UCSB’s Miles Norris drives against UC Irvine’s Collin Welp on Monday while on his way to a career-high 16 points.
UC Irvine remains the big kid on the block in Big West Conference men’s basketball.
UCSB started a bigger front line but still got whipped on the post as the Anteaters completed a double-header sweep, 73-69, at the Bren Center on Monday.
UCI’s close victory follows Sunday’s 75-56 rout to start a Big West schedule that has been modified to mitigate the risks of the COVID-10 pandemic.
“It’s like I told our guys after the game, it’s December 28,” Gaucho coach Joe Pasternack said. “All the hype of UC Irvine and UCSB is what it is, but the season is a marathon. It’s a 20-game (league) schedule.
“They’re the better team now but our job is to get better and be the best team in February and March.”
The Gauchos (4-3) fell behind by as many as 10 points in the first half but rallied ahead by nine with 7:49 to go. But then they hit a wall as the Anteaters (5-4) went on a 13-0 run to start a 24-11 finish to the last seven minutes.
“At the end of the game, we didn’t make good decisions on offense,” Pasternack said. “You can’t beat a team like Irvine if you don’t value every single possession on offense and defense.”
UCSB got out-rebounded 39-29 and out-scored in the paint 46-22 during the Sunday massacre. It prompted Pasternack to start 6-foot-10 Robinson Idehen alongside 6-9 Amadou Sow, a two-time all-leaguer. The pair wound up missing all eight of their shots, with Sow going 0-for-6.
Irvine got another big performance from its post players. Forward Collin Welp finished with a team-high 16 points, which included five straight to erase UCSB’s last lead with 2:44 to go. He also had a game-high nine rebounds.
Fellow post player Brad Greene added 10 points and eight rebounds. The Anteaters belittled the Gauchos on the boards by another double-digit rebound margin, 37-26.
Irvine, which led for the last 18 minutes of Sunday’s game, led for the first 28 on Monday. The Anteaters made four of their first five shots, three by Welp, to take a 12-4 lead after just 4½ minutes.
But a jumper by Miles Norris, Ajare Sanni’s runner, and a three-pointer by Destin Barnes got the Gauchos within 12-11 with 12 minutes to go in the first half.
Norris, who gave up his starting spot to Idehen, did give UCSB an outside presence off the bench. He scored a career-high 16 points which included a pair of three-pointers. Sanni went 4-for-4 from three and 6-for-7 overall to match his season-high with 18 points.
UCSB went 8-for-20 from three as a team after going just 3-for-25 on Sunday.
“I thought Miles played with some fire,” Pasternack said. “He has to be able to have that consistent fire in his belly, and with that competitive spirit both on offense and defense.
“Ajare is shooting the ball very well. We need him to defend at a high level.”
JaQuori McLaughlin led all scorers with 22 points which included 10-for-10 from the free-throw line. The Gauchos set a school record by making all 19 of their foul shots, eclipsing the team mark of 18 without a miss set against Pepperdine on Dec. 15, 1988.
But McLaughlin’s two free throws were UCSB’s only points during an 11-2 run by the Anteaters which put them ahead 30-20. Sanni’s three and two more foul shots by McLaughlin got the Gauchos within 32-25.
Sow, however, missed a shot from close range and then committed a turnover to keep them from getting closer. He has made just 25.7% of his shots (9-for-35) in the last four games, three of which have been Gaucho defeats. He was held to four points on Monday — all free throws, and just five rebounds in 26 minutes.
“We talk to our guys all the time about honoring the process, and Amadou has had a good attitude through this slump,” Pasternack said. “It’s just something all athletes go through.
“He’s a good player. He works hard every single day and he will work hard when we get back to practice. I think he’ll be just fine.”
Freshman Dawson Baker kept Irvine ahead by seven, 41-34, by making a three and an outside jumper early in the second half. But Norris scored 10 points and Sanni added eight during a seven-minute, 24-8 outburst for the Gauchos. They each hit a three in matter of just 28 seconds to increase UCSB’s lead to 58-49.
But Baker rallied Irvine with two threes of his own, the second of which snapped a 62-all tie with 2:06 remaining. He finished with 14 points.
“We’ve got a really young team that’s grown a lot these last couple of days,” Baker said. “These last two games have solidified who we are.
“Anyone who comes here, we’re expected to win, no matter who it is. It comes from coach (Russell) Turner and the staff and it carries over to the players.”
The Gauchos missed 13 of their last 15 shots which included 1-for-7 from three.
“At the end of the game, we didn’t make good decisions on offense,” Pasternack said. “You can’t beat a team like Irvine if you don’t value every single possession on offense and defense.”
In that same time span, the Anteaters made seven of 10 shots which included 3-for-4 from three. They also made all seven of their free throws.
“You get into conference play and every single possession matters,” Pasternack said. “On defense, you can’t give up second shots, and you have to execute on offense and take good shots.
“We took two really bad shots at the end of the game, and a bad shot is like a turnover. And conversely, we can’t give up second shots, and we can’t get driven to the paint like that. That’s what we did in the last four minutes when they made their run.”
UCSB will return to action on Friday and Saturday for back-to-back home contests against Cal State Fullerton. It will be the Gauchos’ first home games since Dec. 7.
email: mpatton@newspress.com
