UC Santa Barbara Basketball Championship Preview

For the UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball team, the entire season has been building toward peaking this week and winning the Big West Conference Tournament.

The trick is that the conference is stronger than it has been in more than a decade, which sets the stage for a thrilling tournament beginning March 12 in Henderson, Nevada. 

“At the end of the day … our team has to come together and commit to the defensive end,” said UC Santa Barbara coach Joe Pasternack. “We can score with anybody, but if we don’t defend, we’re going to be out of this tournament really fast.”

For the first time since Utah State in 2005, a Big West team is in position to secure an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament, as UC San Diego’s meteoric rise from Division 2 to Big West regular-season champion has captivated the conference.

The Tritons are 28-4 overall and have a net rating of 35 and an RPI of 40 going into the Big West tournament. UC San Diego is within range of receiving one of the 37 at-large berths into the 69-team tournament.

The Gauchos are the last of the current Big West teams to receive an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament, which came in 1990. That’s not an option this time around, as UC Santa Barbara has a net rating of 143 out of 364 Division 1 programs. They will have to win four consecutive games to take part in the NCAA tournament.

With a record of 19-12 overall and 11-9 in conference play, UC Santa Barbara received the fifth seed in the conference tournament and will begin its journey on Wednesday, March 12, against Cal State Bakersfield, which comes in as the eighth seed after compiling an 8-12 conference record.

The Gauchos’ path, should they defeat Cal State Bakersfield, includes a matchup with Cal State Northridge (the team that eliminated UC Santa Barbara last season) on Thursday and UC San Diego on Friday. 

The top two seeds, UC San Diego and UC Irvine, received a double bye in the tournament, automatically advancing to the semifinals. Third-seed UC Riverside and fourth-seed Cal State Northridge received first-round byes.

In order to capture the Big West Men’s Basketball Championship, the Gauchos will have to win four games in four days against much fresher competition.

“North Carolina State last year won five in a row and went to the final four. Long Beach State last year won three in a row and went to the NCAA tournament. This team is deep; you play for the conference tournament. That’s all that matters. You control what you can control,” Pasternack said. “The only thing we are worried about is going 1-0 versus Bakersfield — there’s nothing else that matters.”

The Gauchos defeated Cal State Bakersfield in both of their matchups this season, including a 78-66 victory in the Thunderdome on January 9 and an 81-75 victory in Bakersfield on February 6.

UC Santa Barbara is 11-1 all-time against Cal State Bakersfield and played one of their best offensive games of the season in their most recent victory over the Roadrunners, shooting a season-high 70 percent from the field and 65 percent from three-point range.

“We can beat anybody on our schedule, but you have to commit to the defensive end for 40 minutes,” said Pasternack of his team’s strategy. 

Women’s Basketball

On the women’s side, UC Santa Barbara finished tied for fifth in the Big West Conference regular season. The Gauchos will receive the fifth seed in the conference tournament by virtue of tiebreakers over Long Beach State and UC Riverside. 

The Gauchos finished the regular season with an 18-12 overall record and a 12-8 conference record under first-year head coach Renee Jimenez. 

UC Santa Barbara will match up with eighth-seed Cal Poly in the first round of the Big West Tournament on Wednesday, March 12, beginning at noon. The Gauchos split their two regular-season matchups with Cal Poly this season.

See ucsbgauchos.com/sports/mens-basketball and ucsbgauchos.com/sports/womens-basketball.