Orlando Johnson made all seven of his shots and scored 19 points to lead four players in double-figures as UCSB opened the 2009-10 season with an 85-57 win over visiting Cal State Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon.
Guard James Powell and forward Sam Phippen each scored 14, and forward Jon Pastorek added 11 for the Gauchos. For Phippen, the 14 points were a career-high.
Johnson had 10 points in the first half, but after leading by as many as 14 points, UCSB (1-0) led by just four, 40-36, at the break. The transfer from Loyola Marymount, playing his first regular season game in nearly 20 months, scored the Gauchos first six points of the second half to spark a 19-2 run that made the score 61-38 with 13:38 remaining. Powell had seven points in the run and Pastorek had four.
Santa Barbara led Cal State Los Angeles (0-1) by as many as 32 points (81-49) in the closing minutes.
The Gauchos played the game without forward James Nunnally and guards Justin Joyner and Chris Brew, but their depth proved too much for the Golden Eagles.
“We have such good depth and it showed today,” said UCSB head coach Bob Williams. “The depth encourages you to play hard all the time because you know that someone can come off the bench and we won’t miss a beat.”
As a team, the Gauchos made 53.7% of their shots overall, but they shot 61.5% in the second half. In addition to Johnson’s 7-for-7 shooting erformance, Powell made 6-of-9 field goal attempts, including both of his three-pointers. UCSB had 21 assists on its 29 baskets. Powell led the way with five, but Will Brew, Jordan Weiner, and Paul Roemer had four apiece. Weiner also had a team-high three steals.
Cal State Los Angeles, which outrebounded UCSB 33-32, was paced by Dwayne Jones who had 15 points. Nuno Furtado had a game-high 11 rebounds. The Gauchos were led by Pastorek who had six rebounds. Johnson added five.
