UC Santa Barbara Bursts the Anteaters’ Bubble, 55-40
Toto, we are not in San Luis Obispo anymore. That stark reality hit the UC Irvine basketball team like a Joe Frazier left hook Saturday night, when what momentum and confidence the Anteaters gained in Thursday’s thrashing of Cal Poly SLO vanished amid UC Santa Barbara’s opening-bell ambush.
The Gauchos scored nine consecutive points to start the game and added a bookend nine-point run at the finish to defeat Irvine, 55-40, in Big West Conference action before 2,268 in the Events Center.
Despite its worst shooting game of the season (17 of 48, 35.4%) and a career-low two points from its leading scorer, Jerry Green, Irvine positioned itself for a possible upset when Marek Ondera’s 16-foot jumper pulled the Anteaters (10-11, 3-7) to within 46-40 with 3 minutes 15 seconds left.
But Gaucho center Aama Ndiaye (blocked shot, key defensive rebound and follow shot) and guard Larry Bell (inside basket, free throw and an assist) took over in the final three minutes, as Santa Barbara (10-11, 6-4) scored nine consecutive points to pull away.
Gaucho forward Mark Hull scored a game-high 16 points, including two three-pointers in the second half and a clutch leaner from the key that put Santa Barbara up by eight (46-38) with 3:46 left. The Gauchos, ranked 11th in the conference with a .406 field-goal percentage, made 22 of 38 shots for 57.9%.
The 40 points was a season low for the Anteaters and their fewest since a 57-40 loss at Idaho on Feb. 1, 1997. Green, Sean Jackson and Malachi Edmond, who combined for 68 points in Thursday’s 90-67 win at San Luis Obispo, combined to make three of 21 shots and score nine points.
“That was the big difference,” Irvine Coach Pat Douglass said. “It had to be Santa Barbara’s defense, because you don’t lose your shooting touch overnight.”
What the Gauchos do on their end of the court isn’t so much defense as it is assault and battery. They have a small, three-guard lineup, but those guards are quick and very physical and do an excellent job of shutting down passing lanes and hounding ballhandlers.
And when opponents are able to penetrate, the agile, 6-foot-9 Ndiaye is inside the key, blocking shots and altering others.
“It’s an up-tempo, in-your-face style, and they’re really tough at home,” said Ondera, who had a team-high 14 points. “They’re tough defenders, and they really know who to shut down.”
Santa Barbara’s primary target was Green, who scored a career-high 29 points Thursday but matched his all-time low set the last time the Anteaters played in Santa Barbara, on Jan. 30, 1999.
“We didn’t come out with the intensity we had at SLO,” Green said. “We were too comfortable, and they were too aggressive.”
“The way we played in the first half, we were lucky to be in the game at the end,” Douglass said. “We really dug ourselves a hole.”
