Freshman James Nunnally made a handful of what coach Bob Williams referred to as “gamer plays” on Saturday night at the Thunderdome as the UCSB men’s basketball team won its season-high fourth straight game in a thrilling 78-71 overtime decision over Montana State.
Nunnally scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime, including all five of his rebounds and all four assists. He rebounded his own free throw and put it back in to pull UCSB to within two at 57-59 with five minutes to go in regulation, then assisted Chris Devine on a 3-point play that pushed the Gauchos their first lead of the night at the 4:08 mark.
The freshman’s biggest play came with 29 ticks left, as he came out of nowhere for a flying tip-in of a James Powell miss to tie things up at 67 apiece.
“James drove past his man and my man went in to help so I just had a wide-open lane to get the tip,” he said. “My momentum was taking me out of bounds, but I have pretty long arms so I just found a way to put it in.”
It was the kind of play that makes Devine call Nunnally a “super-athlete.”
Devine, who started at UCSB when Nunnally was in junior high, made a few “gamer plays” of his own en route to 20 points and seven boards. The sixth-year senior took a pass from Nunnally and banked it in from close-range to start the overtime, and hit two more shots in the period, including a jumper from the elbow with 35 seconds left that pushed the Gaucho lead to 75-71.
A highlight-reel rejection of a Will Bynum jumper with four seconds left was just icing on the cake.
Another reason for Gaucho optimism came from beyond the arc, where UCSB went a respectable 7-for-16. James Powell was 3-for-6 and Jordan Weiner was 2-for-4, with an especially big one coming in the final minute of regulation. Weiner pulled up and confidently nailed one with 55 seconds left that closed the Montana State (12-13) lead to two and set the stage for Nunnally’s top-notch tip-in.
Resilience has been a welcomed quality as well, as UCSB trailed by as much as 11 late in the first half. The win streak itself began after the Gauchos (12-13, 5-7 Big West) suffered a deflating loss at Fullerton on February 5th, losing a 19-point halftime lead en route to a 72-65 defeat.
“I definitely feel better about the team than where we were two weeks ago,” said coach Bob Williams. “I’m proud of the fact that we bounced off of that Fullerton game… I’m happy for the kids who are having success and as a group they’re feeling better about themselves.”
They’ll strive to make it five Wednesday at Northridge.
