RENO, Nev. – The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team went into Reno looking to bounce back after suffering its first loss of the season on Monday. Despite going into halftime down four and having three players score in double-figures, the Gauchos unfortunately could not pull out the road win, falling 77-64.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Nevada opened the game drawing first blood after forcing UC Santa Barbara into back-to-back turnovers, turning those into fastbreak layups. Nevada continued that run into a 9-4 run with the Gauchos' baskets coming from Aidan Mahaney and Jason Fontenet II.
 
Following the under-16 media timeout, the Wolf Pack went on a 6-2 run to extend their lead to 15-6. Out of the next media timeout, Miro Little hit a three that helped the Gauchos to a short 5-0 run, but cut the lead to four.  The next couple of possessions, the teams traded baskets before the under-eight media timeout hit. With a little less than eight minutes to go, the Gauchos cut the lead to two after Marvin McGhee IV hit a corner three to cut the lead to two.
 
With under two minutes to play in the opening frame, the Gauchos took the lead for the first time after Colin Smith drew a foul and made one-of-two free throws to make it 25-24. Unfortunately, the Wolf Pack responded with a 3-pointer on the other end and did not give up the lead before halftime, going to the break up 32-28.
 
The second half did not start how the Gauchos wanted as the Wolf Pack started the opening four minute on a 13-4 run that ultimately forced UC Santa Barbara to take a timeout. Coming out of Santa Barbara's timeout, the teams went back and forth for a bit, each forcing turnovers, but not a whole lot of scoring out of it. The Gauchos cut the lead to 10 just before the next media timeout, but a four-point run by the Wolf Pack stopped the momentum for the Gauchos.
 
Out of the four-minute media timeout, the Gauchos went on an 8-2 run to again cut the lead to 10. Santa Barbara called their final timeout after Mahaney made three during the run. The Gauchos then cut the lead to single digits after Hosana Kitenge hit one-of-two shots from the charity stripe.
With under two minutes to go, the Gauchos started to foul the Wolf Pack to trade free throws for threes. Despite their efforts, the Gauchos fell at Nevada, 77-64.
 
NOTABLES

• Hosana Kitenge was a bright spot for the Gauchos, scoring a season-high 12 points and finishing +4 on the game. Kitenge was the only Gaucho to finish with a positive plus-minus.
• CJ Shaw was perfect from the field, going 1-for-1 and 2-for-2 at the charity stripe.
• The Gauchos have forced 12 or more turnovers in five straight games for the first time since their stretch of 11 consecutive games from Dec. 19, 202,1 to Feb. 12, 2022.
• Miro Little has scored in double figures in all five games he has played in the Blue and Gold.

 
UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara will have a quick turnaround as they host Nobel University on Monday, Nov. 24. The Knights and Gauchos will tip off at 6 p.m. inside The Thunderdome, with the game being broadcast on ESPN+ with live stats available.