UCSB cut down a net at the Thunderdome on Wednesday night, and the Gauchos are hoping it’s not the only time they put scissors to the twine this basketball season.
Led by the combined 42 points from James Nunnally and Orlando Johnson, and the clutch free-throw shooting from senior James Powell, UCSB held off a hot-shooting UC Irvine, 77-74, to clinch the Big West regular season championship, earn the No. 1 seed for next week’s conference tournament and, for the first time in school history, finish undefeated at home in conference play.
“It was a goal of ours,” UCSB coach Bob Williams said of going 8-0 at home in the Big West. “When we started we said we wanted to be undefeated a home. We felt if you could go undefeated at home, you could win this league. We felt a 12-4 record should win this league and we actually talked about it.
“At the same time. what means a lot to me is we got to celebrate at home for the first time in my career, in terms of cutting down the nets,” he continued. “This is the fourth league championship we’ve won, fifth including the tournament, and we’ve never won one here. We won on the road, (where) you never celebrate with your fans, you never cut the nets down. Guys don’t get that experience.
“And this is an achievement. We want to go dancing, yes. We want to be in the NCAA tournament. I also wanted them to have the luxury of winning the league championship, cutting the nets down, celebrating with their families and the fans here in Santa Barbara.
Obviously, this means a lot.”
It was especially meaningful for Powell, who, along with fellow senior Paul Roemer, played their final game at the Thunderdome.
“It felt great,” Powell said of winning the title at home. “I never cut down any nets in high school or college. It was a good feeling to be her with the fans.”
Powell scored 16 points, sinking 4-of-6 from 3-point range and making all four of his free throws. His two biggest free throws came with 14 seconds left after he grabbed the rebound of a missed one-and-one opportunity by UC Irvine’s Patrick Rembert and was fouled.
Powell sank them both to clinch the win.
Irvine’s 6-5 Eric Wise, with 6-foot Jordan Weiner all over him, missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer.
“There’s nobody we’d rather have at the free-throw line than James Powell. That’s been for four years,” said Williams.
“He’s a proven leader and a clutch player,” Nunnally said of Powell.
“He’s like my older brother,” offered Johnson about his senior teammate. “It hurts because he’s not going to be there next year, but I’m glad we were able to send him out with a win. We believe in him.”
Barely.
A Jaime Serna tip-in gave the Gauchos a commanding 16-point lead, 47-31, at the 17:07 mark of the second half.
But Irvine, which is battling for the final berth in the Big West Tournament, fought back behind 65 percent shooting (17 of 26) in the second half.
They threw in some shots that were tough.
The Anteaters kept chipping away at the Gaucho lead and pulled to within four, 64-60, on a basket in the paint by Wise, who was fouled on the play but missed the free throw.
Nunnally fed Johnson inside to put the Gauchos up 67-62, but the Anteaters made it a two-point game when Hunter buried a 3-pointer.
Serna scored off Nunnally’s seventh assist of the game and Hunter followed with two free throws to keep it a two-point game at 69-67. Johnson, who wore goggles to protect a scratched eye he suffered Saturday against Cal Poly, made a power move inside to make it 71-67 and then Jordan Weiner came up with a huge steal from Irvine’s Emil Kim that led to a pair of Johnson free throws. Johnson scored 20 points.
UCSB (18-9, 12-4) was leading 73-67 with 2:06 remaining when the Anteaters responded with a 3-pointer by Darren Moore and a layup by Wise after a Gaucho turnover to pull within one.
Moore made sure Johnson wouldn’t get his hands on the ball on the Gauchos’ next possession, so Nunnally (22 points) took it upon himself to get the job done. He drove into the paint and drew a foul, which was called on Moore, his fifth of the game.
With 35 seconds left in the game, Nunnally sank the two free throws for a 75-72 lead.
Irvine responded with a jumper by Eric Wise, who scored 16 points of his 22 points in the second half, many of them made under great defensive pressure by the Gauchos. Michael Hunter added 18 for the Anteaters (13-17, 5-10)
“I felt at halftime they were going to ride Wise in the second half and I felt they did,” Williams said. “When we did played great defense on him he still found a way to get the shot down.”
Johnson got fouled on the ensuing inbounds play but he missed his two free throws, giving UC Irvine a shot to take the lead.
Rembert was fouled after Johnson’s second miss and went to the line for a one-and-one situation. He missed the first and Powell came up with the rebound and was fouled.
“Patrick Rembert is a very clutch player and a very good free-throw shooter,” Williams noted. “He’s over an 80 percent free-throw shooter on the year and he missed that thing pretty bad. Fortunately James was there to pick it up and put us in a good spot.”
Powell was cool and clutch under pressure and the Gauchos were able to celebrate on their home floor.
“Whether it be defensive stops or offensively having to make free throws or offensively having to hit big shots to win, this group finds ways to win games,” said Williams.
Asked how meaningful it was to win the regular-season title, Johnson said this was just the beginning.
“We’re fighting for something more than this,” he said. “We want to win the tournament. That’s the only thing that counts. We want to be dancing with the best teams.”
