James Nunnally scored 27 points and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds, and Justin Joyner added a career-high 12 assists Wednesday night to lead UCSB to an 86-71 Big West Conference win over visiting Cal State Fullerton.
Orlando Johnson added 20 points for the Gauchos (14-10 overall, 7-6 Big West) who won for the third time in their last four games.
The Titans (9-17 overall, 5-8 Big West) were led by Devon Peltier who had 19 points. Jer’Vaughn Johnson scored 17 and Orane Chin added 16.
UCSB jumped out to a 14-4 lead to open the game and would lead the entire way. The Gauchos had a 40-20 lead before Fullerton used a 14-5 surge over the last four minutes of the first half to pull within 11, 45-34.
The teams traded baskets to open the second half. Jer’Vaughn Johnson made a lay-up to make the score 47-38, but the Gauchos used a 7-0 run to stretch the advantage back to 54-38 with 15:12 to play.
Santa Barbara’s lead remained in double-digits for much of the rest of the game and it never dipped below eight.
UCSB had a season-high 26 assists on 28 baskets, including 17 on 17 first half buckets.
“That’s what a coach loves to see,” said Gaucho head coach Bob Williams. “That means we were making the extra pass, finding the open man, and obviously making our shots.”
Joyner added four steals to go with his 12 assists. Nunnally and Orlando Johnson each added four assists while Jordan Weiner had 11 points and three steals for the Gauchos, who shot 56.0% overall and 50.0% from three-point range.
The Gauchos remain at home to host Boise State in a BracketBuster game on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the Thunderdome. The game will not be televised.
