Loss to Gauchos May Have Fullerton Crying, but Not at the Officials

Anytime the home team attempts 40 free throws and the guests shoot 11 in a college basketball game, you can bet your house the visiting coach is going to have some less-than-complimentary remarks about the officiating.

Put the mortgage back in the safe this time, though. UC Santa Barbara did have a 25-point advantage on the free-throw line Saturday night in the Campus Events Center, but that was just one of the categories in which the Gauchos dominated en route to an 85-69 victory over Cal State Fullerton in Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. play.

Santa Barbara shot 67% from the floor, 83% from the line, outrebounded the Titans, 33-23, turned the ball over 9 less times, had twice as many steals . . . well, you get the idea.

Fullerton Coach George McQuarn certainly did.

“They kicked our butts in every imaginable way,” he said. “You can’t point to any one factor. I can’t imagine them playing any better for 40 minutes. I’m sure as hell not gonna cry about the officiating.”

It was the first time since 1981 that UCSB has beaten Fullerton, and it snapped a five-game Titan win streak. But, more important for Santa Barbara (7-5 in conference and 11-10 overall), it moved the Gauchos a full game closer to the third-place Titans (8-4, 12-9).

“I think it was our best game so far,” UCSB Coach Jerry Pimm said, “let’s just hope it’s not our best game of the season. We’ve got a big four-game road trip coming up (San Jose State, Utah State, Nevada Las Vegas and UC Irvine), so we can use the momentum.”

One of the attractions of a Fullerton-Santa Barbara matchup is the matchup of two of the conference’s better inside players--the Gauchos’ Scott Fisher and the Titans’ Tony Neal.

It’s not unusual for the two to cancel each other, but few would have guessed their combined offensive output would be eight points.

Neal, who came into the game averaging 18 points and shooting 49% from the floor, made 1 of 9 field-goal attempts Saturday night and finished with a season-low in points (2) and rebounds (5). Neal, who has missed practice all week while battling the flu, also fouled out with nine minutes remaining.

Fisher, averaging 14 points, was scoreless in the first half and had 6 points and 1 rebound when he fouled out 15 seconds before Neal.

Conner Henry (24 points) and Maury Carr (22) did more than enough to pick up the slack, and Pimm was able to get quality play from eight players.

“I was really pleased that we were able to play this well when our top scorer and rebounder (Fisher) was having an off night,” Pimm said. “We showed good intensity for 40 minutes, had decent offensive execution and played really good defense in the first five minutes of each half.”

Fullerton’s poor shooting had a significant impact on the opening minutes.

It’s one thing to fall behind, 11-0, but it’s downright humiliating when a team does it in the fashion the Titans did Saturday night. After the first four and a half minutes, the crowd of 3,783 must have wondered how Fullerton scored a point, much less won 12 games this year. All five starters had a embarrassing miss.

Here’s a quick look at the Titans’ first seven possessions:

No. 1--Kerry Boagni took the first shot (as is his custom) and set the tone for the evening. It was a 13-foot baseline jumper from the baseline that was about a foot over the rim.

No. 2--DeWayne Shepard missed a layup.

No. 3--Kevin Henderson was unable to in-bound the ball in the alloted five seconds, and Fullerton didn’t get off even a feeble field-goal attempt this time.

No. 4--Gary Davis’ 17-foot jumper missed the rim, but it did touch the backboard . . . barely.

No. 5--Henderson was called for traveling on a fast break.

No. 6--Tony Neal’s 12-foot fallaway jumper was short, but the top of the ball did nip the front of the rim on the way down.

No. 7--Henderson’s airball from the top of the key was so wide it sailed straight out of bounds.

Henderson finally broke the drought with a high-arc, rain-maker jumper, but the Gauchos were rolling and the crowd--which also was spurred on by the incentive of a free pizza party for the loudest group--was in the game.

And the Titans were out of it.

Fullerton “recovered” to hit 33% of its first-half shots, but UCSB was sailing along at a 69% clip and the result was a 40-24 Gaucho lead at the half.

The Titans went to a zone press, and it did cause Santa Barbara some problems, but it also resulted in 20 first-half free throws for the Gauchos. They made 16. And that was only half of the Titans’ problems. With 13 minutes left in the game, five of Fullerton’s top six players had three or more fouls, forcing McQuarn to go to his bench more often then he’d like.

By the time it was over, Neal, Boagni and Henderson, the Titans’ top three scorers this year, had fouled out.

Henderson scored 23 points and freshman Richard Morton, whose previous high was 12, hit 8 of 13 field-goal attempts and finished with 20 points.

The numbers next to Morton’s name were the only ones McQuarn could look at in Saturday’s box score without cringing.