Coming off back-to-back losses, a banged-up UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball team was in need of a comfortable victory, and visiting Nobel University proved to be the perfect opponent to get the Gauchos back on track.
The Gauchos jumped out to a 22-4 lead and never looked back on their way to an 84-49 victory Monday night at the Thunderdome.
“For us to get a lot of guys that don’t play a lot of minutes to see where they are as we get ready for conference play, that was the point of this coming off our game on Saturday,” Pasternak said. “It’s all about us getting better and preparing for conference play.”
Ten Gauchos reached the scoring column, led by freshman C.J. Shaw, who scored a career-high 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the field.
Fellow freshmen Michael Simcoe and Luke Zuffelato tied for the team high with 31 minutes, as starters Jason Fontenet and Colin Smith sat out with undisclosed injuries.
“CJ came here at 172 pounds, kind of like an Ajay Mitchell, and he had to get stronger, so that spring really helped him acclimate to college life,” Pasternak said of Shaw, who enrolled early. “Being away from home is such a big deal for freshmen.”
Zion Sensley notched a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds as he made an appearance in the starting lineup, and Cal State Bakersfield transfer Marvin McGhee IV made the most of extended action with 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the floor, including 2-for-2 from three-point range.
Zuffelato, a Santa Barbara High grad, scored his first points as a Gaucho on a wing three-pointer with 9:40 remaining in the second half to give UCSB a 66-30 lead. He added a driving layup in traffic and a two-hand slam off an assist from Simcoe down the stretch to finish with seven points.
With the victory, UCSB improves to 4-2 overall and will head to Las Vegas for the Resorts World Classic. The Gauchos open the tournament on Friday against Lehigh.
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