A youth movement stirred a seismic shift within the UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball program on Tuesday night.
The Gauchos start two high-profile juniors and three veteran transfers, but it was sophomore Zion Sensley and freshman C.J. Shaw who rocked the Thunderdome the most in a 98-67 victory over San Francisco State.
They came off the bench to combine for 43 points, 20 rebounds and the most spectacularly athletic plays of the night.
Sensley, who played barely seven minutes per game as a freshman last year, had a career night by scoring 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
But the 6-foot-8 wing player knew he needed to grab rebounds to secure his spot in UCSB’s rotation.
“That’s all I kind of cared about … that and winning,” Sensley said. “Rebounds lead to winning, so I just went out there to see how many I could get.”
He got 14 — seven offensive and seven on defense.
Sensley’s baskets varied from a trio of three-pointers to a pair of awe-inspiring, alley-oop dunks. But it was his determination on the backboards that most inspired coach Joe Pasternack.
“I’m really proud of Zion Sensley because I’ve been harder on Zion than any other player on our team because he has such an unbelievable ceiling,” he said. “He has changed his behavior as well as anybody.
“It’s not complete yet, but for him to get 14 rebounds … It’s all we’ve preached to him every single day.
“Playing hard and having a motor is a talent, and Zion is learning how to develop that talent right now.”
Shaw, a 6-3 guard who won Nevada’s Gatorade Player of the Year Award last season for Las Vegas’ Mojave High School, added 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting, six rebounds and four steals.
His highlight-reel play came when he leaped to the basket, cupped a teammate’s missed three-pointer with his left hand and jammed it through the hoop in one, fluid motion.
Pasternack noted Shaw’s importance to UCSB’s season by prodding him about his defense.
“C.J. is going to play a lot,” he said. “He’s a young freshman who’s still learning and making a lot of mistakes as a freshman would make a mistake.
“He can be spectacular defensively with his quickness, and we have to get his timing sped up a lot faster to get him ready for conference play.”
The veterans had their moments, too.
Junior returnee Colin Smith contributed 13 points and five rebounds in just 20 minutes.
Pasternack’s three pickups from the NCAA Transfer Portal didn’t disappoint, either.
Senior guard Aidan Mahaney from UConn was content with setting up his teammates with zero-turnover playmaking while scoring nine points.
Hosana Kitenge, a brawny 6-8 and 242-pound center from the University of Louisiana, displayed the skills and footwork of a guard while getting 11 points and nine rebounds in just 19 minutes.
And junior transfer Miro Little, fresh off Finland’s semifinal finish at the EuroBasket Championships, contributed 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
“I’m just super-excited to play with this group of guys,” Little said. “It’s just an amazing group of guys who are really connected this early in the season.
“Of course, it helped me personally to have a good summer and a historic run with my Finland team.
“But it’s all about where your feet are at right now, and I’m just worried about the present.”
The Gauchos were raring to go from the start, making their first five shots.
A three-point play by Kitenge and a three-pointer by Smith gave them a 12-5 lead after just 2½ minutes.
Sensley livened things up by coming off the bench to make a pair of threes and his two electrifying, slam dunks.
The first came on an inbounds lob from Little.
“That was a heck of a pass from Miro, so I just delivered it,” Sensley said.
Pasternack set up the play during a timeout.
“Just knowing that Zion can get up there, I put a little sauce on it,” Little said. “I could’ve made it a little bit easier for him but I know Zion likes to put a little flash into it, so I threw it up a little bit more.”
Sensley is excited about having two experienced playmakers like Little and Mahaney running things.
“They’re a huge piece for us, just being leaders coming from big conferences,” Sensley said.
“Just being able to lead our group with their knowledge, and with Aidan having gone to the NCAA Tournament three times, is a big help to lead us to where we want to go.”
Little has already played for a pair of power-conference schools — Baylor and Utah — but he insisted that this Gaucho team “is the best one” he’s played on.
“We’re together and we’re in the present right now,” he said. “I played at two other colleges, and they were great groups of guys over there.
“I loved those guys — everyone who’s been my teammate before — but I’m just really excited being where I am right now.”
But Pasternack did find fault with some of UCSB’s play.
He was disappointed that San Francisco State scored 35 points in the first half while shooting 40% from three (6-for-15).
Diego Martinez made 3-of-4 shots from three-point range to lead the NCAA Division 2 Gators with 17 points.
“We had a bunch of mistakes, lackadaisical effort on defense, and we have to fix that,” Pasternack said.
He was also displeased that UCSB had only 13 assists, although that was partly due to the many times San Francisco State fouled the Gauchos in the act of shooting.
UCSB, which was fouled 32 times overall, made only 27 of its 43 free-throw attempts (62.8%). The Gauchos fouled San Francisco State only 14 times.
“The ball didn’t move side-to-side like we want it to,” Pasternack said. “I thought in our last scrimmage (against Fresno State) we were much better.
“The ball stuck a little bit too much in everybody’s hands. Our players are too good for the ball to stick.
“We have to go back and watch the film to see that.”
They’ll have the rest of the week to straighten that out before playing San Jose State at the Thunderdome on Saturday in a 1 p.m. matinee.