UCSB’s Orlando Johnson hit the 30-point mark for the second night in a row on Friday, notching an even 30 as the Gauchos routed Cal State Northridge 83-63 in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament.
The Gauchos will meet Long Beach State on Saturday at 5 p.m. in the championship game for the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. It will be a rematch of last season’s tournament final, when Santa Barbara clinched the tournament bid with a 69-64 victory.
This time around, the 49ers are the No. 1 seed and UCSB made it as the No. 5 seed.
Johnson poured in 30 points on Friday a night after putting up 32. The junior forward is averaging 20.7 on the season. It was the sixth time he’s crossed the 30-point barrier.
Jaime Serna had his best game of the season on paper, tallying a season-high 16 points to go with 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. James Nunnally added 11 points.
The game was never in doubt as UCSB built a 40-19 lead at halftime.
Lenny Daniel led the Matadors with 16 points but was only 4-of-16 from the field. No other Matadors starter scored over six points as the offense for the regular season’s third-best team was hard to come by.
The Gauchos, winners of three straight, lost twice to the 49ers in the regular season by double-digit margins.
