Overview:
League championship will be on the line when UCSB plays Hawai’i on national television in Saturday’s Senior Night
DAVIS —Ajay Mitchell’s quick acceleration from zero to 20 on Saturday kept UC Santa Barbara on track in its drive toward a Big West Conference basketball championship.
He scored all 20 of his points in the second half to rally the Gauchos from a 12-point deficit to an 89-86 victory at UC Davis on Thursday.
“It was amazing,” UCSB coach Joe Pasternack said. “I think our guys fought with every bit of energy they had. It was just incredible.”
A lot was at stake. The Gauchos (23-7, 14-5 Big West), who tied the school record for most victories in a season, will now enter Saturday’s 6 p.m. Senior Night, regular-season finale against Hawai’i in a first-place tie with UC Irvine (21-10, 14-5). The “White Out” game will be televised nationally by ESPNU.
The Anteaters knocked UC Riverside (20-11, 13-6) down to a third-place tie with Hawai’i (22-9, 13-6) by beating the Highlanders 75-65 on Thursday.
Irvine would gain the tiebreaker over UCSB for the No. 1 seed in next week’s Big West Tournament by beating Cal State Bakersfield (10-20, 6-13) in its own Senior Night finale on Saturday.
The Gauchos were tested in a post-season atmosphere at Davis on Thursday. The lead changed hands seven times in the last eight minutes, with Mitchell scoring 16 of his points during that final stretch.
UCSB held fast in the clutch on a hostile court, making its final 22 free throws which included all 16 in the second half.
“It was loud, it was intense,” Pasternack said. “It was a college basketball tournament-like setting.”
The Gauchos, who came into the game ranked 10th nationally with their field-goal percentage of .491, made 55.4% of their shots on Thursday. They struggled to start both halves, however. They missed eight of their first 11 attempts.
The Aggies (17-13, 10-8) thawed out sooner after their own cold start. Elijah Pepper and Christian Anigwe hit a three-pointer apiece during a 12-2 outburst that put them ahead 16-6.
Pepper, the Big West scoring leader with a 22.3-point average, finished with game-high totals of 30 points and seven rebounds. His six assists also matched the totals of both Mitchell and Davis point guard Ty Johnson.
“He’s scored 30 points against us in both games,” Pasternack pointed out. “Man, that’s really hard to do.
“He gets to the free-throw line a lot (making 10-of-11). Their team got to the free-throw line against us 32 times (making 28).”
Cole Anderson lit a fire under UCSB’s offense with back-to-back jump shots — the second from three-point range. Andre Kelly added a layup off Mitchell’s pass to cap a 9-0 run that brought the Gauchos to within 16-15.
Anderson scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half by shooting 4-for-4 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Kelly got 10 of his 12 points before the break but played only seven minutes of the second half before fouling out.
“Andre did a really good job in the first half, and Cole Anderson came off the bench and was huge for us when we couldn’t score,” Pasternack said. “Those two got us going.”
Josh Pierre-Louis scored nine of his 17 points during the first half. He capped it by throwing down an acrobatic dunk over 6-foot-11 Francesco Borra in the period’s final minute.
“Josh was really aggressive attacking the basket,” Pasternack said.
Kelly’s floater just before the halftime buzzer got the Gauchos to within 36-35.
UCSB out-shot the Aggies 53.7% to 38.7% in the first half but was out-rebounded 17-15 while reclaiming none of its misses. The rebound battle ended in a 28-28 draw by game’s end.
The Gauchos took their first lead of the game after scoring the first four points of the second half.
But Robby Beasley, just back after missing nine games with a groin injury, made a pair of threes to fuel a 15-0 run for Davis. A dunk by Ade Adebayo gave the Aggies their biggest lead of 52-40 with 14 minutes remaining.
It only served to light a fire under Mitchell, however. He reversed in a runner on UCSB’s next trip downcourt to ignite a 21-7 run. Pierre-Louis followed with a dazzling, double-pump, scoring drive.
“We went down a bunch but just kept fighting,” Pasternack said. “We’ve got some unbelievable competitors, and they competed at an unbelievable level.”
The Gauchos, who had made just 1-of-5 three-pointers during the first 28 minutes, hit three in a row during the outburst. Miles Norris made the first while Calvin Wishart sank back-to-back threes to put UCSB back into the lead, 61-59.
Norris scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half. Wishart scored eight of his 10 points after halftime. Six Gauchos reached double-figure scoring.
Mitchell converted a three-point play on a whirling drive to nudge the Gaucho lead up to 64-61.
Kelly fouled out with 3:03 to go after Anigwe elbowed him in the face with 3:03 to go. After reviewing a video replay, the officials ruled that Kelly had caused the contact by guarding Anigwe too closely. The Aggies’ center made both foul shots to give them a 78-76 lead.
Mitchell drove the ball right back at Davis to convert another three-point play. He added four more free throws in the next minute to keep UCSB ahead at 83-82 with 1:03 to go.
A three-point attempt by Pepper, meanwhile, rattled in and out of the basket with 52 seconds left.
Adebayo and Norris both got hold of a missed shot by Pierre-Louis with 26.4 seconds remaining. A held ball was called, but the possession arrow pointed the Gauchos’ way.
Although only two seconds remained on the shot clock, UCSB made them count.
Norris rolled toward the basket after setting a screen in the low post and then leaped high to catch Mitchell’s inbounds lob and lay it into the basket for an 85-82 lead.
“It’s a play that we haven’t really run much this year, maybe once or twice,” Pasternack said. “It’s a play we have in our arsenal, and Ajay threw a nice pass and Miles was wide-open.”
The Aggies’ Johnson was the first to blink in a back-and-forth battle of perfect foul shooting by both teams. He made just 1-of-2 free throws with 20.4 seconds left.
Pierre-Louis converted his two free throws after getting fouled just two seconds later to make it a two-possession game at 87-83.
“Josh has been huge for us in back-to-back games,” Pasternack said. “I mean, 17 points, four assists to two turnovers, six rebounds … but more importantly, two huge free throws at the end.”
Pepper made two foul shots with 14.1 seconds on the clock, but Mitchell converted two of his own to get the margin back to four, 89-85, with 12.9 left.
That capped the Gauchos’ 16-for-16 foul shooting in the second half to send them home as Big West co-leaders.
One last fast break did await them.
“We’re sprinting to the airport — our flight home tonight leaves in an hour,” Pasternack said. “It’s all now about recovery. It’s all about having the most energy possible for Saturday.”
They will attempt to break the school record for victories first set by coach Bob Williams’ 23-9 team of 2008 and matched by Pasternack’s first Gaucho team that finished at 23-9 in 2018.
