Darby Leads Long Beach State Upset

It doesn’t matter that UC Santa Barbara was the preseason pick to win the Big West Conference or that Long Beach State was expected to finish last for the second consecutive season. The Pyramid is a house of horrors for the Gauchos.

Louis Darby’s running three-point basket off the backboard at the buzzer culminated a stunning rally and gave the 49ers a 63-62 victory Saturday night in the conference opener for both teams.

Darby’s shot ensured that Santa Barbara, 6-4 overall, would lose for the ninth time in 10 tries since the Pyramid opened in 1994.

As dramatic as it was for Long Beach State (3-7), it was purely shocking for the Gauchos, who let a 21-point second-half lead slip away.

“We couldn’t seal the deal tonight,” forward Branduinn Fullove said. “We’ve come here the last two years and couldn’t get it done. I don’t know what it is.”

Darby, who had 17 points, got the shot off only after Gaucho guard Nick Jones knocked the ball loose twice.

“The play wasn’t drawn for me,” Darby said. “I just lost the ball. I was supposed to swing the ball [around] but there wasn’t enough time so I just threw it up. I wasn’t going to let him get the ball.”

Bryan Whitehead’s layup gave Santa Barbara a 58-40 lead with 10 minutes 35 seconds remaining. Long Beach State then went to a 1-3-1 defense that forced several of the Gauchos’ 21 turnovers and held Santa Barbara scoreless for more than nine minutes.

“It has a tendency to slow teams down,” Long Beach State Coach Larry Reynolds said of the defensive setup. “We were trying to get them to stand around a little bit and frustrate them because they’re so tough in their man-to-man offense.”

Darby made a free throw to cap an 18-0 run that tied the score. Kevin Roberts, who had a game-high 19 points, tied the score, 60-60, but Jacoby Atako’s reverse layup gave the Gauchos a two-point lead with 30.1 seconds left.

Casey Cook led Santa Barbara with 15 points.

-- Eric Stephens

UC Irvine 74, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 69 -- Center Adam Parada didn’t learn until Saturday afternoon’s shoot-around that he had regained his starting role for the Anteaters against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the Big West opener for both teams, and he didn’t waste the opportunity.

The 7-foot senior scored 17 points, had 10 rebounds and helped hold the conference’s leading scorer, Varnie Dennis, five points under his average, and Irvine rallied for the victory at Bren Center.

Guard Jeff Gloger had 17 points and guard Mike Efevberha had 16 for Irvine (6-4). The Anteaters made nine of 10 free throws in the final 3:41.

Guard Kameron Gray scored 35 points for San Luis Obispo (5-4). The Mustangs also got 19 points from forward Shane Schilling but only 13 from Dennis, who had only four at halftime.

“Statistically, he is the best center in the league,” Parada said. “So, the whole team was pumped up to play against him.”

Parada got the start because junior Greg Ethington, who figured to be a stronger post matchup, was held out because of an academic-related issue. Irvine made its first five shots and later used a 9-0 run to take a 25-14 lead. The Anteaters expanded that to 37-23 on a 19-foot jumper by Gloger 3:33 before halftime.

But San Luis Obispo rallied, with Schilling and Gray shooting from outside. Gray tied the score, 47-47, on a 12-foot shot, then put the Mustangs on top for the first time, 50-47, with a three-point basket with 12:55 left.

Parada’s hook shot over Dennis put Irvine on top, 54-52, with 10 minutes to go, but Dennis returned the favor for a 57-55 lead.

A free throw by Stanislav Zuzak tied the score, 61-61, with 3:41 to go and Irvine went on to build a 68-64 with 1:38 to go when Gloger fed Parada for a dunk.

-- Paul McLeod

Cal State Northridge 61, Cal State Fullerton 55 -- Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell shook his head in disgust when he looked at his team’s shooting in the Matadors’ Big West opener.

Braswell’s smirk, however, did not last long because at 37.5%, his team still shot better than the Titans, who made only 35.3% of their shots at Fullerton.

“It sure wasn’t pretty,” Braswell said. “But when you are on the road, you hope to keep it close and to be in position to win a game.... You just hope you have guys step up for you to win the game down the stretch.”

Braswell had two players make big plays in the second half.

Guard Davin White missed several open shots early, including an air-ball three-point attempt, but he came through with five points over the final 1:53.

Forward Eto Onyenegecha, the only player for Northridge (5-4) to shoot at least 50% from the field, made a three-point basket with less than a minute to play in regulation that helped clinch the victory.

Center Pape Sow had 16 points and 12 rebounds, Anthony Bolton had 12 points and freshman guard Bobby Brown scored 10 points for Fullerton (4-6). The Titans haven’t won a conference opener since defeating Nevada Las Vegas in 1994-95.

“We mixed our defenses up tonight and I thought they had a hard time figuring out what we were doing,” Braswell said about Sow and Brown. “We felt that those two guys are critical to their scoring.... We had to take them out of their rhythm and not allow them to get into an offensive flow.”

The Titans not only hurt themselves with poor shooting, they also turned the ball over 24 times.

-- Lonnie White

Pacific 73, UC Riverside 59 -- Kevin Butler scored 17 points and Vili Morton had 10, but the host Highlanders (3-6) came up short in the Big West opener for both teams.

Christian Maraker scored 18 points and Jasko Korajkic scored 14 for Pacific (6-6). The Tigers shot 70% from the field in the second half in outscoring Riverside, 42-28.

Colorado State 91, Pepperdine 65 -- Glen McGowan made 16 of 18 free throws and had 20 points but the Waves (5-9) fell in a nonconference game in the Pepsi Center at Denver.

Terrance Johnson had 13 points -- all in the second half for Pepperdine, which shot 26% in the first half.

Matt Nelson had 23 points for Colorado State (8-4).