Thursday, February 20
Santa Barbara, CA
7:00 PM
University of California, Riverside
54
at
55
UC Santa Barbara
Photo by: Carlos Puma
Men's Basketball Erases 11-Point Deficit But Falls, 55-54, At UC Santa Barbara
2/20/2014 9:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Santa Barbara- CA—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team held the leading scorer in the conference, Alan Williams, to 6 of 21 shooting from the field Thursday evening, but the junior forward scored six straight points for the Gauchos down the stretch as UC Santa Barbara held on for a 55-54 victory (box score).
The Highlanders had to like the pace in the early going as they limited the Gauchos to just 23 shots in the first 20 minutes of play.
It was a one-point UCSB lead, 13-12, with 9:15 to go in the first, but that was around the same time that UC Riverside picked up its seventh foul of the half, sending the Gauchos into the bonus. Santa Barbara used that to their advantage going 13 of 15 from the charity stripe in the first, while the Highlanders made just four of eight. And that was the difference in the half as UC Riverside found themselves trailing 31-20.
Lucas Devenny, who played two seasons at UC Santa Barbara and was a part of two conference championships with the Gauchos, led the Highlanders in the first going three-for-three from the field for six points. UC Riverside needed his work from down low as starting center Chris Patton had three fouls in the first which limited him to just seven minutes of floor time.
UCSB's defense also forced the Highlanders to take an uncharacteristically high number of three pointers in the first as UCR went 0 for 9 from long distance.
Williams, the odds-on-favorite for Big West Conference Player of the Year, had 10 points and six rebounds at the break, but was just 3 of 10 from the floor.
The Highlanders came out on fire to start the second, scoring the first eight points coming out of the locker room and reducing the Gauchos' advantage to three, 31-28.
A Mitch Brewe three-pointer ended the run, but Devenny hit a pair of free throws after the 16-minute media timeout and the team's traded baskets over the next two minutes. The Gauchos were trying to add to a four-point lead with 13 and change on the clock, but UCR forced a turnover, and Devenny scored on the Highlanders' subsequent possession to slice the lead to two, 38-36.
After a Gauchos' basket, the Highlanders successfully ran the same alley-oop play to Taylor Johns that quieted the crowd at UC Davis a month ago, to once again make it a two-point game.
The back-and-forth continued until a Taylor Johns follow with 6:05 on the clock cut it to one, 44-43. After Williams made one of two free throws, Steven Jones scored on a driving lay up to tie the score with just over five minutes to play.
It was still a tie ballgame with less than three minutes to go when the Highlanders grabbed a defensive rebound and pushed the ball up the floor. Jones drove the lane, and thought he had drawn contact while making the shot, but the officials waved it off, whistling the sophomore guard for a charge.
Williams made a pair of free throws to put the Gauchos on top again on their next possession, and following a Jones missed jumper, a Williams shot put Santa Barbara back up four, 51-47. Following a Sam Finley free throw, the Highlanders forced a UCSB miss late in the shot clock, but Williams grabbed the offensive rebound to make it a two-possession ballgame.
Austin Quick drained a three-pointer on UC Riverside's next trip down the court, and the Highlanders called time out with 7.3 seconds remaining. The Gauchos inbounded the ball and UCR fouled immediately, but Zalmico Harmon hit two free throws to effectively end the game.
Quick hit another three-pointer with .2 seconds remaining for the final margin of victory.
Despite his poor shooting night, Williams led all scorers with 19 points thanks in part to a seven-of-eight performance from the free throw line. He also grabbed 15 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end. As a team, the Gauchos went 19 of 23 from the free throw line compared to the Highlanders who went just 10 for 18.
Johns led the Highlanders with his eighth double-double scoring 13 points and adding 10 rebounds while also blocking five shots. Devenny finished with a career-high tying 10 points and eight boards.
The Highlanders had to like the pace in the early going as they limited the Gauchos to just 23 shots in the first 20 minutes of play.
It was a one-point UCSB lead, 13-12, with 9:15 to go in the first, but that was around the same time that UC Riverside picked up its seventh foul of the half, sending the Gauchos into the bonus. Santa Barbara used that to their advantage going 13 of 15 from the charity stripe in the first, while the Highlanders made just four of eight. And that was the difference in the half as UC Riverside found themselves trailing 31-20.
Lucas Devenny, who played two seasons at UC Santa Barbara and was a part of two conference championships with the Gauchos, led the Highlanders in the first going three-for-three from the field for six points. UC Riverside needed his work from down low as starting center Chris Patton had three fouls in the first which limited him to just seven minutes of floor time.
UCSB's defense also forced the Highlanders to take an uncharacteristically high number of three pointers in the first as UCR went 0 for 9 from long distance.
Williams, the odds-on-favorite for Big West Conference Player of the Year, had 10 points and six rebounds at the break, but was just 3 of 10 from the floor.
The Highlanders came out on fire to start the second, scoring the first eight points coming out of the locker room and reducing the Gauchos' advantage to three, 31-28.
A Mitch Brewe three-pointer ended the run, but Devenny hit a pair of free throws after the 16-minute media timeout and the team's traded baskets over the next two minutes. The Gauchos were trying to add to a four-point lead with 13 and change on the clock, but UCR forced a turnover, and Devenny scored on the Highlanders' subsequent possession to slice the lead to two, 38-36.
After a Gauchos' basket, the Highlanders successfully ran the same alley-oop play to Taylor Johns that quieted the crowd at UC Davis a month ago, to once again make it a two-point game.
The back-and-forth continued until a Taylor Johns follow with 6:05 on the clock cut it to one, 44-43. After Williams made one of two free throws, Steven Jones scored on a driving lay up to tie the score with just over five minutes to play.
It was still a tie ballgame with less than three minutes to go when the Highlanders grabbed a defensive rebound and pushed the ball up the floor. Jones drove the lane, and thought he had drawn contact while making the shot, but the officials waved it off, whistling the sophomore guard for a charge.
Williams made a pair of free throws to put the Gauchos on top again on their next possession, and following a Jones missed jumper, a Williams shot put Santa Barbara back up four, 51-47. Following a Sam Finley free throw, the Highlanders forced a UCSB miss late in the shot clock, but Williams grabbed the offensive rebound to make it a two-possession ballgame.
Austin Quick drained a three-pointer on UC Riverside's next trip down the court, and the Highlanders called time out with 7.3 seconds remaining. The Gauchos inbounded the ball and UCR fouled immediately, but Zalmico Harmon hit two free throws to effectively end the game.
Quick hit another three-pointer with .2 seconds remaining for the final margin of victory.
Despite his poor shooting night, Williams led all scorers with 19 points thanks in part to a seven-of-eight performance from the free throw line. He also grabbed 15 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end. As a team, the Gauchos went 19 of 23 from the free throw line compared to the Highlanders who went just 10 for 18.
Johns led the Highlanders with his eighth double-double scoring 13 points and adding 10 rebounds while also blocking five shots. Devenny finished with a career-high tying 10 points and eight boards.
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