Gauchos Find Their Form in 78-66 Victory over Cal State Bakersfield

A rollercoaster season for the UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball team appears to be on the upswing once again.

The Gauchos won their second consecutive Big West Conference contest with an impressive 78-66 victory over Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday night at the Thunderdome.

“I thought we played hard in the first half. We did a great job, and then in the second half, we let our guard down,” said UCSB head coach Joe Pasternack. “We have to be able to play for 40 minutes, and we didn’t do that tonight.”

UCSB thrived in all aspects of the game in the first half, combining hot shooting with solid defense and tenacious rebounding. Pasternack lauded his players for winning the rebound battle and pointed to the preparation that made that goal a reality.

“We put a bubble on the rim to figure out how to block them out and not give up offensive rebounds,” Pasternack said. “Our guys did a wonderful job of that. We won the rebounding war 33 to 27.”

Jason Fontenet led UCSB with 17 points on 6-9 shooting from the field and 3-6 shooting from three-point range. It was a bounce-back performance for him offensively after an off-shooting night in the Gauchos’ victory over Hawai’i, but he is such a versatile player that he doesn’t have to score to impact winning.

“Jason is a complete player. A lot of people say we want two-way players, offense and defense players; what makes him so special is he is a three-way player,” Pasternack said. “He defends; he rebounds as well as any guard I’ve seen rebound the basketball; he defends the other team’s best player.”

A strong game from Kenny Pohto allowed the Gauchos to play inside-out for large stretches of the game. He finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Cole Anderson had an extremely efficient game shooting the basketball, converting four of his five shots, including four for four from three-point range. He also moved into the top 10 all-time in three-pointers made in UCSB history.

“I try to help my team in whatever way possible. If I can play defense and shut down my matchup for the night, then I’m satisfied,” Anderson said. “I know my shooting can bring something to the team, but also if guys are going to stick on me, then other guys can get off that night.”

Hot shooting gave the Gauchos an advantage early in the game. A three-pointer by Max Murrell gave the Gauchos a 10-8 lead with 14:52 remaining in the first half. Anderson followed with another three-pointer that increased the lead to 15-8 at the 13:57 mark.

A layup by Ben Shtolzberg with 11:19 remaining in the first half capped off a 15-0 UCSB run and increased the Gauchos’ lead to 22-8.

The Gauchos maintained a double-digit margin into the second half.

Cal State Bakersfield methodically cut into its deficit in the second half. A three-pointer by CJ Hardy made the score 57-48 with 11:15 remaining in the game and capped off a 19-4 surge by the Roadrunners.

After Cal State Bakersfield briefly cut its deficit to single digits, the Gauchos restored order, and a three-pointer by Fontenet with 1:17 remaining was a knockout blow as UCSB took a 78-64 lead.

“We have a long way to go; we can get so much better. It’s now about us getting better every single day,” Pasternack said. “It’s about us tomorrow being able to flip the switch quickly and having an unbelievable preparation day.”

The Gauchos (10-5 overall, 2-2 Big West Conference) will travel to San Luis Obispo on Saturday, January 11, to renew the Blue-Green Rivalry against Cal Poly. Tipoff is at 5 p.m.