After starting Big West Conference play with three straight losses, the UCSB men’s basketball team is now riding a three-game conference winning streak following an 85-76 victory over Long Beach State, on Saturday night at the Thunderdome.
The Gauchos boasted a balanced attack led by Ajay Mitchell, who finished with 26 points and five assists. UCSB outscored Long Beach State 50-36 in the second half to overcome a five point deficit at the break.
“I think it started with defense. We were aggressive, we knew they were trying to get inside with the two Traores,” said Mitchell of UCSB’s second half surge. “We were just locked in on defense and then we were able to run and get easy buckets.”
Josh Pierre-Louis had one of his best all-around games of the season with 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists and only one turnover. His performance opened up the game for the rest of his teammates to flourish.
“I’m on his tail every single day. On his parents, his family, every person associated with Josh that the standard for him is to rebound,” said UCSB coach Joe Pasternack of Pierre-Louis’ importance. “I tell him all the time that playing hard is a talent and it’s nothing to overlook.”
The Gauchos fell behind early as a three-pointer by Jadon Jones gaveLong Beach State a 14-7 leadwith 13:09 remaining in the first half.
UCSB worked its way back into the game and took a brief lead, 27-25, after back-to-back three-pointers by Cole Anderson, the second of which came at the 6:28 mark of the first half. Anderson shot five-of-six from three-point range and finished with 15 points.
However, the 49ers closed the first half on a 15-8 run to take a 40-35 lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half, UCSB turned the screws defensively and took a 55-53 lead when Mitchell found a cutting Pierre-Louis for a layup with 10:40 remaining. The Gauchos did not trail again for the remainder of the game.
The UCSB lead grew to 73-65 as a block off the backboard by Ariel Bland ignited the Gauchos fast break as Mitchell pushed the ball ahead to Pierre-Louis, who dumped it off to a trailing Yohan Traore for a thunderous transition dunk with 4:39 remaining.
The Gauchos were solid from the free-throw line down the stretch and converted 23-of-27 attempts from the charity stripe overall.
“It’s not about one game or one win,”Pasternack said. “It’s strictly about can we go out there and have some urgency, desperation and fight.”
Messiah Thomson led the way for Long Beach State with 23 points, including 7-of-9 shooting from three-point range.
The Gauchos (10-6 overall, 3-3 Big West Conference) will travel to Cal State Northridge(13-4, 4-1) for their next game on Thursday, January 18 beginning at 7 p.m.