SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Tryone Shelley scored 17 points, Malcolm Thomas added 15 and visiting San Diego State took advantage of ice-cold first half shooting by UC Santa Barbara en route to a 69-61 win Saturday night.
The Aztecs (6-2) locked down on the Gauchos (4-2) defensively early in the game and it showed. UCSB fell behind by as many as 12 points at 21-9 with 7:40 to play as it missed 12 of its first 13 shots and finished at 7-of-27 (25.7%) in the first half.
“They (the Aztecs) are so long that I think they really bothered our shots tonight,” said Gauchos’ head coach Bob Williams. “We missed some open shots, but I thought they really got up on us defensively and did a good job.”
UCSB’s two leading scorers on the season – Orlando Johnson and James Nunnally – combined for just 14 points in the game. The duo made just 3-of-13 shots from the field.
Despite its shooting problems, UCSB used a 10-1 run to close the half, pulling within 28-26 at the break. James Powell made the first of his six three-point baskets and lay-up to spark the run.
Shelley got SDSU back on track at the start of the second half making his only three-point basket of the game just 21 seconds in. His three-pointer started an 8-0 surge over the first 2:16 and his old-fashioned three-point play completed the run to give to pus the Aztec lead back to 10, 36-26.
Once again it was Powell who led a Gaucho comeback. He followed Shelley’s three-point play with a three-pointer to start an 18-11 UCSB spurt. Powell had three more three-point baskets during the run, which was capped by a steal and slam dunk by Chris Brew, narrowing SDSU’s lead to 47-44.
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The Aztecs never relinquished the lead. Another three-pointer by Powell made it 53-52 with 9:46 to play, but a short Kawhi Leonard jumper after an offensive rebound by D.J. Gay started began a 9-1 that pushed the lead back to 62-53.
“James (Powell) and Chris (Brew) really got us back in the game,” Williams said. “James was so relaxed with his shot tonight and I thought he and Chris really worked well together.”
Powell finished with 20 points, tying his career-high with six three-pointers. Chris Brew made 4-of-6 shots and had 11 points to go along with a game-high three steals.
The Gauchos got within three on two occasions in the final minutes, the final time at 64-61 on a lay-up by Orlando Johnson with just over minute to play. Lay-ups by Thomas and Leonard, and a free throw by Shelley gave the Aztecs their final 69-61 advantage.
UCSB shot 50.0% in the second half to finish at 37.3% for the game. SDSU made 27-of-53 from the field, 50.9%. In addition to Shelley and Thomas, Leonard and Gay were also in double-figures with 13 points apiece.
After a 13-day layoff, the Gauchos will play their next six games away from home. On Dec. 18 they travel to Bozeman, Mont., for a game against Montana State and on Dec. 21 they will play at Arizona State in their final pre-Christmas game.
UCSB will play its next home game on Jan. 8 against UC Davis at 8:00 p.m. The game against the Aggies will be televised by ESPN.
