Gauchos say they hit rock bottom after falling to 0-3 in the Big West

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The Gauchos are at a low point after losing their Big West home opener 79-72 to UC San Diego to fall to 0-3 in league.

The Gauchos easily played their worst first half of the season as they trailed 45-24 after the Tritons shot 55.9% from the field and outrebounded UCSB 18-8 in the first 20 minutes.

"Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom and we hit rock bottom tonight," said head coach Joe Pasternack.

Pasternack continued, "We are soft right now, we're a soft team, I'm a soft coach."

After falling behind 61-37 with 13:37 to play UCSB finally showed some life.

The Gauchos were able to cut the deficit all the way down to 6 points with under a minute to go on a 3-pointer by reigning Big West Player of the Year Ajay Mitchell who had a team-high 14 points.

Creighton-transfer Ben Shtolzberg had 13 points off the bench as he rounds into form after missing the first eight games of the season due to injury.

UCSB plays at Cal Poly on Saturday night.