Gauchos Draw Leader of the Pac

By ERIC STEPHENS

March 11, 2002 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

GOLETA —

In a restaurant here on Selection Sunday, the mood was typically relaxed--except in one section of the place, where about 100 UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball players, coaches and fans nervously waited and watched television, awaiting their NCAA tournament fate.

For them, the only respite from tension came in not drawing Kentucky or Florida.

As it came down to the final few pairings, Santa Barbara’s game still had not been announced. Nerve-racking anticipation gave way to jubilation when the Gauchos found out they would play Arizona on Thursday in their first NCAA tournament game in 12 years.

Santa Barbara and Arizona, which haven’t met since 1980, will play at Albuquerque. Santa Barbara earned its automatic berth by defeating Utah State, 60-56, Saturday night in the Big West Conference tournament final.

The Gauchos (20-10) know they are big underdogs as a 14th seed against the third-seeded Wildcats (22-9), but it hasn’t dimmed their enthusiasm.

“In a way, I’m kind of happy that we got this seed,” sophomore forward Branduinn Fullove said. “I think Arizona is a great draw for us. We don’t have to be better than those guys the whole season. We just have to be better for one game.”

Santa Barbara, which has won 20 games for the first time in 10 years, is used to Pac-10 competition, having played USC the past five seasons, UCLA last year and Stanford the year before.

They can thank the NCAA basketball committee for opting to put higher seeds in regional sites closer to home in the first two rounds. But Arizona just plowed through the rugged Pac-10 tournament and Santa Barbara hasn’t beaten a Pac-10 team since defeating Oregon in 1989.

“We know their players just by watching them on TV,” junior forward Mark Hull said. “That is a great conference. But we felt we were in all of those games. We know what’s in store for us.”

Santa Barbara Coach Bob Williams, an unabashed admirer of Arizona Coach Lute Olson, is looking forward to the coaching matchup.

“He’s a legend in the game,” Williams said. “When you say Lute, you know who he is. It’s just like Coach K [Mike Krzyzewski]. He’s one of those guys you can call by one name and you know exactly who you are coaching against.

“The guy has probably coached in more NCAA tournament games than I’ve coached Division I games.”

Like many college basketball fans trying to forecast the tournament brackets, restaurant goers here tried to guess where Santa Barbara would be sent. Many figured the Gauchos would be playing a third or fourth seed. During the NCAA selection telecast, several groans rang out when Kentucky, Florida or Illinois flashed on the screen.

Even the momentary thought of playing top-seeded Duke had the crowd holding its collective breath, though it would have been highly unlikely the Gauchos would have been a 16th seed.

Williams, who was hoping the Gauchos would draw Gonzaga, shot a quick look at his players after hearing those groans.

“I was looking at the reactions of some of our guys,” he said. “I was a little disappointed they were relieved they didn’t get some of those teams.”

Hull is happy Santa Barbara got the big test it did.

“I wanted to play against one of the big schools,” he said. “That’s what is fun about the tournament. You want to test yourself against those schools.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

UC SANTA BARBARA (20-10) vs. ARIZONA (22-9)

West Regional

Thursday at Albuquerque, N.M.

UCSB AT A GLANCE

Nickname: Gauchos

Regional seeding: 14th

Conference: Big West (11-7, Tie for Third)

Bid: Won conference championship by defeating Utah State, 60-56

Tournament record: 1-2, third appearance

Last NCAA appearance: 1990, lost to Michigan State, 62-58, in second round

Coach: Bob Williams (Fourth season, 62-52)