UC Santa Barbara holds off Warriors, 59-50
Amadou Sow scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds and JaQuori McLaughlin added 14 points tonight to help UC Santa Barbara hold off Hawai’i, 59-50, in a key Big West Conference men’s basketball showdown at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
The league-leading Gauchos won their ninth straight game and improved to 13-3 overall and 7-2 in the Big West, good for sole possession of first place.
James Jean-Marie scored 10 points and grabbed four boards to lead the Warriors, who saw their three-game win streak snapped and fell to 7-6, 5-6.
The two teams will run it back again Saturday at 7 p.m. at SimpliFi Arena.
UH took an early 12-10 lead on James-Marie’s mid-range jumper from the right wing with 12:33 remaining in the first half, but Josh Pierre scored on a steal and fast-break slam dunk just over a minute later to ignite a 12-0 run capped by Robinson Idehen’s three-point play to make it 22-12 with 6:35 left.
The Warriors later cut it to 22-16 after Justin Webster’s two free throws with five minutes remaining, but UCSB extended the lead to 28-20 at halftime.
The Gauchos then stretched the lead to 37-24 after Pierre-Louis capped a 9-2 run at the 14:35 mark to start the second half and Hawai’i was only able to get as close as 41-37 on Justin Hemsley’s mid-range jumper with 9:06 left.
UCSB answered with a 7-1 surge culminating in Destin Barnes’ 20-foot jumper from the left corner with just over five minutes remaining.
The Warriors closed it to 50-43 on Casdon Jardine’s three-point play with 3:16 left, but could not get closer the rest of the way.
More details, including video highlights and interviews, will be posted later.
Big West Conference
Friday’s Results
at UC Davis 68, Long Beach State 66
at CSU Bakersfield 76, UC San Diego 71
at UC Riverside 86, UC Irvine 65
UC Santa Barbara 59, at Hawai’I 50
Cal State Fullerton at Cal Poly, canceled
Saturday’s Games
Long Beach State at UC Davis, 1:00 p.m. PT
UC San Diego at CSU Bakersfield, 4:00 p.m. PT
UC Santa Barbara at Hawai’i, 7:00 p.m. PT
UC Irvine at UC Riverside, 9:00 p.m. PT
Cal State Fullerton at Cal Poly, canceled
