James Powell’s hot hand kept UCSB hot on the heels of San Diego State all night on Saturday, but the Aztecs proved too tall an order in a 69-61 loss at the Thunderdome.
UCSB's Chris Brew attempts a dunk in the face of San Diego State's Malcolm Thomas. The dunk didn't go down.
Powell kept the Gauchos in the game with five 3-pointers in the second half, only to see their final comeback attempt cut short by their own scorer’s table in the game’s final minute.
Orlando Johnson pulled UCSB to within three points on a driving layup with just over a minute remaining. The Gauchos, needing a stop to get a shot at tying the game, forced D.J. Gay into an off-balance 10-foot runner from the baseline with the shot clock winding down to zero. The shot never reached the rim but the 35-second clock was erroneously reset. Malcolm Thomas grabbed the airball and went back up for a layup while getting fouled, sending him to the line.
According to the game’s official play-by-play, 36 seconds had expired since Johnson’s basket.
No horn ever sounded, however, and the play stood after a brief discussion among the referees. Like salt on a wound, Thomas’ free throw rimmed out perfectly to a cutting Kawhi Leonard for an easy layup to change a possible turnover into a four-point play.
Just like that it was a 3-possession game at 68-61 and UCSB’s chances were smashed.
“I didn’t have a look at the shot clock. All I noticed was that it was off and it was an airball,” UCSB head coach Bob Williams said, unwilling to add to the controversy.
It was only because of Powell that the Gauchos even had a chance at the end.
UCSB started the game ice-cold, connecting on only two field goals in the first 14 minutes. The Aztecs built a 21-9 lead before giving it all back on UCSB’s 10-1 run to close the half, aided by Powell’s first trey.
“I thought early, we were really tight,” said Williams. “During the 1-and-13 stretch, we were settling for threes when we should have started the game more aggressive like when we went small.”
The Gauchos quickly dropped back into a 10-point deficit in the second half before Williams inserted Chris Brew, Justin Joyner and James Nunnally.
Brew, who came off the bench to score 11 points with three steals, brought a quickness onto the court that countered the Aztecs’ size and athleticism.
“I just like to get out there on defense,” explained Brew. “And that leads to offense so I just put a lot of pressure on the ball.”
Powell’s final 3-pointer came with just under 10 minutes left in the game and brought the Gauchos to within one.
“There’s no doubt James offensively hitting those 3s bailed us out, got us back into it. He really made a game of it,” credited Williams.
A minute later, Brew, Joyner and Lucas Devenny were rotated out and it showed as San Diego took off on a 7-0 run to make it 62-53.
As a team, UCSB had its second-worse shooting night of the season, hitting on 37.3 percent of its field goals.
“The ultimate goal is to get the win and we didn’t get that done,” Powell stated. “It’s like a Catch-22, you want to feel good about coming back but you still got the loss.”
“When James Powell made his first three, then a string of them, it kept them and the crowd in the game,” acknowledged Aztecs coach Steve Fisher. “He shot well under pressure. He didn’t have any open looks.”
San Diego held on with four starters in double figures led by Tyrone Shelley’s 17 points and eight rebounds. Leonard finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. The starting five shot 60 percent as a unit.
UCSB loses its second straight and falls to 4-2. San Diego State, from the Mountain West Conference, improves to 6-2.
The Aztecs play in the MWC not the WCC. Just as funny to read that tid bit as it was to hear the UCSB student section chant State school. Didn't realize UCSB went private.
The Aztecs play in the MWC not the WCC. Just as funny to read that tid bit as it was to hear the UCSB student section chant State school. Didn't realize UCSB went private.