Warrior Insider

A second-half blitz led UC Santa Barbara to a convincing 75-54 victory over the University of Hawai’i in a Big West Conference game at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Gauchos out-scored the Rainbow Warriors 45-28 in the second half to improve to 16-5 overall and 5-2 in the conference. Hawai’i dropped to 13-8 and is now in fourth place at 4-3.

The 21-point difference was the largest margin of defeat this season for the Warriors. Samuta Avea led the Warriors with 13 points and six rebounds, and Zigmars Raimo added 10 points.

The Warriors shot just 37.7 percent from the field and tied their season-low with five 3-pointers.

Max Heidegger and Amadou Sow scored 20 points each to lead the Gauchos.

Hawai’i had an 18-17 lead with 7:43 remaining in the first half, but the Gauchos went on a 7-0 run to take a 24-18 lead. UCSB led buy as many as seven in the first half before take a 30-26 lead at intermission.

The Warriors were assessed 12 fouls in the first half, and UCSB took advantage by going 11 for 15 on free throws. In contrast, the Gauchos were whistled for six fouls and Hawai’i went 3 for 5 from the free-throw line.

UH starting forwards Raimo and Jack Purchase were limited to seven minutes each in the first half due to foul trouble.

The Gauchos increased their lead to 34-26 early in the second half, and the Warriors were never able to dig out of that hole the rest of the way.

The Gauchos put the game away with a 16-0 run that pushed the lead to 54-33 with 9:54 remaining.

The Warriors’ next two games will be on the road – Thursday at Long Beach State, then Saturday at UC Irvine.

More details, including video highlights and interviews, will be posted later.

Big West Conference
Saturday’s Results
UC Davis 84, at UC Riverside 71
at CSUN 83, Cal Poly 65
UC Irvine 82, at Long Beach State 80
UC Santa Barbara 75, at Hawai’i 54

Wednesday’s Games
CSUN at UC Santa Barbara
Cal State Fullerton at UC Irvine

Thursday’s Games
UC Davis at Cal Poly
Hawai’i at Long Beach State