After compiling a 6-1 record in early season non-conference play the UC Santa Barbara men's basketball team struggled with miscues in an 84-76 loss to UC San Diego to open Big West Conference competition on Thursday night at the Thunderdome.
The Gauchos finished with 18 turnovers and allowed the visiting Tritons to gobble up 15 offensive rebounds in a game that head coach Joe Pasternak described as an early season test.
"UC San Diego deserves a lot of credit. They are a really good team, talented team, older team experienced with those guys coming back and probably have two or three all-conference players," Pasternack said. "They really shocked us with their offensive rebounds. They had 15 offensive rebounds and that was the game I thought."
UC San Diego packed the paint and forced the Gauchos to try and generate offense from the perimeter. Despite hot shooting from the outside, including 14-of-29 shooting overall from three-point range UC Santa Babara couldn't overcome the huge advantage in field goal attempts that the Tritons enjoyed.
UCSB point guard Stephan Swenson's performance was indicative of the team as a whole as he finished with 21 points overall and converted 7-of-9 shots from three-point range but turned the ball over five times with five assists.
"Steph Swenson as our point guard can't turn the ball over five times. That's the long and short of it," Pasternack said. "He shot the ball unbelievably well and did some great things, but you can't turn the ball over as your point guard five times."
The Gauchos were able to translate hot shooting into an early lead as Swenson's third three-pointer of the first half put the Gauchos ahead 15-9 with 14:12 remaining.
UCSB only made one two-point shot in the first half and the Tritons slowly took control of the game. An offensive rebound and put-back in transition by Chris Howell capped off a 10-0 UC San Diego run and increased the Tritons lead to 42-32 with 1:20 remaining in the first half.
"They packed the paint. Every time we drove, they would go for steals and collapse," said UCSB standout sophomore Jason Fontenet II, who finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds. "We just got to know that's what they are doing, take care of it, swing it, move the ball and make quick decisions."
UCSB cut its deficit to 50-49 on a three-pointer by Deuce Turner with 11:09 remaining in the second half. Turner was one of four UCSB players that reached double digits in scoring with 14 points, but the Gauchos could never quite get over the hump.
Another Turner three-pointer cut the Gauchos deficit to 78-72 with 1:05 remaining, but UC San Diego converted its free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
Next up for UCSB is a road game at UC Davis on Saturday, December 8 beginning at 5 p.m.