HENDERSON, Nev. – The UC Santa Barbara men's basketball team fell in the First Round of The Big West Championships 79-73 on Wednesday night. The No. 7-seeded Gauchos fell to the No. 6-seeded UC Davis Aggies in a back-and-forth affair. Unfortunately, the Gauchos could not find a scoring run to push them past the Aggies.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Davis opened the game on a 7-0 run before the Gaucho defense settled in and started to force tough shots. In response, UC Santa Barbara scored four and cut the Aggie lead to three. UC Santa Barbara extended its run to nine and took their first lead of the game after a Zion Sensley three-pointer.
 
Through the middle part of the first half, the game turned back and forth with each team trading one-point leads. UC Davis built their lead up to nine after an 8-0 run. The run was ended after Koat Keat Tong grabbed three consecutive offensive rebounds, before finally being fouled and making free throws.
 
The Aggies built their lead to double digits, but a short run by Santa Barbara trimmed the lead to 29-23 after back-to-back layups by Miro Little and CJ Shaw, forcing UC Davis to take a timeout with 3:10 left in the half. Down the stretch, UC Santa Barbara would make five of their last six field goals to go into the half down 34-31.
 
UC Santa Barbara immediately cut the lead to one on their opening possession, but a three-pointer by UC Davis made it last only a couple of seconds. Three straight layups in response gave the Gauchos a two-point lead. Their first lead since 11-10. The Blue and Gold were unable to hold onto their lead for long, as the Aggies maintained a two-possession lead. They eventually built it up to double digits, leading 57-47 with 7:42 remaining.
 
Any momentum the Gauchos would gain was immediately taken away with an answer by UC Davis. The Gauchos cut the lead to five, but back-to-back baskets by the Aggies built the Gaucho deficit back up to nine. UC Santa Barbara continued to cut the lead to two possessions, but UC Davis would make their free throws down the stretch and could not overcome the Aggies, falling 79-73.