Will Brew didn’t walk off the Thunderdome court with a big head, although he could have.
Any freshman who goes 6-for-7 from long range is bound to feel a little sense of entitlement, but his opening comments after Thursday’s 68-61 Big West win over UC Irvine didn’t reflect that.
“It was a great shooting game, but my defense wasn’t really up to par, so I just tip my hat to DJ (Posely), Jaime (Serna) and Paul (Roemer) for really stepping it up,” he said.
That trio combined for six points on the night while Brew finished with 18, but there’s a reason why coach Bob Williams says he’s a really smart kid.
“He hit 5-for-5 from the 3-point line in the first half, but his defense wasn’t quite the same and his taking care of the ball wasn’t quite the same,” said the coach. “We’re going to hang our hat on that he’s a great defender and that he takes care of the ball, and it’s the icing on the cake when he hits the shots like that. But I’ll tell you what, we’ll take it any day.”
James Powell shed the ice from his game, scoring 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting with only two treys attempted. It was a promising sign for the sharpshooter, who was a combined 6-for-24 from the field during the Gauchos’ 0-2 start to the Big West season.
“I haven’t really lost confidence because I’ve worked pretty hard,” he said. “I wasn’t really concerned with that because I knew it was only a matter of time until shots started to fall. The main thing is that we won. If I would have shot 3-for-11 again and we won, I wouldn’t even be upset.”
UCSB (7-8, 1-2) took a 33-21 lead at the half but let it slip away completely as Irvine caught fire. Brett Lauer nailed one from beyond the arc with 12 minutes left to tie things up at 47 apiece, and UCSB actually fell behind on a lay-up by Adam Folker at the 7:33 mark.
“I didn’t like our mindset going into the second half,” said Williams. “I don’t think we came out with the mindset that we were going to defend with the same tenacity we did in the first half.”
The Gauchos, however, took the lead back on a free throw by Chris Devine with 5:29 remaining and never let it go. In all, UCSB went 17-for-22 from the charity strip in the second half.
Williams is quick to point out that the young Gauchos have a massive expanse in which to grow, but he and the rest of the Big West continue to see flashes of what could be at UCSB.
“With the lessons those young players are learning now, they’ll be ready to be one of the premiere teams in the league next year,” said Anteater coach Pat Douglass.
Irvine is now 3-11 overall and 1-1 in the conference. UCSB hosts Fullerton on Saturday.
