NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : SOUTHEAST REGIONAL AT CINCINNATI : Santa Barbara Loses Its Edge in Second Half

Like a calm surf near Goleta, UC Santa Barbara went flat Friday night in the second half of its National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Southeast Regional game with Maryland at Riverfront Coliseum.

The Gauchos, making their first NCAA tournament appearance, traded three-point baskets with the Terrapins in the first half and had an edge in the long-distance-shooting contest, leading, 44-39, at halftime.

In the second half, though, Santa Barbara fumbled defensive rebounds, couldn’t come up with loose balls and shot only 31.3% as Maryland won, 92-82, advancing to the second round here Sunday against Kentucky. The Wildcats beat Southern University, 99-84, in another first-round game.

Brian Shaw, the Gauchos’ 6-foot 6-inch, all-purpose guard, typified his team’s collapse in the second half.

He had 14 points at halftime on 5-of-8 shooting. Then, he went scoreless in the second half, missing five shots, while being relentlessly pressured by Maryland guard Rudy Archer.

“In the first half, they had three or four people on me, but they were playing off me a little bit, giving me the jumper,” Shaw said. “They weren’t as quick as Archer when I started to drive. He seemed like a ball of energy and he was right in my face the whole second half. I give him credit.”

Shaw, the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. player of the year, admitted that he was worn down in the second half.

In fact, it seemed that the entire Santa Barbara team was out of sync after shooting 69.2% in the first half, a figure almost matched by Maryland’s 60.9%.

The Gauchos made 7 of 10 three-point shots in the first half, while Maryland converted 6 of 11. Guard Keith Gatlin was the Terps’ designated bomber, making 5 of 8 three-pointers.

It was an impressive three-point show as the first six baskets, three by each team, were from beyond the three-point line.

In the second half, Derrick Lewis, Maryland’s 6-7 senior forward, who was out of character in the three-point shootout earlier, became the main man inside.

Lewis repeatedly posted up, scoring 18 of his 25 points in the second half. He didn’t have a rebound in the first half, as there weren’t many available, but he finished with eight.

“We didn’t do a good job of covering their inside people when the ball was on the floor,” Santa Barbara Coach Jerry Pimm said. “We didn’t jump to the ball and get on the high side when they started to dribble.

“And they hit their inside guys off of the dribble really well. They pinned us back. We couldn’t get between the man and the ball like we had to when the ball was above the free-throw line.”

So the season ended for Santa Barbara (22-8), while Maryland (18-12), the fifth-place finisher in the regular season of the Atlantic Coast Conference, is still a survivor.

This was a team in turmoil last season in the aftermath of the Len Bias tragedy. The former Maryland All-American died of cocaine overdose in June 1986.

Maryland was 7-19 overall and didn’t win a league game, going 0-15 counting a defeat in the season-ending ACC tournament, in 1986-87.

Gatlin, a senior, who scored 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting Friday night, was more emotionally distraught than his teammates.

He was Bias’ roommate his sophomore and junior seasons and then sat out last season, presumably for personal reasons.

“I heard on television that 13 players on our team were on cocaine, and we only had 12 players,” Gatlin said, adding that it was guilt by association.

“I talk to young kids at basketball camps and (tell them) you can be riding in a car and someone gets stopped for whatever. If you’re in the car, hey, people think you’re doing the same thing.

“The whole team got a stigma, because one guy got a stigma. It was a situation where bad things happened in Maryland and we’re in a big media area, papers like the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun.”

Gatlin said he was close to Bias both on and off the court. He is trying to live his own life now and put the past behind him. But it isn’t easy.

“I try to go on with my life now and do other things but it’s still hard because every time I see the (Boston) Celtics, I think of Lennie,” he said.

Bias was a first draft choice of the Celtics in 1986.

“Now I get away and try to be a more positive person. Coach (Bob) Wade made me a better person,” Gatlin said. “He said it was tough (Bias’ death), but that I had to get on with my life,” Gatlin said.

Gatlin is making strides emotionally, and his teammates are already making up for a dismal season last year.

It seemed, though, that UC Santa Barbara had an advantage even while trailing, 57-53, with 13:24 left.

Brian Williams, Maryland’s 6-10 freshman center from St. Monica High School, had just picked up his fourth foul, putting Santa Barbara into the bonus at the free-throw line.

Williams, who was sought by most of the major schools, left the court and didn’t return. His teammates were performing more than adequately without him.

“Brian is a very unique individual,” Wade said. “He leaned over to me while he was on the bench and said, ‘Coach, just let them go. They’re playing super.’ So we were going to stay with those kids as long as we could.”

With Santa Barbara floundering and Lewis working effectively inside, Maryland gradually pulled away to lead by five to seven points.

The Gauchos closed within 66-63 with 8:56 left but that was as close as they got. The Terps made sure of that by making their last 12 free throws.

“We got some shots but we just didn’t make them,” Pimm said. “For about a four-minute period there, we had five shots within three feet of the hoop and couldn’t make them, or tip them in, either. I think we just got a little tired.”

But Pimm, who has done an admirable job of rebuilding the Santa Barbara program, wasn’t devastated. Shaw and senior guard Brian Johnson are the only players who won’t return next season.

Another way of looking at it is that Pimm will now have more leisure time to spend on his 48-foot yacht moored in Santa Barbara Harbor.