Overview:
Josh Pierre-Louis contributes 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals to UCSB’s victory
UC Santa Barbara’s finishing touch pushed all the right buttons again on Saturday.
The Gauchos, who rallied to win an overtime thriller on Thursday, broke open a tied basketball game in the final 7½ minutes to defeat Long Beach State 85-76 at the Thunderdome.
“It took until three minutes left in the Bakersfield game Thursday night to have some urgency, some desperation and some fight,” coach Joe Pasternack said. “I thought it carried over to today.
“I think our guys are really, really clicking right now.”
UCSB (10-6, 3-3 Big West Conference) has won three straight league games since losing its first three. Long Beach (11-7, 3-3) was a road-tested opponent, with notable victories at Michigan and USC to its credit.
Ajay Mitchell played the closer for UCSB once again, scoring 17 of his game-high 26 points in the final 14 minutes. The performance increased his season scoring average to 20.3 points per game.
“Coming into the game, my first goal is to see how they play defense, find the opening and get everybody going,” he said. “In the second half … Open lane? Open shot? I have to take it. That’s my job. That’s my role.
“The second half, I’m always maybe a little bit more aggressive, depending on the defense they play.”
Mitchell got a lot of help from his friends.
Senior Josh Pierre-Louis scored 17 points while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds from his guard position.
“I’m on his tail every single day — on his parents, his family, every person associated with Josh — that the standard for him is to rebound,” Pasternack said. “I tell him all the time, playing hard is a talent. It’s nothing to overlook.
“Tonight, he had seven rebounds — three offensive rebounds, four defensive rebounds — six assists and one turnover. And when you play like that, that’s how our team can win.”
Cole Anderson made 5-of-6 three-pointers to score 15 points. He’s given UCSB a real shot in the arm during its winning streak with 12-of-20 shooting from three in the last three games.
Sophomore center Yohan Traore added 12 points and four rebounds.
Long Beach has been led this season by its own post players named Traore: Aboubacar and Lassina. None of the three Traores are related.
The Beach did most of Saturday’s damage from long range. It hit 7-of-14 threes in the first half to take a 40-35 lead and finished with a 12-for-24 performance. Guard Messiah Thompson was 7-for-9 while scoring a season-best 23 points.
Even Aboubacar Traore, who just missed a triple-double with 18 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, made his first three of the season.
“Long Beach State averages making three threes a game … Three threes a game,” Pasternack said, repeating it for emphasis. “And they hit 12 tonight. We were all like, ‘Wow!’
“The two Traores are a load. They’re the best front line in our league. We threw out a few different defenses to try to stop them and contain them, but they really shot the ball extremely well.”
UCSB needed just the first 96 seconds of the second half, however, to take back the lead with a 7-1 run.
Anderson put the Gauchos ahead 42-41 when he got a fast-break pass from Pierre-Louis and made a three from the corner. Anderson leads the Big West with his three-point percentage of .444.
“He’s really shooting lights out,” Pasternack said. “Our guys are trying to find Cole. Like Josh won us the game against Bakersfield with his unbelievable push, driving the ball and finding Cole.
“Tonight, I saw it a couple of times when Josh was pushing it in transition and trying to find Cole. That’s what a real team is.”
Long Beach responded with threes by Thompson and A.J. George, plus a three-point play by George, to surge back ahead 51-46 with 15-plus minutes still to go.
Mitchell took over from there with a pair of threes, a driving three-point play, and 7-for-7 foul shooting.
“In the first half, they were really aggressive on me, especially on ball screens,” he said. “The open man wasn’t me, and we moved the ball and did what we had to do to win the game, so I’m happy with what we did.”
Long Beach made one last push with a three by Thompson and two free throws by Aboubacar Traore to trim UCSB’s lead to 75-70 with just under three minutes remaining.
But Pierre-Louis responded with a daring dash through taller defenders and twisting in a difficult layup as he fell to the floor.
“Coach P always asks me, ‘Why do you settle? … Why not attack them? Why let him win?’” Pierre-Louis said. “When I’m attacking them, I’m in places where it’s better percentages for me.”
And it’s now helped UCSB get its Big West winning percentage back up to an even .500.
