Torrid three-point shooting sparked UCSB to an 86-77 win over Hawaii on Thursday in a game that was marred by a fan running onto the court during the game and screaming at the Hawaii coach and players.
The Gauchos made 7 of 10 three-pointers in the first half to open up a 39-27 lead. They finished the game making 10 of 16.
ESPN VIDEO OF FAN RUNNING ON COURT * LOCAL KEYT TV NEWS REPORT
Alan Williams had 18 points and 11 rebounds and senior Kyle Boswell, playing his final home game, scored 17 points.
The win guarantees UCSB (20-8 overall, 11-4 in the Big West) of a top-two seed at next week’s Big West Tournament. With UC Irvine also winning on Thursday, the Gauchos still trail the Anteaters by one game in the league standings. The Rainbow Warriors (19-10, 8-7) will likely be the fourth seed.
Williams and Boswell led a balanced offensive attack that saw five Gauchos score in double-figures. Boswell also made a pair of three-pointers to give him 212 in his career, third in school history. Zalmico Harmon added 16, Michael Bryson had 13 and Mitch Brewe scored 11.
The Gauchos built a 19-point first-half lead, primarily on the strength of a 7-for-10 performance from three-point range, but a spate of turnovers helped UH cut the lead to 36-27 before Eric Childress made the final basket of the half, a three from deep in the right corner, to push the lead back to 39-27 at the break.
During the first half, a fan wearing blue ran onto the court as officials were assessing technical fouls on UH player Brandon Spearman and coach Gib Arnold. The fan ran up to Arnold and started screaming at him before being pushed away by Hawaii player Christian Stanhardinger. The fan then ran back into the student section, dropping his cellphone as he left the court.
A UCSB game official picked up the phone and ran after the fan, eventually catching him and escorting him out of the Thunderdome.
UCSB spokesman Bill Mahoney told ESPN that the man, who the school believed was a student, was arrested by campus police. Mahoney did not identify the fan, but said he could be expelled if he is a student.
“I don’t know how that happened,” Arnold said. “I’ve never seen that before, ever, where a fan goes after a player or coach, or whatever he did. I was surprised that would happen. It didn’t affect anybody but it was pretty awkward.”
On the play involving Spearman, Arnold felt his player was fouled as he attempted to score on an offensive rebound.
“He expressed it and I expressed it and that’s part of the game,” the coach said of arguing the non-call. “What’s not part of the game is having your crowd run down on the floor and push players and coaches around. That’s absolutely unacceptable and I’m surprised they let that happen.”
Standhardinger said he tried to keep the fan away from his teammates and coaches.
“I actually pushed him away, to be honest with you, because I didn’t know what he wanted to do, like grab my teammates or coaches,” said the senior forward. “I didn’t want that to happen so I pushed him away.
“There should be a better job security-wise because this fan was harmless but there could be other fans who could start hitting my teammates or start doing a lot of crazy stuff,” he added.
There was no technical foul called against UCSB.
Santa Barbara extended the lead to 19 three times in the second half, the final time when Williams hit a free throw with 4:30 to play to make it 70-51. Hawai’i used a fullcourt press to eat into the lead, getting it to 82-75 on a three-pointer by Aaron Valdes with 20 second to play, but they got no closer.
“I was happy with a lot of things tonight,” said UCSB head coach Bob Williams. “While I wasn’t happy that we didn’t close the game out strong, I thought getting the lead to 19 points against a quality opponent was impressive. I was also happy that Bos finished his home career with a very good game.”
In addition to 17 points, Boswell had five rebounds and four assists. He made 5-of-8 field goals overall and 2-of-4 from outside the three-point arc. Five different Gauchos made three-point baskets. Bryson was 3-of-4, Harmon was 2-of-4, Brewe was 2-for-2 and Eric Childress made his only attempt.
Standhardinger paced the Rainbow Warriors with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Keith Shamburger had 16 points. Shamburger made 4-of-5 three-point attempts.
The win marks the 12th time in school history that UCSB has won 20 or more games. It is the third time in the last five years and the fifth time during Williams’ tenure as head coach that they have done so. The victory also gives the Gauchos nine more wins than last season, the largest increase from one season to the next in modern history.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated from its original version with more recent information about Thursday’s on-court altercation between a UCSB Basketball fan and players from the University of Hawaii basketball team.
Yes the kid( fan) ran onto the court and shouted at the Hawaii squad . I did not see him push any player or coach from Hawaii. I don’t think Coach Arnold is correct to say his players were pushed around. Stand harbinger pushed the numbskull kid back and away from the Hawaii squad and the kid ran back to the stands where he was apprehended. On the post game show it was said they the kid was arrested. Don’t see that in this account.
Why is he not identified?