UCSB Men’s Basketball Suffers Third Straight Loss to Open Big West Conference Play

There was nowhere to go but up for the UCSB men’s basketball team following a miserable first half performance against UC San Diego on Thursday night at the Thunderdome.

The Gauchos rallied in the second half, but the 45-24 halftime deficit was too much to overcome as UCSB dropped its third consecutive game to open Big West Conference play, 79-72.

“We didn’t play with any passion or heart for whatever reason in the first half,” said UCSB men’s basketball coach Joe Pasternak. “It’s all about our attitude and how we respond. I thought in the second half we showed some emotion.”

Pasternak described the first half as rock bottom for his team and it’s hard to argue against that sentiment. UC San Diego doubled up UCSB in rebounding in the first half, 18 to nine, and had six fewer turnovers.

The dominance on the boards resulted in the visiting Tritons accumulating 34 field goal attempts to UCSB’s 18.

“We have guys that have not played college basketball that have to learn why things happen. They have to understand conference play is totally different from non-conference play,” Pasternak said. “Every possession matters and sometimes when you haven’t been there before you kind of have to hit rock bottom and that’s what we did tonight.”

Tyler McGhie scored 25 points off the bench for UC San Diego, shooting 10-of-13 overall from the field, including five-of-seven shooting from three-points range. The UCSB guards had no answer for McGhie’s post ups and his timely shooting from distance helped the Tritons stave off UCSB’s second half surge.

The Gauchos were led offensively by Ajay Mitchell who scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. UCSB’s Ben Shtolzberg had his most productive game of the season after sitting out the first eight games due to injury. He finished with 13 points, including 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range.

“After being out for a while every time I step on the court, I am grateful to be playing again,” Shtolzberg said. “As I came back a lot of it has been getting my confidence back, getting back into rhythm again and I think today was a step in the right direction.”

The opening minutes of the game were just fine for UCSB. Mitchell knocked down a midrange jumper to give the Gauchos an 11-7 lead with 14:21 remaining in the first half.

However, UCSB’s defensive warts quickly became apparent as UC San Diego ripped off a quick 10-0 run capped off by a Bryce Pope three-pointer with 11:18 remaining in the first have that increased the Tritons’ lead to 17-11.

UC San Diego would not trail again for the remainder of the game. UC San Diego closed the first half on a 21-6 run.

The two teams traded baskets, with UC San Diego maintaining a large lead until midway through the second half. Killian Brockhoff scored inside to cut UCSB’s deficit to 63-47 with 8:24 remaining in the game and sparked a 13-2 UCSB run that was capped off by a layup inside through contact by Traore that cut the Gauchos deficit to 65-58 with 4:58 remaining in the game.

Traore missed the ensuing free-throw and the Gauchos failed to maintain the momentum.

McGhie knocked down a three-pointer for UC San Diego that increased their lead to 69-58 with 3:43 remaining. The Gauchos cut the lead to 73-67 on a Mitchell three-pointer in the final minute, but could not create the turnovers necessary down the stretch to complete the comeback.

UCSB (7-6 overall, 0-3 Big West) will travel to Cal Poly for the latest chapter of the Blue-Green Rivalry on Saturday, beginning at 7 p.m.