UCSB Gives Thanks For A Hot-Shot Offense After Holding Off Westmont In Basketball

UC Santa Barbara’s gluttonous offense engorged itself again during Wednesday’s Thanksgiving Eve basketball feast against Westmont College.

But the cross-town Warriors didn’t go hungry, either, in their 91-79 defeat at the Thunderdome.

“On offense, we’re one of the top teams in the country in field-goal efficiency,” UCSB coach Joe Pasternack said. “That’s not our issue.

“What we have to do is be able to defend and get multiple stops. Three stops in a row — we call it a kill. We’re not there right now.”

The Gauchos (2-2), whose field-goal percentage of 54.2% ranked fifth nationally, were even better on Wednesday at 61.8%. They also muscled their way to the free-throw line 27 times, making 18, and out-rebounded Westmont 40-24.

“The goal in the game was to just pound it inside,” said Yohan Traore, a 6-foot-10 sophomore who made 8-of-10 shots and scored 18 points. “So whenever they were passing me the ball, I was going to score.”

Point guard Ajay Mitchell, in just his second game back from an ankle injury, was also 8-for-10 which included 2-for-3 shooting from the three-point line. He led UCSB with 21 points, grabbed seven rebounds and added four assists.

“I took a lot of time off to get ready, and now I feel great,” Mitchell said. “It’s good. … It’s good to be back on the court.”

But Westmont, which has switched its affiliation this season from NAIA to NCAA Division II, proved to be no turkey. The Warriors (2-2) shot 47.1%, made 11-of-29 three-pointers, and forced the Gauchos into 14 turnovers.

McIntyre On Fire

Westmont guard Anthony McIntyre led all scorers with 28 points. He made 10-of-16 shots which included 5-of-9 from three.

“I really want to start by giving them credit,” Pasternack said. “Landon (Boucher, the Warriors’ coach) does a great job. He had his guys ready to go. They competed hard and made some tough, tough shots. Some step-back threes.

“I think they’re going to have a really, really good season.”

Westmont was at its best in the gut of the game. It rallied to within eight points, 57-49, by outscoring UCSB 27-13 in a 7½-minute span that began in the last two minutes of the first half.

“Tonight we were able to improve just in the fact that we’re sharing the ball,” Boucher said. “I thought our guys battled on defense really well.

“Ultimately, you want to come in and win this game, and you really want it to be competitive. It’s a good sign. It’s just another day where we improve, just like the last couple of practices.”

Mitchell asserted himself early with scoring drives on UCSB’s first two possessions. When he missed on the third one, Traore was there to convert the putback.

Mitchell compared the transfer from Auburn to Amadou Sow, who won All-Big West Conference honors for the fourth time during his senior year of 2021-22.

“Yohan and Amadou were really aggressive, which I really like in a big,” Mitchell said. “Yohan is a great floor runner. He runs really fast. He’s smart, too, so he knows the game.

“It’s good to play with him. We still have to work on a lot of stuff together, but he’s a great player and a great teammate.”

Passing Marks

Mitchell assisted Cole Anderson’s three-pointer before scoring another runner. He then set up Traore to make a free throw which put the Gauchos ahead 12-4 after just four minutes.

“Ajay is really great in just making the game easier,” Traore said. “I don’t know how to explain it.

“You play with somebody who likes to share the ball, pass the ball — and he’s smart — it’s just great.”

Westmont closed to within 14-10 on threes by Jalen Townsell and McIntyre. Townsell made 4-of-9 three-pointers and finished with 14 points.

The Warriors missed their next nine shots, however, and were outscored 25-6 in the next 10 minutes. Ariel Bland, UCSB’s rebound leader with nine, was also a force on defense with three blocked shots.

“In the first half, we really competed and did a nice job,” Pasternack said.

Mitchell hit a pair of threes and freshman Jason Fontenet III sank another on Mitchell’s driving assist. Fontenet, a freshman from Arizona, contributed nine points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench.

Mitchell added a fast-break assist for a Traore dunk.

“I think UCSB has a chance to be a tournament team this year,” Boucher said. “As hard as they are to guard in the half-court, full-court they’re tremendously skilled.

“They’ve got so many shooters along with their great passing guards.”

By the time a pair of baskets by Matija Belic sandwiched a hard slammie by Josh Pierre-Louis, the Gauchos had forked out a 39-16 lead.

“That was an amazing dunk,” Mitchell said. “It was really crazy.”

Sounding The Belic

Belic, a 6-7 sophomore from Serbia, scored a career-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He also had four rebounds and four assists with just one turnover.

Pasternack had given him a 15-minute pep talk earlier in the day.

“Full transparency, he was really down and out, and not confident,” he said. “We just talked about my belief in him … How much I trust him.

“He plays so many different roles on our team … Rebounding the basketball, shooting threes, driving the ball, pulling up, finding open teammates.

“I was just telling him how much we needed him to be at his best. When you lose Miles Norris, an NBA player, it’s really huge for him to fill that void. I was so happy to see the way he played tonight.”

Westmont got within 46-31 at halftime on back-to-back baskets by Jarrett Bryant and a buzzer-beating leaner by McIntyre. Bryant finished with 17 points and 12 of the Warriors’ 24 rebounds.

Adrian McIntyre kept Westmont’s momentum going by scoring a pair of drives to start the second half. He finished with 11 points.

His brother Anthony followed with a step-back three to get their deficit into single digits, 57-49, with 14:30 remaining.

Belic’s putback off a missed free throw, however, keyed an 11-2 run that put UCSB back on track.

“This is pretty much the first time I’m getting a lot of minutes,” Belic said. “I had spoken to coach this morning … and it was just about confidence.

“I think we’re going to be good. We’ve got Ajay back so now we’ve got a good rotation again. I felt good on the court today.”

Anderson, guarded well by Westmont all evening, freed himself enough in transition for Fontenet to find him in the left corner for his second three in three attempts.

The Gauchos led by as many as 21 points before Townsell’s back-to-back threes helped whittle nine points off their margin in the final 1:41.

“We’re going to get back to the drawing board,” Pasternack said. “We have some games to get ready for and get our defense where it needs to be.”