Overview:
Ajay Mitchell rallies the Gauchos in the second half with 11 of his 15 points and all five of his assists
SAN LUIS OBISPO — The second half was a glass half full once again for the UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball team.
Ajay Mitchell rallied the Gauchos from a halftime deficit for the third time in the last four games to lead them to their eighth-straight victory, 62-57, at Cal Poly on Saturday.
Mitchell scored 11 of his 15 points and handed out all five of his assists during the second half to help UCSB (12-2, 3-0 Big West Conference) overcome a halftime deficit of 19-16.
“He’s not just a scorer, he’s the total package — and that’s what great point guards are,” Gaucho coach Joe Pasternack said.
Mitchell tied the knot on the victory during the final 4:37, using four of his five assists and six straight free throws to overcome a 41-39 deficit. He set up both of his starting post players for a big second half when Miles Norris scored 13 of his team-high 16 points and Andre Kelly added eight of his 10.
“Miles and Andre really, really played better in the second half and really fueled us offensively,” Pasternack said. “We changed our scheme a little bit and that helped us.”
UCSB shot 73.7% in the second half while scoring 46 of its 62 points. It out-shot Cal Poly for the game, 51.3% to 42.3%.
Five of the eight victories during the Gauchos’ winning streak have come on the road — a fact that has made Pasternack rethink his scheduling philosophy. UCSB played more nonconference road games (six) than home (five) this season for the first time in his six years as its head coach.
“I was thinking about it this morning, and I feel like our nonconference schedule really prepared us for playing four of our first six league games on the road,” he said. “That’s a really, really big deal.”
No avenue to victory was bumpier than Saturday’s first half. The 16 points scored by UCSB were just one short of cracking the school’s all-time top 10 for lowest-scoring halves.
Pasternack couldn’t help but look at the entirety of Saturday’s game as a glass half empty.
“Unfortunately, our team the last two games specifically did not play for 40 minutes — we played for 20,” he said. “We gave up 43 points in the first half against UC San Diego, and we did what we did tonight in the first half from an offensive standpoint.
“For us to keep winning, we must be able to play for 40 minutes, or we won’t be able to beat the teams in our league that we have to beat. It’s going to catch up to us.”
The Gauchos scored a pair of baskets in the first 2½ minutes but then just one more — Calvin Wishart’s three-point play— during the next 10 minutes. Their first-half possessions were limited by 11 turnovers. They committed only five more in the second half.
The Mustangs (7-9, 1-3) also struggled to score, but they still crept ahead 14-7 after a steal by Nick Fleming led to a dunk by Kobe Sanders with 8:54 left in the first half.
The Gauchos finally ended a seven-minute scoring drought when Josh Pierre-Louis converted a three-point play with 7:18 left in the period.
Mitchell followed with his only basket of the first half — a jumper just off the right elbow of the key — to draw UCSB to within 16-12.
The Gauchos kept Cal Poly close at the half, 19-16, by allowing just one point in the final 4½ minutes of the period.
“Our guys are really taking pride in being an awesome defensive team and understanding how important it is for us, moving forward,” Pasternack said.
The Gauchos actually out-shot the Mustangs 30% to 26.9% in the opening period. But Pasternack was unhappy with what he called “another phase of their defense,” getting out-rebounded 30-28. He was most troubled by Cal Poly’s seven offensive rebounds in the first half — a number that UCSB cut to four in the final 20 minutes.
“Those offensive rebounds become easy baskets for the other team,” Pasternack said. “The last three games, for whatever reason, we have not been able to put together two halves of rebounding.
“If we can add that to it, then we become an excellent rebounding team.”
Mitchell brought UCSB’s offense to life by starting the second half with a pair of scoring drives. Two free throws by Norris gave the Gauchos their first lead, 22-21, since the opening minutes.
Norris expanded the margin with back-to-back three-pointers — UCSB’s first two long-distance makes after four misses. He was fouled on his second three and made the free throw for a four-point play and a 31-25 lead with 14 minutes to go.
Chance Hunter, who scored 16 of his game-high 19 points in second half, rallied Cal Poly with one of his five three-pointers.
Brantly Stevenson then got the Mustangs to within one point by stealing the ball from Mitchell and scoring a layup.
“They’re a good team,” Pasternack said. “They have good players, really talented players … Older guys.
“When you play a rivalry game, all records go out the window. You have to defend, you have to rebound, you have to shoot well from the free-throw line, and you can’t turn the ball over.”
Mitchell responded the next time downcourt with another runner to put UCSB ahead 33-30 with 12:42 remaining. The Gauchos had scored more points to that point of the second half (17) than they had throughout the entire, 20-minute first half.
Cal Poly took its last lead of 43-41 after consecutive baskets by forward Alimamy Koroma. He finished with 14 points and a team-high six rebounds.
Mitchell countered by looking for his own big man, combining with Kelly on back-to-back layups off a pick-and-roll play from the high post.
“Ajay really made some great, great reads on ball screens, hitting the roller,” Pasternack said.
He then found Sanni alone in the right corner with a 30-foot pass. The senior guard hit the three-pointer for a 46-43 lead.
A steal by Mitchell — followed by Wishart’s driving, whip-around pass — led to a three-point play by Norris and a six-point lead with 4:37 to go.
UCSB took its biggest lead of eight points, 51-43, on a hook shot by Kelly. But a trio of threes by Hunter and a 70-second outburst of five points by Koroma kept it a one-possession game until the final 17 seconds.
Mitchell secured the win by feeding Norris for a dunk and sinking 6-of-6 foul shots in the final 39 seconds. Wishart made 3-of-4 free throws in the last 17 seconds.
UCSB was 10-of-11 from the foul line in the final 4:37 after having made just 9-of-17.
The Gauchos’ victory was their 10th-straight over Cal Poly since Pasternack lost the first Big West game of his coaching career at Mott Athletics Center on Jan. 4, 2018. The Gauchos had led that game by 21 points at halftime.
“Yeah, 80 to 79,” Pasternack said, reciting the final score when asked about the game.
On Saturday, however, his Gauchos made sure that Cal Poly was the half-not.