UCSB Men’s Basketball felt the absence of their defending Big West MVP Ajay Mitchell in a major way in Thursday’s season opener, falling to Portland State by a score of 82-76 inside the Thunderdome.
With the star guard sidelined with an injury for precautionary reasons, according to head coach Joe Pasternack, the Gauchos turned the ball over 18 times and struggled to find consistent scoring.
Following the loss, Pasternack took full accountability.
“This game is 100% on me,” Pasternack said. “We deserve this… We’ll learn from this, we’ll get better and we’ll keep grinding.”
The game got off to a sloppy start, with both teams turning the ball over twice in the first three minutes.
Following a 6-3 start by UCSB, Portland State found an offensive burst with a 7-0 run to take a 10-6 lead five minutes into the game.
The run was quickly answered by the Gauchos when Evans Kipruto hit an inside shot and Jason Fontenet II nailed a three-pointer in his UCSB debut.
The two teams traded buckets consistently throughout the first half, which led to neither squad building any sort of cushion for their defenses.
With the game tied at 35-35 with just over a minute left in the half, UCSB’s Cole Anderson hit a pull up midrange jumper to bring the Gauchos ahead by one possession.
Anderson led all scorers with 14 points at the break, taking a larger offensive role with Mitchell sidelined, including creating shots himself.
“Most of my shots are usually catch and shoot with Ajay passing it to me… but I feel comfortable shooting off the bounce,” Anderson said.
Portland State forward KJ Allen answered with a physical and-one layup, converting the free throw to give the lead back to the Vikings.
UCSB struck right back when Josh Pierre-Louis found some separation and buried his first of two three-pointers on the night.
Just when it looked like the Gauchos were going to take a 40-38 lead into the break after a missed shot by Portland State, Viking forward Isaiah Johnson came flying in for the putback dunk, knotting things up at halftime.
After trading baskets to open up the half, UCSB’s Yohan Traore, who played just six minutes in the opening half due to foul trouble, converted a tough and-one to pull the Gauchos in front 49-48.
However, Portland State’s defense then turned it up and forced multiple turnovers while the offense took advantage on the fastbreak, leading to an 8-2 run that left the Vikings up 56-51 with 11:45 to go.
UCSB then began to creep back into the game, and it started with a spinning layup in the post by Ariel Bland, who found plenty of success in the paint to the tune of 13 rebounds, including four offensive, to lead all players.
“Ariel did an unbelievable job offensive rebounding,” Pasternack said. “That’s his role on the team and I thought he played very hard.”
Following Bland’s bucket, the Gauchos forced a miss and Matija Belic nailed a stepback three-pointer to cut the Portland State lead to 64-63.
It seemed as though the momentum was swinging towards UCSB as the Thunderdome crowd began to rise in volume, but the Vikings quieted them back down by answering the next few Gaucho scores with points of their own.
With Portland State up 68-67 with 5:11 remaining, the UCSB bench was called for a technical foul, resulting in two free throws and a 70-67 Viking lead.
That foul shut down any momentum the Gauchos had, as Portland State followed it up with a quick 5-0 run to take a 75-67 lead with 3:07 left.
That lead proved to be insurmountable, as UCSB couldn’t find an answer to the closing lineup of the Vikings and struggled to knock down shots of their own.
When the final buzzer sounded, Portland State (2-0) handed the Gauchos (0-1) a loss in their season opener.
Turnovers were the killer for UCSB, as they turned over the rock 18 times compared to their 17 assists. Meanwhile, the Vikings had just seven turnovers.
“We’ve been, in the past, absolutely great at not turning the basketball over,” Pasternack said. “We had 18 turnovers and they were leading to their fast break and they are getting layup after layup, especially in the second half.
“That was definitely the key to the game.”
Some of the struggles of holding onto the ball could’ve been due to the change in offensive roles with Mitchell out, as Pierre-Louis was forced into the main ball-handler position.
“I’m not really worried about [the new role],” Pierre Louis said. “I’m really worried about how I’m going to get better and not turn the ball over so much. I just got to do better next game.”
Anderson led all scorers with 21 points on 6-of-17 from the field and 3-of-12 from long range. Pierre-Louis followed him with 16 while Bland added in nine points to go along with his strong rebounding performance.
Despite the loss, the Gauchos had an impressive turnout from a crowd that was on hand for the program’s unveiling of the 2023 Big West Championship and NCAA Tournament banners.
“I’m just thankful for the students and the fans that came, they packed this place, it was awesome,” Pasternack said. “It’s what I envisioned this place to be, to build a great home court advantage.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t give them a lot to cheer about.”
UCSB will look to turn things around on the road against the University of Texas – El Paso on Monday at 6:05 p.m.
As for whether or not Mitchell will be back in the lineup on Monday, Pasternack said he will be back at practice on Saturday, meaning a return could be a possibility.