Gauchos finish off UCI

This time, it was UC Santa Barbara that came up with the big finish.

The visiting Gauchos, who were outscored, 17-0, in the final 10:49 in a home loss to UC Irvine on Jan. 16, posted a 19-4 advantage in the final 5:18 to secure a 76-60 Big West Conference men’s basketball upset in front of a capacity homecoming crowd of 5,000 at the Bren Events Center on Saturday.

UCI (17-6, 6-1 in conference), ranked No. 13 in the CollegeInsider.com mid-major poll, saw its seven-game winning streak snapped, as well as an eight-game unbeaten streak at home this season.

UCSB (9-11, 3-4), which went scoreless in overtime to lose at Long Beach State on Thursday, flexed its finishing muscle after UCI’s Dominique Dunning made a six-footer to create a 54-54 deadlock with 5:44 left.

A three-pointer by sophomore guard Gabe Vincent sparked a 7-0 Gauchos’ run to create a cushion and the visitors scored 10 of the final 11 points of the contest, including all eight of their free throws in that span.

Four of those free throws came courtesy of UCI technical fouls, one on senior Jason Young and another on Coach Russell Turner that prompted his ejection.

Turner, who had been demonstrative in his disagreement with several officials’ calls, shouted an expletive at one official after Young was given a technical for hitting the ball out of bounds following his foul with 36 seconds left.

The official, Rob Rorke, ejected Turner without hesitation.

UCSB netted three of its nine three-pointers on consecutive possessions midway through the second half to take a 52-48 advantage.

UCI, which surrendered the final five points before halftime to face a 31-25 halftime deficit, stormed back after intermission to take a 40-36 advantage on the second of back-to-back three-pointers by Young with 15:33 remaining.

Young had 10 of his 12 points in the final half, when the Anteaters made 10 of 26 field-goal attempts (38.5%) to finish at 42.3% for the game.

UCI was six for 11 from three-point range in the final 20 minutes, after netting just one of five first-half shots from threedom.

UCI had 12 of its 15 turnovers before the break and was bothered by the Gauchos’ zone defense.

“Their zone affected the tempo of the game,” said Ali Ton, a UCI assistant coach who stepped into the press room for Coach Russell Turner, who left the arena shortly after the final buzzer. “Early in the game, both teams were in a flow offensively. When they went to zone, we got stagnant a little bit.”

After taking a 17-11 lead, UCI committed eight turnovers during a 12-0 UCSB run over a span of nearly seven minutes.

“It was the same way in the second half,” Ton said of UCSB’s shift from man-to-man to a zone defense. “They really compacted their defense inside and made it difficult for our big guys to operate.”

UCI big men Mamadou Ndiaye (three for seven), Mike Best (one for five), Ioannes Dimakopoulos (three for seven) and Jonathan Galloway were a combined seven for 20 from the field and took just five of the Anteaters’ 13 foul shots, all of which were in the second half.

“They outplayed us,” Turner said by phone. “Credit to them. They beat us at our house. They beat us doing what they thought they were going to do. They were just better than we were tonight.”

Junior guard Luke Nelson led UCI with 16 points and three assists.

Best had a team-leading eight rebounds to go with his four points.

UCSB shot 48.3% after halftime to finish at 44.3% for the game against a UCI team that entered Saturday ranked No. 7 in the nation in field-goal-percentage defense (.351).

Michael Bryson led the Gauchos with 18 points, while Vincent added 14 and Eric Childress chipped in 12.

UCSB posted a 23-16 advantage in bench scoring, led by T.J. Taylor, who made both of his three-pointer tried.

The Gauchos had 13 offensive rebounds to create 17 second-chance points, while UCI managed 11 second-chance points on its nine offensive boards.

UCI visits Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Wednesday, then plays at Hawaii on Thursday.

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Big West Conference

UC Santa Barbara 76, UC Irvine 60

UCSB – Beeler 6, Kupchak 3, Bryson 18, Vincent 14, Childress 12, Taylor 8, Green 7, Brewe 6, Hart 2.

3-pt. goals – Taylor 2, Bryson 2, Childress 2, Vincent 2, Green 1.

Fouled out – None.

Technicals – None.

UCI – Best 4, Dunning 6, Ndiaye 6, Nelson 16, Young 12, Dimakopoulos 8, Wright 6, Smith 2.

3-pt. goals – Young 3, Nelson 2, Wright 1.

Fouled out – Young.

Technicals – Young 1, Coach Turner 1.

Halftime – 31-25, UCSB.