Overview:
UCSB has been seeded seventh for the Big West Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament and will play its first-round game against No. 6 UC Davis at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nevada.
UC San Diego pulled a fast one on the UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball team on Saturday.
The Tritons, whose quick hands made a staggering 16 steals, bum-rushed the Gauchos with Jaden Vance’s buzzer-beating, fast-break layup to cap their 64-63 victory at the Thunderdome.
The play countered a go-ahead basket by UCSB’s C.J. Shaw with seven seconds left, spoiling what could have been a dramatic, Senior Night ending for the Gauchos.
“We told them if they happened to score, that we were to go fast,” San Diego coach Clint Allard said. “We got them back-pedaling.
“Guys were ready, they knew the situation, they knew the time, and Tom (Beattie) made a great pass and Jaden finished it.”
UCSB (18-13, 11-9 Big West Conference) also back-pedaled into the league’s post-season tournament. The Gauchos lost five of their last six games, four of which were decided in the final minute of play.
“That’s been the story of our season: one possession-ending games,” Gaucho coach Joe Pasternack said. “We can’t seem to finish.”
And that has lengthened the postseason road that UCSB will need to take to reach the NCAA Tournament.
It now requires four victories in four days at the Big West Conference Tournament, beginning with Wednesday’s 8:30 p.m., first-round game against UC Davis at Lee’s Family Forum.
The league places the top two seeds into the semifinals, and the next two seeds in the quarterfinals. But Saturday’s defeat dropped the Gauchos all the way down to a No. 7 seed — Pasternack’s lowest seeding in the event since he took over UCSB’s program in 2017.
The sixth-seeded Aggies also shape up as a tough matchup for the Gauchos, having beaten them six straight times over the last three seasons.
UCSB’s only consolation on Saturday was the return of star point guard Miro Little from a hand injury that had sidelined him for nine games. He also missed six games earlier in the season with a foot ailment.
Little had his good moments (10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists) and his bad (five turnovers).
“Miro is a huge part of what we do,” Pasternack said. “He’s missed (15) games, which for us has been devastating. To have him back is a blessing.
“I think he’d tell you that he’s got to play better. But in his defense, he’s been out for five weeks.”
But Little didn’t “want to put any excuses out there …. I’ve just got to be better.”
“I’m glad to be back out there playing basketball with my brothers, but I was really disappointed in myself, being the first game back,” he added. “I’ve got to look at myself in the mirror because it’s not acceptable to have five turnovers.”
Shaw’s 13 points, which included two clutch baskets in the final 1:17, was tempered by his own five turnovers. The Gauchos had 17 as a team.
“They were taking the ball right out of our guys’ hands,” Pasternack said. “I don’t think that last shot beat us … We had 17 turnovers and gave up real costly, offensive rebounds.”
San Diego’s 16 steals were the seventh-most ever recorded by a Gaucho opponent.
Little didn’t waste time making an impact, sinking a three-pointer in the game’s first 27 seconds.
“Of course, it was a nice feeling to make that first shot,” he said. “It gets you kind of excited.
“But I settled (for an outside shot) a lot today. I should’ve been driving a lot more to the basket and getting to the rim.
“I usually get to the rim better.”
The Tritons (22-10, 12-8) answered Little’s game-opening basket with nine straight points. A pair of baskets by Aidan Mahaney got UCSB back on track.
Mahaney finished with 10 points in his final game at the Thunderdome.
Marvin McGhee IV, Shaw and Little followed suit with threes of their own during a 13-2 run that put them ahead 22-15.
San Diego turned the game around, however, by forcing four UCSB turnovers in the last six minutes of the first half. Two of its six steals in the first half resulted in dunks by Leo Beath and Vance.
Vance led the Tritons in steals with five.
“He was so locked in on that end, you could tell he wanted it,” Allard said. “And when he plays like that, he’s a menace … He’s so active, he touches the ball all the time.”
Beath banked in a long three at the halftime buzzer to send the Tritons into the locker room with a 31-29 lead.
Mahaney made a pair of threes and Colin Smith hit another to nudge the Gauchos ahead 47-43 with 9:49 to go. Smith finished with 13 points.
He added a three-point play and a layup off Mahaney’s behind-the-back pass to give UCSB its biggest lead of the second half, 56-50, with 5:29 left.
But the Gauchos threw the ball away three times in the next two minutes to gift the Tritons six points and a 60-58 lead.
San Diego scored 20 of its points off UCSB’s turnovers.
Shaw nearly rescued UCSB twice. His three put the Gauchos ahead 61-60 with 1:17 left and he drove inside to score a floater to put them on top again, 63-62, with seven seconds to go.
But that was enough time for Beattie to dash up the court and draw two defenders before passing to a wide-open Vance under the basket.
“Last time I came back, we lost the first game and then went on a six-game winning streak,” Little said. “On a positive note, this time it’s only four that are needed. And then after … we’re going dancin’.
“We’ve got a lot to play for still, and I’m just super-excited to be back with my brothers.”