An increased defensive focus paid dividends for the UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball team, as the Gauchos snapped a three-game losing streak with a 77-62 victory over Hawaiʻi on Saturday night at the Thunderdome.
Aidan Mahaney led the way offensively with 17 points, and four other Gauchos reached double figures in scoring, including Hosana Kitenge, who shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the field. However, it was the team’s dramatic transformation on the defensive end that shaped the flow of the game.
“Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday we went really hard in practice, and we got better at defense,” UCSB head coach Joe Pasternak said. “We are far from perfect. We have a major problem that I just talked to our team about, which is that we don’t understand how to play for 40 minutes.”
Hawaiʻi entered the game atop the Big West standings with a 13-3 overall record and a 5-1 mark in conference play, but the Gauchos held the Rainbow Warriors to 41.5 percent shooting and took a commanding 40-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.
“Hawaiʻi is a great team; they are the best team we have played all year,” Pasternak said. “We had our best defensive outing in the first half, but then gave up 41 points in the second half.”
The Gauchos’ 54.7 percent shooting from the field was the highest percentage Hawaiʻi has allowed this season. In addition, UC Santa Barbara’s 38.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc marked the highest three-point percentage the Rainbow Warriors have surrendered this year.
With the win, the Gauchos (11-7 overall, 4-3 Big West) extended their winning streak against Hawaiʻi to eight games and recorded their ninth consecutive home victory over the Rainbow Warriors.
