Loyola Guard Sinks Santa Barbara : College basketball: Williamson has 32-point night while leading Lions to a come-from-behind victory, 83-73.

UC Santa Barbara came to Loyola Marymount on Saturday night with a reputation as a team that wins games from the perimeter.

But the Gauchos did not have a Jim Williamson in their lineup. Nor did they have anyone who could stop the Lions’ point guard.

Williamson, a 5-foot-10 junior, played the best game of his college career, scoring 32 points to lead Loyola Marymount to an 83-73 victory before 2,112 at Gersten Pavilion.

“I just got it going in the second half,” he said.

Got it going?

Williamson scored 24 points in the second half. Overall, he was 10 of 18 from the field and five of eight from the three-point line.

With the Lions trailing, 50-42, he connected on three consecutive three-point baskets to cut the Gauchos’ lead to 52-51 with 13:11 to play.

With the Lions trailing, 57-56, with 9:24 left, he scored eight points during a 10-0 run that put his team up, 66-57. Two of the points came on a driving layup through the lane. The other two, the result of a layup by guard Mike O’Quinn, came after a steal and pass by Williamson.

“They concentrated on stopping [center Ime Oduok] on the inside and leaving our weak side open, and we had Jimmy on that side and he got a lot of wide-open looks,” Loyola Marymount Coach John Olive said.

A lot more than the entire Santa Barbara team did.

The Lions, who trailed by 12 at one point during the first half and by a 38-32 margin at the intermission, turned up the pressure and denied the Gauchos much of anything in the way of good shots, inside or out.

UC Santa Barbara’s leading scorer, guard Lelan McDougal, had a team-high 14 points. Center Mark Flick, who scored 13 points in the first half, was held scoreless in the second.

The Lions, getting 14 rebounds from Oduok (he had 19 points) and 11 from forward Kenny Hotopp, finished the game with a 42-28 rebounding edge.

Thanks mostly to Williamson, they shot 49%, compared to the Gauchos’ 38%.