Overview:
Cole Anderson and Stephan Swenson make six three-pointers apiece as UCSB goes 15-for-30 from distance
SAN LUIS OBISPO — UC Santa Barbara’s Stephan Swenson counted down the game clock as though it were a rocket-launch sequence before blasting off a long-range missile that defeated Cal Poly, 75-72, in a Blue-Green rivalry men’s basketball game on Saturday.
The 30-foot bomb was his second long shot in the final 36 seconds and sixth of the night, giving him a season-high 22 points, and moving the Gauchos (11-5, 3-2 Big West Conference) into a four-team tie for third place in the league standings.
“Obviously Steph was unbelievable,” UCSB coach Joe Pasternack said. “I don’t know if I’ve been part of a shot like that before.”
He paused before adding, “When I was at New Orleans we beat N.C. State on a last-second shot …. T.J Worley … That would be the last time,” he said, recalling the Privateers’ upset win over the 21st-ranked Wolfpack in November of 2008.
Swenson also had six assists and two steals.
Senior guard Cole Anderson, like Swenson, made 6-of-9 threes to match his season-high of 18 points. He scored 32 points on the week, going 10-for-16 from three, to help UCSB get its fourth-straight victory.
Kenny Pohto added 13 points with a team-high seven rebounds while Max Murrell chipped in with 12 points.
Cal Poly (6-12, 0-6 Big West) extended its league losing streak to 44 games, just one away from the NCAA record set by Grambling State in 2014. But Pasternack pointed out that this is a different Mustang team under new coach Mike DeGeorge.
“They’re going to get somebody and I’m just glad it wasn’t us,” he said. “They beat Stanford at Stanford, they were up at UC San Diego at halftime, and they took Irvine to overtime.
“And it was packed. I mean, it was a full house. A crazy environment.”
Cal Poly came into the game ranked ninth in the nation with an average of 11.0 three-point baskets per game. The Gauchos, however, out-shot the Mustangs from three on Saturday, connecting on 15 of their 30 attempts (10-for-17 in the second half) to Cal Poly’s 8-for-32.
UCSB’s three-point percentage of 38.77% this season ranks 18th nationally.
The Gauchos out-shot the Mustangs overall, 48.2% to 43.1%, but Cal Poly stayed in the game by forcing them into 14 turnovers and grabbing 11 offensive rebounds.
“If we want to keep improving as a team and move up in the standings, those two areas have to be fixed,” Pasternack said.
Swenson, a graduate transfer from Stetson, got his first seven points during a 53-second spree in the first two-and-a-half minutes. He kicked it off with a three from the top.
“He’s gotten so much better as a three-point shooter,” Pasternack said. “Go look at his stats. He’s shot over 40% (from three) and last year he wasn’t.”
Swenson’s three-point percentage of 44.7% this season, which ranks 19th nationally, is 10 points higher than his career percentage of 34.7% at Stetson.
Colin Smith, who missed Thursday’s game with a bout of the flu, followed with a three-pointer to give UCSB a quick 12-3 lead.
“We’ve had a bug running through our team,” Pasternack said. “I’m so proud of Colin because he’s not only had injuries but he had a major sickness on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
“He wasn’t even at the game on Thursday, he did just a walk-through yesterday, and we threw him into the fire.”
The Gauchos’ lead grew as large as 15 points, 29-14, after Anderson assisted Pohto with a driving pass and hit back-to-back threes.
His father, Nick, played football at Cal Poly, and his oldest sister, Emily, played basketball for the Mustangs. Pasternack sensed that Anderson brought an extra fire to Saturday’s game.
“I just told his dad this: ‘Whenever he gets angry, he’s a different player,’” Pasternack said. “We’ve got to get him angry every game.”
Anderson improved his three-point percentage for the season to 49.3%. It would lead the nation if he weren’t just a few attempts short of qualifying.
Peter Bandelj rallied Cal Poly to within 34-25 by halftime by scoring off both a drive and spot-up three in the last 40 seconds of the period.
Owen Koonce continued the Mustangs’ run to start the second half with a whirling jumper in the key and a three to whittle UCSB’s lead to just 34-30.
Koonce led all scorers with 23 points while Bandelj added 18 with a game-high nine rebounds.
“Obviously, you’re focused on the end result, and that’s heartbreaking … but we are growing as a basketball team,” DeGeorge said. “I really do think that if we can just stay committed and confident, we’re going to see a lot of good results this year.
“Our best basketball is in front of us.”
Anderson hit two more threes and Swenson added another as the Gauchos bounced back with a 13-3 run.
Six of UCSB’s first eight baskets of the second half were from three-point distance. It needed consecutive threes by Murrell and Anderson to keep Cal Poly at bay, 58-50, with 7:32 to go.
Murrell reached double-digit scoring for the second-straight game with Saturday’s dozen, giving him 23 points for the week. Murrell, who was limited by an injury to just 36 points in the Gauchos’ first 11 games, also had three assists on Saturday.
Cal Poly rallied to within one possession of UCSB’s lead six times in the second half, but the Gauchos turned the Mustangs away each time.
Anderson’s final three with 3:21 left put UCSB ahead 67-61.
The Gauchos got a break on an inbounds play with just two minutes remaining and one second on the shot clock. Swenson lobbed a pass to Murrell at the rim but the ball glanced off the basket as the shot-clock buzzer sounded.
The referees discussed the situation at length before ruling that it was an inadvertent whistle, resulting in a jump-ball situation. The possession arrow favored the Gauchos, and they used the extra 20 seconds to work the ball to Pohto for a layup off Jason Fontenet’s pass.
“I don’t know what they called, but they gave us the ball and our guys executed unbelievably,” Pasternack said. “It might’ve been the best offensive execution of the night, to get the ball into Kenny and score on that.
“That was a huge play.”
The Mustangs responded with a driving basket by Koonce, a blocked shot, and two free throws by Mac Riniker to rally to within 69-67 with 1:02 left.
Swenson ran the shot clock down before making a 26-footer with 35.3 seconds to go.
It took Cal Poly less than six seconds, however, to race back for a three by Bandelj.
The Mustangs then forced a held-ball after UCSB inbounded the ball, with the possession arrow now in their favor. They cashed it in on Koonce’s layup with 16.7 seconds remaining to tie the game for the first time since the opening tip.
Swenson dribbled out nearly the entire 16.7 seconds before stepping back and releasing his game-winning shot with only 0.1 on the clock.
“You’ve got to give him credit, he made several big plays down the stretch,” DeGeorge said. “He’s a heck of a player.”