Ajay Mitchell, arguably UCSB’s best player so far this season, shot the ball just four times in the Gauchos’ 14-point loss against Cal State Fullerton Monday night.
On Thursday, the sophomore guard knew he had to be more aggressive, and he certainly was.
Mitchell poured in a season-high 28 points and the short-handed Gauchos would need every one of them as they snuck past Long Beach State 78-73 Thursday night at the Thunderdome.
With the win, the Gauchos, who had just eight scholarship players suited up to play, remains in third place in the Big West standings, boasting an overall mark of 21-7 with a 12-5 conference record.
More importantly, the Gauchos snapped their three-game losing skid.
First-place UC Irvine was upset by UC San Diego Thursday night, giving the Gauchos a better chance of catching the 13-4 Anteaters. UC Riverside sits at second with a 13-5 conference record.
With the loss, Long Beach State fell to 15-14 overall with a 9-8 Big West record.
“In all my years of coaching college basketball, I have never coached a game with only eight scholarship players,” UCSB coach Joe Pasternack said after the game. “I thought this really showed young men how to deal with adversity and that if you rise to the occasion, you can accomplish anything.
“They competed with unbelievable urgency and they rose to the occasion. Credit to them because they did that.”
Mitchell not only led his team in scoring but in efficiency as well. The sophomore guard shot 9-for-15 from the floor, knocked down 9 of his 10 free throw attempts and dished out six assists while turning the ball over just twice.
“He’s one of the best players I’ve ever coached and I’ve coached lottery picks, NBA All Stars, and I think Ajay will be playing in the NBA one day,” Pasternack said.
“He did a great, great job tonight… and he was just terrific.”
For his part, Mitchell said he simply wanted to be more aggressive Thursday, especially knowing how shorthanded his team was.
With the Gauchos up one with under a minute to play, Mitchell knocked down an acrobatic shot in the paint — one of several on the night for him — to put his team up three.
“It was an important shot and I am just happy I made it,” Mitchell said.
And, after a stop on the other end, he knocked down the final two free throws to secure the win. Mitchell scored the last seven points of the contest for the Gauchos.
It was a back-and-forth contest the majority of the night, as Long Beach State found success in the paint, outscoring the Gauchos 46 to 28 while shooting 56% from the floor.
“They shot 56% tonight, so I don’t know how many stops we actually got, but what I will say is they only got six offensive rebounds and that’s their biggest strength,” Pasternack said.
I thought our guys really, really battled for boards.”
Pasternack was especially pleased with senior forward Miles Norris, who led the Gauchos with seven rebounds.
Norris’ performance on the offensive end proved especially important as he knocked down four 3s on a night the Gauchos made 10 of their 25 attempts.
Norris finished with 16 points, three assists and a steal.
It was just the second time this season UCSB knocked down double-digit shots from beyond the arc, with both games resulting in wins.
“I’ve said it all year long. We haven’t shot the three ball well as a team this year, but we have really good shooters,” Pasternack said. “Like if you come watch Ajay Mitchell’s shooting practice, he’s an excellent 3-point shooter. Miles is an awesome 3-point shooter, Calvin Wishart is a great 3-point shooter, so we got really good looks tonight and shot selection is the biggest key.”
Helping pace the Gauchos offensive night was Cole Anderson, who made a return to the starting lineup Thursday.
Anderson, the Gauchos’ best 3-point shooter, averaging 39.1%, scored 18 points, knocking down 5 of his 11 attempts from deep.
His biggest shot came late, as Long Beach State used a 6-1 run over two minutes to take a 69-68 lead with just 4:08 remaining.
After a stop, Norris pushed the ball up the floor and found a wide open Anderson on the wing, who knocked down the 3-point shot and brought the crowd to its feet.
“I give all the credit to my teammates, they just keep finding me,” Anderson said.
“I was missing those shots last game and I started kind of rough tonight, but I’m gonna keep shooting because that’s what everyone tells me to do and I know I’m a great shooter.”
Equally as important as his shotmaking, Pasternack added, was Anderson’s defense and hustle.
“Cole’s a complete basketball player and he played excellent tonight,” Pasternack said.
Long Beach State was led by Lassina Traore who scored 17 points, followed by Marcus Tsohonis who added 16.
“We are drowning right now and to be able to win in college basketball is special. There is no margin of error and we have minus-100 margin of error,” Pasternack said.
“You just have to have such an incredible amount of urgency in everything you do, every single possession, and I thought our guys just did an outstanding job. I think it’s one of the best wins of the season under the circumstances.”
UCSB will take on UC San Diego on the road Saturday at 7 p.m.