Three games in three nights caught up to the UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball team in the Big West tournament semifinals.
The Gauchos led UC San Diego 27-26 at halftime, but were outscored 43-24 in the second half by the top-seeded Tritons and suffered a 69-51 season-ending loss.
“I think our guys competed to exhaustion. We say empty your tank and they emptied their tank,” said UC Santa Barbara head coach Joe Pasternak of his team. “UC San Diego is a great team and I think for 32 minutes we played excellently.”
The Gauchos shot 6-of-29 from the field in the second half and 6-of-35 from three-point range over the course of the game despite being one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country this season at 39 percent overall.
It was another solid season for the Gauchos under head coach Joe Pasternak. UC Santa Barbara finished with 20-plus wins for the sixth time in Pasternak’s eight-year tenure, finishing with an overall record of 21-13.
“It’s all about playing the entire year to be able to have a better seed so you don’t have to play four games in four nights,” Pasternak said. “I’m really proud of this group. We have some high character guys.”
