points in back-to-back games.
- The Gauchos have scored 85 or more points in three consecutive games to open the season. The Blue and Gold has now accomplished the feat in back-to-back seasons.
- For the third consecutive game, at least four Gauchos have scored in double figures.
UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara will have a little less than a week to prepare for WCC foe, LMU. The Lions head to Santa Barbara on Monday, Nov. 17 for a 6 p.m. tip inside The Thunderdome. For those unable to attend in person the game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.
