Gauchos go Cold Down the Stretch in 78-71 Loss to Cal State Northridge

A tight Big West contest slipped away from the UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball team as visiting Cal State Northridge closed the game on a 9-0 run to escape the Thunderdome with a 78-71 victory on Thursday night.

Rebounding has been a major weakness for the Gauchos throughout the season and that was once again the case as the Matadors enjoyed a 42-25 advantage on the boards.

“We got out-toughed, out-physicaled. They had 16 offensive rebounds and we had 14 turnovers, that’s 30 extra possessions and when you play one and two possession games it doesn’t work,” said UC Santa Barbara coach Joe Pasternack. “We got totally manhandled on the boards.”

Both teams settled into an excellent offensive rhythm in the first half. The Gauchos shot a blistering 10-18 from three-point range in the first half, but could not wrestle away the lead from the Matadors. 

Marcus Adams Jr. capped off a 10-3 Cal State Northridge run with a mid-range jumper that put the Matadors ahead 23-13 with 10:57 remaining in the first half.

The Gauchos finaled evened the score at 44-44 on a three-pointer by Stephan Swenson off a nice feed from Jason Fontenet with 1:28 remaining in the first half.

A layup by Grady Lewis on the ensuing Cal State Northridge possession gave the Matadors a 46-44 lead going into the locker room for halftime.

A three-pointer by Cole Anderson tied the score at 53-53 with 15:26 left in the game. Anderson knocked down 4-8 attempts from beyond the arc against the Matadors and leads NCAA Division 1 in three-point shooting at 51 percent.

“With team success comes individual accolades. That’s why Ajay Mitchell got what  he got because he got us to the NCAA tournament,” Pasternack said. “If you don’t win, nobody cares.”

The Gauchos took a 71-69 lead with 3:02 remaining in the game on a three-point play by Swenson, who sat out a big chunk of the second half with foul trouble, but would not score again for the remainder of the contest.

The hot shooting cooled off considerably as UC Santa Barbara missed its final nine three-point attempts.

The Matadors took a 73-71 lead on a steal by Keontae Jones and fastbreak layup by PJ Fuller with 1:52 remaining. Cal State Northridge closed out the game from the free-throw line as the Gauchos went cold.

Swenson led the way offensively for UC Santa Barbara with 18 points. Fontenet and Anderson finished with 16 and 12 points respectively

UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge came into the game tied for fifth place in the Big West Conference. With the victory the Matadors improved to 14-7 overall and 6-4 in conference. The Gauchos dropped to 13-8 overall and 5-5 in conference.