McArthur Keeps UCSB Alive

Yes, McArthur shall return.

So shall DeHart and Gray and the rest of the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos who advanced to the second round of the NCAA Southeast Regional with Thursday’s 70-66 victory over the University of Houston.

Santa Barbara will be back, to play the region’s top-seeded team, Michigan State, Saturday afternoon, largely because its McArthur, a 6-6 senior center named Eric, also knows the value of strong defense.

Consider these two plays in the final two minutes by McArthur:

--With Santa Barbara holding a 62-60 lead, Houston center Carl Herrera leaped over Gaucho forward Gary Gray for a short jump shot in the lane. McArthur, standing behind Gray, went the extra yard--literally--by reaching over his teammate’s head and interrupting Herrera’s shot with a forceful swat to the floor.

--With 21 seconds remaining and Santa Barbara’s lead still at two, 68-66, the Cougars tried to get the ball to Herrera again. Forward Chris Morris drilled a pass inside, but McArthur, leaning in, backhanded the ball, then grabbed it, turning the play into the turnover that decided the game.

Footnote to both plays: McArthur made them while burdened with four personal fouls.

One slip of the wrist and there went Santa Barbara’s most valuable player--and, quite possibly, the ballgame.

“I don’t believe in playing tentative,” McArthur said. “Even with four fouls. If you play tentative, you play weak.”

Nevertheless, Gaucho Coach Jerry Pimm cringed more than once down the stretch and, just in case, had backup center Ulysses Akins loosening up on the sidelines.

“It’s hard for us to play without Eric, but we have to be prepared,” Pimm said. “When your strength is defense, you have to go to your strength.

“Eric did a good job in choosing his opportunities to go for the block, and his steal saved the game.”

McArthur’s steal sent Houston into desperation mode, resulting in a quick foul. When Santa Barbara forward Paul Johnson sank both free throws, the Gauchos (21-8) were moments away from their first victory in the NCAA tournament.

These things can happen when you hang onto your invitation.

Some had suggested that the Gauchos hand theirs back. Santa Barbara didn’t get this far without some major backlash, a byproduct of the Cal State Long Beach mess, when the Gauchos, first-round losers in the Big West tournament, were chosen ahead of a 22-8 49er team.

Suddenly, Santa Barbara’s credentials were thrown into question, with Long Beach Coach Joe Harrington bringing up that embarrassing first-round defeat to Pacific and accusing the Gauchos “of not taking care of business.”

This, McArthur didn’t much care for.

“It’s just the other way around,” McArthur said. “They didn’t take care of business. We took care of business by beating them twice by 15 and 17 points.”

On the way to the regional, McArthur heard it all. After a while, he had to wonder about the spelling of the first-round site.

Was this Knoxville, or knocksville?

“We kept hearing, ‘What’s a Gaucho?’ and ‘They’re the Slouchos,’ ” McArthur said, disdain in his voice. “But we’re a bunch of elephants out there. We don’t forget anything.”

The Gauchos had more than enough motivation. Pimm concentrated on the proper preparation, devising a game plan he hoped would frustrate a fast-breaking, 25-7 Houston team that averaged almost 82 points a game.

“The idea was for us to play 25 minutes of offense and 15 minutes of defense,” Pimm said. “If we do that, we’re going to play better defense because we’re rested and we’re going to limit their number of times in the open court.

“We executed that pretty well. If I’m not mistaken, they only had one layup off the break.”

Offensively, however, Santa Barbara’s strategy required a mid-course adjustment. With guard Carrick DeHart off his game--hitting just five of 15 shots for 11 points--the Gauchos had to find their points elsewhere.

They found them inside, getting 20 from McArthur and 15 from Gray. McArthur sank eight of 17 shots, Gray six of 10. McArthur also had six of Santa Barbara’s last nine points, including the three most important of the game.

After leading by as many as six points in the second half, the Gauchos turned the ball over on successive possessions and Houston pulled to within one, 65-64, with 1:33 to play. Then, with 1:08 left, Morris tipped a rebound to Craig Upchurch and Upchurch made the layup, giving Houston the lead, 66-65.

Santa Barbara fired an air ball on its next possession, but McArthur was there for the bail-out, collecting the garbage and sinking a bank shot with a minute to play.

After a miss by Houston, McArthur went up again, missed a hook shot, scrambled for the rebound and was fouled by Upchurch. With 28 seconds left, McArthur made one of two free throws, giving the Gauchos a 68-66 advantage.