UCSB men’s basketball moves on to Big West semifinals

By KRISTEN KELLER UCSB SPORTS

The UCSB men’s basketball team (24-7, 15-5 Big West) opened up The Big West Championships in the quarterfinal round as the second-seeded Gauchos took on the 10th-seeded Cal Poly Mustangs as they took the BlueGreen Rivalry to Henderson. This all-out battle ended in favor of the Gauchos as UCSB now moves on to The Big West Semifinals as they defeated Cal Poly 64-54.

“We knew this would be a really tough game; a dog fight,” said UCSB Head Coach Joe Pasternack. “In the first half, we were kind of shocked. We were in a new arena, we didn’t get good shots, and defensively, we didn’t play well. But in the second half, we really flipped and shot at 54 percent while holding them to 34 percent. That was huge.”

The Mustangs won the tipoff and ran with the momentum early in this game, keeping a consistent five-point lead on the Gauchos through the first nine minutes of play. Despite the Gauchos best efforts to gain the lead, Cal Poly was not having it as the first half ended in favor of the Mustangs with a score of 32-26.

As soon as the Gauchos returned to the floor, they were on fire. They closed the gap within one during the first five minutes before taking the lead off a steal from Ajay Mitchell that turned into a layup from Miles Norris. Once the Gauchos put themselves in this position, it was a back-andforth battle between these two teams as it always is when they play one another. That was shortlived for the Mustangs as Mitchell heated up. The Gauchos were able to grow their lead, resulting in a 64-54 victory for UCSB.

• Mitchell led the game in scoring, putting up 24 points in this game with 21 of those coming in the second half. To add on to that, the reigning Big West Player of the Year contributed five assists along with one block and a steal. email: sports@newspress.com

• Norris was next up for the Gauchos, scoring 12 points in tonight’s game. The senior scored three straight baskets at the start of the second half to put his team in a good position to win. He also secured two steals.

• Andre Kelly shined for the Gauchos in this one, scoring 11 points while adding on a teamhigh eight rebounds. His defense also shined as he snagged three steals.

• Josh Pierre-Louis was a big part of the Gauchos’ success this evening. He secured nine points on the offensive side of the ball while grabbing five boards.

Kristen Keller is the associate athletic director for communications and digital strategy at UCSB.

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