Gauchos hold off Long Beach State for 4th straight Big West win
LONG BEACH, Calif. (KEYT) - UC Santa Barbara men's basketball won its fourth consecutive game after holding on for a 74-71 win over Long Beach State on Saturday evening. The Gauchos led by as much as 17 before the Beach tied the game with under 3 minutes remaining in the contest. Fortunately, the Gauchos hung on to defeat the Beach for the eighth consecutive time.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos drew first blood in the game after an Aidan Mahaney layup, assisted by Miro Little. The Gauchos made their next two shots, starting 3-for-3 from the floor and taking an early four-point lead. The Gauchos and Beach continued to trade possessions.
Around the mid-way point of the half, Mahaney hit a three that put the Gauchos up eight and sparked an 8-0 run, extending the lead to 13. As the half drew to a close, the Gauchos and Beach traded baskets, but Long Beach could not cut the deficit, as the Gaucho offense was overpowering. Santa Barbara ended the half up 15.
At halftime, Mahaney was a perfect 6-for-6 and 3-for-3 behind the arc to lead all scorers with 15 points. The Gauchos were outrebounding the Beach by seven at the break and had 12 assists on 16 made baskets.
After a slow start to the second half, the Beach went on a 7-0 run to cut the Gaucho lead to 10. A Marvin McGhee IV second-chance three-pointer stopped the run. Out of timeout, Long Beach proceeded to go on 8-0 run and cut the Gaucho lead further, forcing UC Santa Barbara to take a timeout.
12-8
Through the middle part of the second half, the teams traded baskets, with the lead floating between five and eight points in favor of the Gauchos. After another Beach run (7-0) the UC Santa Barbara lead was trimmed to three, and shortly after a Beach three-pointer tied the game at 67 with 2:52 to go in regulation.
CJ Shaw took over after that, scoring four consecutive points to regain the lead for Santa Barbara. Long Beach State pulled within one after making a mid-range shot with 36 seconds left. The Gauchos went up three after Mahaney danced around the paint and made a layup with 10 seconds left. A last-second three-pointer came up short for the Beach and the Gauchos won their fourth straight game.
NOTABLES
The last five games between UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State in Long Beach have been decided by five points or less.
Over the last two games, Miro Little has recorded 17 assists to just three turnovers.
Aidan Mahaney recorded his fourth 20-plus point game of the season by scoring 21 points in the win.
UC Santa Barbara has now won eight consecutive games against Long Beach. Their last loss came during the 2021-22 season.
UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara will stay on the road as it travels to UC San Diego on Thursday, Jan. 29. The Gauchos and Tritons will tip off at 7 p.m. in La Jolla at LionTree Arena. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available.
(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics).
