Aidan Mahaney scored a game-high 21 points as the UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball team earned a pivotal Big West Conference victory over first-place UC Irvine, 84-79, on Saturday night at the Thunderdome.
With the win, the Gauchos (16-8 overall, 9-4 Big West) closed to within half a game of the Anteaters and Hawai‘i for first place in the Big West standings.
“I’m just proud of our guys for gutting it out, honoring the process with our preparation on Friday, and being ready to play the best team in our league,” said UCSB head coach Joe Pasternack. “It was all about rebounding. I thought 37-27 on the boards was the difference in the game. We said that would be the key.”
UC Irvine took early control and extended its lead to 20-13 on two free throws by Harrison Carrington after he was fouled on a transition layup attempt.
However, the Gauchos locked in on both ends of the floor and closed the first half on a 21-8 run.
A Colin Smith three-pointer with 4:07 remaining in the half gave UCSB a 26-24 lead. Hosana Kitenge followed with a baseline jumper at the buzzer to push the Gauchos’ advantage to 34-28 at halftime.
“I take every matchup personally, but tonight, against the No. 1 team in the conference, it meant something to us,” Kitenge said. “We wanted to compete against the best, and we brought our best tonight. Every opportunity to play the game of basketball is a joy to me, so I’m going to take advantage of it and compete every night.”
That momentum carried into the second half, as a Kitenge layup with 9:52 remaining gave the Gauchos a commanding 59-39 lead.
The Anteaters eventually cut the deficit to single digits on a Kyle Evans dunk with 1:02 remaining, but the late surge was not enough.
UC Santa Barbara will travel to UC Riverside on Thursday, Feb. 12. Tipoff against the Highlanders is set for 7 p.m. at SRC Arena.
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