JaQuori McLaughlin continued his solid senior season, scoring a career-high 25 points to lead UCSB to an 80-66 over Cal State Northridge on Saturday, giving the Gauchos a sweep of the two-game Big West basketball series at the Matadome.
It was McLaughlin’s second straight game with 20-plus points and the 10th contest out of 12 this season he scored in double figures — he had nine in the other two games.
Despite being limited to six minutes in the first half after picking up two early fouls, McLaughlin made 10-of-11 field goal attempts, including his only three-point try, and all four of his free throws. He scored 19 of his points and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field in the second half.
Amadou Sow notched his fourth straight double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
In winning their sixth in a row, the Gauchos improved to 10-3 overall and 4-2 in Big West. CSUN fell to 5-7, 1-3.
Unlike in Friday’s 47-point blowout win by the Gauchos, CSUN kept the game close. Back-to-back jumpers by T.J. Starks and Ron Artest III cut UCSB’s advantage to 69-63 with 3:15 on the clock.
But Ajare Sanni killed the Matadors’ momentum by knocking down a corner three-pointer. That started a 7-0 run that boosted the lead to 76-63 with 1:50 left. Sanni finished with 11 points.
The Gauchos shot 54 for the game, making 27-50 shots. They were 6-16 on three-pointers. They were much better at the free-throw line than Friday, hitting 20-23.
CSUN was 25-55 from the floor (45 percent) and 5-15 on three-pointers. Starks, a transfer from Texas A&M, scored 24 points to lead the Matadors.
UCSB will travel to UC Davis for a pair of games on Jan. 29 and Jan. 30.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.