Gauchos Falter Late in 97-88 Loss to UC Irvine

The Gauchos were within striking distance of their best victory of the season, but could not close out UC Irvine down the stretch of a 97-88 loss in their regular season finale..

After controlling the action on both ends of the court for the first 32 minutes of the game, UC Santa Barbara surrendered a 20-1 run as the Anteaters turned a 76-63 deficit into a 83-77 lead.

“We played incredibly well both offensively and defensively in the first half and in the second half we tried to outshoot them,” said UC Santa Barbara coach Joe Pasternak. “You can’t outshoot UC Irvine.”

The Gauchos’ collapse coincided with point guard Stephan Swenson fouling out of the game with just under eight minutes remaining. Swenson finished with 13 points and four assists in 18 minutes of action. His presence was sorely missed as the UC Santa Barbara offense faltered late in the second half.

“Steph is the head of our snake,” Pasternak said. “It was tough to lose him, but this is about our defense, this isn’t about our offense. When you look at it we shot 52 percent from the floor.”

A fade away jumper by Colin Smith from the mid-range gave the Gauchos an early 9-4 lead with 14:23 remaining in the first half. Smith extended the lead to 16-8 with a corner three-pointer at the 9:52 mark of the first half and finished with 18 points on 6-9 shooting.

Another huge part of the Gauchos success on the offensive end was Deuce Turner, who scored a season-high 28 points. A three-pointer by Turner put the Gauchos ahead 43-27 with 19 seconds remaining in the first half.

Devin Tillis responded with a three-pointer as the first half buzzer sounded, cutting the Anteaters’ deficit to 43-30.

UC Irvine opened the second half on a 17-8 run capped off by a Jurian Dixon three-pointer that cut the Gauchos’ lead to 51-47 with 14:28 left in the game.

However, UC Santa Barbara responded with a 13-3 run capped off by a Turner driving layup that increased the Gauchos lead to 64-50 with 12:38 remaining.

The two teams traded basketball until Swenson fouled out at the 7:39 mark of the second half with the Gauchos leading 76-65. UC Santa Barbara could only muster one Turner free throw over the next five minutes of action as the Anteaters took control of the game with clinical execution on both ends of the court.

The Anteaters scored 67 points in the second half and shot 74 percent from the floor.

“This was really a parallel for the entire season. We played incredibly well in the first half and had a great fight to us,” Pasternak said. “We couldn’t get consecutive stops and when you give up 67 points in a half that’s  impossible to overcome.”

The Gauchos (19-12 overall, 11-9 Big West) will open the Big West Tournament on Wednesday against Cal State Bakersfield. Tip off is set for 6 p.m.