GAME PREVIEW: UCSB is back at home after 35 days and five games away from the Thunderdome. The Gauchos went 2-3 in those games, including a 58-57 victory over Cal Poly in their Big West Conference opener on Monday.
Cal State Fullerton currently sits on top of the conference with two wins under its belt. The Titans are 10-3 overall.
GAME OVER: A handful of late free throws gives Orlando Johnson 23 points and UCSB a 77-64 victory over Cal State Fullerton. The Gauchos improve to 2-0 in Big West play. Long Beach State also won, matching UCSB for the early conference lead. Fullerton falls to 2-1.
1:14 REMAINING: Fullerton forces UCSB to take a timeout after getting two turnovers that turned into five points. The Titans have trimmed the lead to eight and UCSB has the ball.
1:57 REMAINING: Orlando Johnson nails a 3-pointer with a defender in his face to push UCSB’s lead up to 15 with less than two minutes to go. While most people are sticking around, that shot sent more than a few people to the exits.
3:32 REMAINING: Fullerton is running out of time to get back within striking distance. Kyle Boswell’s straight-away 3-pointer has give UCSB a 66-53 lead at the final media timeout. James Nunnally still leads all scorers with 18. Fullerton’s Isiah Umipig is next with 17, 13 of those coming in the second half.
4:35 REMAINING: UCSB’s lead has been hovering around 10 points for some time now. Fullerton has gotten within 10 points several times but UCSB pushes it back over 10 each time.
6:57 REMAINING: UCSB leads 57-45. Freshman point guard TJ Taylor just checked into game for first time tonight as Nate Garth goes to the bench.
8:53 REMAINING IN REGULATION: Isiah Umipig’s 3-pointer brings UCSB’s lead to single digits for the first time in the second half. Then Greg Somogyi throws down a two-handed dunk on UCSB’s next possession to get the crowd back into it.
12:10 REMAINING: Jaime Serna was just taken out of the game after coming down hard and then grabbing his right wrist. Serna skyed for a possible dunk but drew a blocking foul that upended him. Nate Garth took Serna’s free throws, which means Serna will not return. During the next timeout, trainers were still attending to Serna.
12:52 REMAINING: Fullerton cut the lead to 10 a couple of times. Then James Nunnally hit a 15-foot jump shot while being fouled and completed the 3-point play to put UCSB back up 13 at 48-35. Nunnally has 18 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes of play so far.
15:36 REMAINING: It took little more than a minute for the Titans to post a quick seven points. With the lead cut to 43-31, UCSB head coach Bob Williams takes a timeout.
16:49 REMAINING IN GAME: James Nunnally catches an inbounds lob from Orlando Johnson and converts a layup to give UCSB its biggest lead of the game at 43-24. Nunnally leads all scorers with 15 points.
START OF SECOND HALF: UCSB starter Alan Williams is back on the court after sitting for much of the first half in foul trouble. After a minute and a half of play in the second half, UCSB holds a 39-24 lead.
HALFTIME: After trailing for much of the first half, UCSB built a 35-21 lead over the Big West Conference leaders. Fullerton led 10-5. After that, the Guachos scored 30 of the next 41 points. James Nunnally and Keegan Hornbuckle led the charge, combining for 22 points in the first half.
As a team, Fullerton could only connect on eight of its 35 field goal attempts. No Titan has more than five points in the game.
