Feb. 3, 2011

Box Score

Santa Barbara, Calif. - The Tiger men's basketball team won 74-68 at UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, Feb. 3. With the victory, the Tigers improved to 13-9 and 5-4 in Big West play, while the Gauchos dropped to 11-8 and 4-5 in league games. The win gave head coach Bob Thomason win number 400 at Pacific.

The Tigers scored the first five points of the game and held the Gauchos scoreless for nearly the first three minutes of the half. Leading 11-9, senior Demetrece Young (Oklahoma City, Okla.) scored five points and senior Nyika Williams (Kingston, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) added four points in a 12-2 Pacific run to take a 23-11 lead with 10:48 to play in the half. The teams combined for four minutes of scoreless basketball soon followed as the Tigers held a 28-16 lead until the four minute mark when sophomore Allen Huddleston (Merced, Calif.) hit his second three-pointer of the half to improve the lead to 15 (31-16). A pair of three-pointers from junior Jose Rivera (Brentwood, Calif.) helped Pacific finish the half on an 8-2 to run to take a 42-24 lead at the break. Pacific had 10 three-pointers in the first half, getting 30 of its 42 points via the trey in the first frame.

Williams gave the Tigers their largest lead of the game (44-24) with a dunk on the opening possession of the second half. The Gauchos quickly scored nine points over the next three minutes to cut Pacific's lead to 44-33 with 16:42 remaining. A pair of free throws from senior Sam Willard (Pierre, S.D.) and a reverse layup from senior Terrell Smith (Federal Way, Wash.) took the lead back to 15 (48-33) with 15:38 to go. The Gauchos continued to climb back, outscoring the Tigers 13-5 to make it 53-46 with 11:41 remaining. Leading 58-52, Willard hit a pair of jumpers and senior Pat Eveland (San Diego, Calif.) hit a big three-pointer to give the Tigers a 65-54 advantage with 5:36 to play. After UCSB again cut the lead to seven (66-59) with four minutes to play, the Tigers went up by 10 again after a three-point play from Willard. On three straight possessions the Tigers committed that led directly to Gaucho baskets, making the score 69-65 with just 1:17 to play. The Gauchos took advantage of nine second half turnovers overall by the Tigers, out-scoring the Tigers 13-0 in the final 20 minutes in points off of turnovers. Rivera nailed a couple of clutch free throws with :46 seconds to go, followed by a 1-for-2 trip by Willard to give the Tigers a bit of breathing room, leading 72-65 with :21 seconds to play. UCSB's Orlando Johnson hit a three-pointer with :13 seconds left, but Young hit a pair of free throws with :08 seconds left and the Tigers held on for the win.

Willard led the Tigers with his 14th double-double of the season, getting 17 points and 10 rebounds. Young added 13 points, and Eveland scored 12. Senior Terrell Smith (Federal Way, Wash.) tied his career high with seven assists.

The Tigers shot 55.6 percent from the field and 63.2 percent from three point range (12-19). UCSB was hot from the field all second half, hitting 18 of 30 field goals (60.0 percent) and shot 50.0 percent for the game.

Pacific is next in action at Cal Poly on Saturday, Feb. 5. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. in Mott Gym.