Cole Anderson went 5-5 from three-point range against Long Beach State. | Credit: Gary Kim

Coming off a tough loss to Cal State Northridge on Thursday, the Gauchos got back on track with an 85-54 blowout of Saturday.

Stephan Swenson led the way for UC Santa Barbara with 20 points. Nine Gauchos reached the scoring column overall.

“Tonight was all about responding,” said UC Santa Barbara coach Joe Pasternack. “We had a really tough game Thursday but in the last 48 hours our team responded really well to a team that took UC Irvine to overtime. Our focus right now is to honor the process and go 1-0 every day.”

Cole Anderson continued his historic pace from the three-point line going 5-5 from long distance on his way to 15 points. He is the NCAA Division 1 leader in three-point percentage at 53.7 percent.

The Gauchos jumped out to a 14-2 lead in a Deuce Turner three-pointer in transition and never looked back.

UC Santa Barbara took a 38-26 lead at halftime and outscored the visiting Beach 47-28 in the second half. Long Beach State never closed its deficit to single digits in the second half. 

Rebounding has been a struggle for UC Santa Barbara of late, but answered the call in that regard against Long Beach State. Max Murrell and Koat Keat Tong both posted season-high rebounds grabbing six and eight respectively. 

The Gauchos outrebounded Long Beach State 31-18 overall.

UC Santa Barbara will take to the road next Thursday as they travel to CSU Bakersfield. The Gauchos and Roadrunners will tip off at 6:30 p.m. inside the Icardo Center.

Get News in Your Inbox

Login

Please note this login is to submit events or press releases. Use this page here to login for your Independent subscription

Not a member? Sign up here.