LARAMIE, WYO. — Leonard Washington scored 17 points, including eight straight during a pivotal stretch early in the second half, to help unbeaten Wyoming to a 56-40 win over visiting UCSB on Friday night.
Sophomore Alan Williams had his fifth double-double of the season for the Gauchos with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
UCSB (4-7) kept the game close until Washington’s personal rally in the second half put the Cowboys (12-0) back in control.
Santa Barbara took its first lead of the game, 25-24, early in the second half when Wyoming native Taran Brown made his first basket of the game, but that’s when Wyoming started going inside to Washington, who scored eight straight, four on free throws, two on a power lay-up and two more on an offensive rebound and follow, to reclaim a 32-25 lead with 14:39 to play in the game.
Alan Williams stopped the run with a lay-up. The score was still just 39-31 when the Cowboys outscored UCSB 16-2 to break the game open.
Luke Martinez, held without a three-pointer for much of the game, nailed a pair during the stretch while Derrious Gilmore made a three and a driving lay-up. Riley Grabau made three free throws and Washington hit a 16-foot jumper to complete the run. Sam Beeler’s 10-footer ended the run and the score was 55-35 with 4:12 left in the game.
The Cowboys struggled from three-point range in the first half, going 1-for-12, but found their touch in the final 20 minutes, making 4-of-11. The Gauchos were 1-for-5 in the first half, but the second half was not nearly as kind as they missed all eight attempts.
“I thought that was a huge factor in the game,” said UCSB head coach Bob Williams. “We are a team that has a tough time winning when we don’t make some threes. In the first half, they were doubling Al (Williams) and he was kicking it out and we got open looks but couldn’t knock them down. In the second half, they didn’t double, contested hard and made it very tough.”
Wyoming, one of the best defensive teams in the nation, forced the Gauchos into a 15-for-43 performance for the game, including 6-of-24 in the second half. They also finished just 1-for-13 from outside the three-point arc after hitting a season-high 13 in each of the previous two games.
“We saw it in Santa Barbara,” said Williams of his team’s Nov. 28 loss to the Cowboys at the Thunderdome. “That is one good defensive team. They are a veteran team and it really showed, on both ends, in the second half.”
