The UC Santa Barbara basketball team cut down the nets — and Hawaii’s faint title hopes —after rolling to an 81-61 victory at UCSB Events Center in Santa Barbara.
The Gauchos scored 42 points in the paint and hit eight 3s against one of the nation’s top teams in defending the perimeter. The Gauchos and UC Irvine finished the regular season atop the Big West at 15-5.
There were a variety of scenarios in which a UH victory could have resulted in the ’Bows earning a share of the regular-season title. But 6-foot-9 Andre Kelly’s early dominance in the low post and 6-2 guard Calvin Wishart’s accuracy from deep and deeper foiled the ’Bows. The Gauchos never trailed after reeling off eight points in a row to take a 10-2 lead.
The ’Bows dropped to 13-7 in the Big West. As the fifth seed, the ’Bows will face fourth-seeded Cal State Fullerton in Thursday’s quarterfinals of the Big West Tournament in Henderson, Nev. Tip-off is set for 12:30 p.m. Hawaii time.
Fullerton finished 12-6, with its final two games canceled. Last week, the Big West announced the seeding formula changed from records to winning percentage. The Titans’ percentage is .667; the ’Bows’ .650. The Titans won both meetings against the ’Bows this season.
“We’re looking forward to playing in the conference tournament,” UH coach Eran Ganot said. “Looking forward to our guys recharging here (in California) and a couple days of practices and watching the film and preparing for this conference tournament.”
The videos will show the Gauchos’ share-the-wealth approach led to open shots. The ’Bows entered as one of the nation’s best in limiting opponents’ assists (7.2 per game). The Gauchos assisted on 21 of their 33 field goals. Point guard Ajay Mitchell had 11 assists against zero turnovers.
“A big part of why we’ve been good defensively is we don’t allow teams to really share the ball,” Ganot said. “Tonight, we weren’t good defensively, and they shared it about as well as anybody we’ve seen. We were just too comfortable at all five spots, and they got whatever they wanted. And they started to make some tough shots because they were so comfortable.”
Kelly, who transferred from California, scored six of the Gauchos’ first 10 points off pirouettes in the paint.
“Their presence inside,” Ganot said, “we got hit in the mouth and didn’t respond. We usually do. We didn’t tonight.”
Wishart, who began his career at Georgia Southern, buried three 3s in accumulating all 15 of his points in the first half. Miles Norris, a 6-10 sharpshooter, added 18 points, most off jumpers. Cole Anderson drained four 3s on the move. Guard Josh Pierre-Louis twice hit no-look reverses.
“They made a couple tough shots during the stretch,” Ganot said. “But then we had lapses. We went under shooters (on screens). We didn’t step up on some shooters. … They were very comfortable. We learned the hard way.”
The Gauchos also won the battle of the boards 32-27. They had four turnovers to the ’Bows’ 12 giveaways.
Mor Seck, a 7-foot-1 freshman, made his third start in a row for the ’Bows, finishing with nine rebounds and two blocks. Bernardo da Silva, who had started the first 29 games before suffering an ankle injury, came off the bench to log 15 minutes. Noel Coleman led the ’Bows with 15 points, 13 coming in the first half.
UH vs. UCSB boxscore by Honolulu Star-Advertiser
