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Gauchos Welcome Hawai'i to Thunderdome for 4:00 pm Saturday Showdown on Fox Sports Prime Ticket
To download a PDF of this release, including updated statistics, please click here.
• This
Week
Game No. 19
Saturday, January 26, 2013 at 4:00
p.m.
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos vs. Univ. of
Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors
at UCSB's Thunderdome - Santa Barbara, Calif.
Radio: AM 1290 KZSB in Santa Barbara
On-Line Audio: UCSBgauchos.com
TV: Fox Sports Prime Ticket
• UCSB-Hawai'i Game Moved To
4:00 p.m. for Fox Sports Prime Ticket
UC Santa Barbara's Jan. 26 game against the University of
Hawai'i has been moved from 7:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. to accommodate
Fox Sports Prime Ticket, which will televise from the Thunderdome
for the third time over a four-week span. In addition to the
change for the game against Hawai'i, the Gauchos' game at Long
Beach State on Wednesday, Jan. 30 has been moved from 8:00 p.m. to
9:00 p.m. Also, it will air on ESPN News instead of the originally
scheduled ESPNU.
•
Single Game Tickets Available!
Single game tickets for all Gaucho men's and women's basketball
games are now available and can be purchased in advance from the
Ticket Office in the Intercollegiate Athletics Building on campus,
by calling 805-893-UCSB (8272) or online by clicking here. Great seats for the
showdown with Long Beach State, and for all games, are also
available at the Thunderdome ticket office one hour prior to
tip-off.
• On The Radio
All UC Santa Barbara basketball games are broadcast live in Santa
Barbara on AM 1290 KZSB and will stream live online at
UCSBgauchos.com and NewsPress.com. Gerry Fall is in his ninth year
as the play-by-play voice of the Gauchos. Former Los Angeles Lakers
and UCSB superstar Don Ford and Santa Barbara News-Press
legend Mark Patton handle the color commentary.
• Talk'n Gauchos
UCSB Athletics' weekly radio show, Talk'n Gauchos, airs every
Tuesday from 6-7 p.m. on AM 1290 KZSB. The show is broadcast live
from The Beachside Café, located on Goleta Beach and it
features UCSB coaches and athletes. Hosted by Gerry Fall, the
voice of the Gauchos. Fans can also catch Gaucho head coach
Bob Williams every Thursday morning at 8:50 a.m. as he visits with
Baron Ron Herron on "Bob and The Baron" on AM 1290.
•
Alan
Williams Sidelined Indefinitely With Strained
Hamstring
Alan Williams, UCSB's leading scorer and rebounder, was
injured while trying to block a shot with six minutes left in the
first half of the game against Cal Poly on Jan. 19. He was
examined at halftime and held out the remainder of the Gauchos'
double-overtime win. On Monday, he was given a more thorough
exam and it revealed a strained left hamstring tendon, an injury
that will sideline him indefinitely. Thursday's game against
Cal State Northridge marked the first that Williams has ever missed
due to injury.
•
The Gaucho Record
UCSB enters Saturday's game against Hawai'i with an overall
record of 7-11 and a Big West Conference mark of 3-4. The
Gauchos had a two-game winning streak ended on Thursday when they
lost a 75-69 decision to visiting Cal State Northridge.
•
Williams Passes McCarthy For Third On Big West
Conference Victory List
The Jan. 19 win over Cal Poly was the 143rd Big West
Conference victory for head coach Bob Williams since his arrival at
UCSB for the 1998-99 season. The victory broke a tie with
former New Mexico State head coach Neil McCarthy for third-place on
the league's all-time list for conference wins. Williams is
143-92. With 244 overall wins as coach of the Gauchos,
Williams is in fourth in that category, four behind McCarthy.
• Probable Starters
- Quick Fact (Note: I can say with strong assurance, this is not
accurate.)G 11 T.J.
Taylor- Has had 5 or more assists in last 7, averaging 6.9
per game in Big West play. F 12 Lewis
Thomas - Has 12 three-pointers on the year, all on the
road.
G 24 Michael
Bryson - 9 of his 20 three-point baskets have come in last
5 games.
F 35 Taran
Brown- His 46 three-point baskets are a new UCSB freshman
record.
F 44 Sam Beeler -
Had career-high 15 points vs. CSUN and tied career-high with 6
boards.
•
Probable Reserves - Quick Fact
G 1 Nate
Garth - Leads the team in assists at 4.0 per game.
G 4 Aamahd
Walker - Back injury has him sidelined him indefinitely
and he will redshirt.
F 5 Keegan
Hornbuckle- Had season-highs of 9 points, 4 rebounds vs.
Northridge.
G 10 Kyle
Boswell - Has made 2 or more three-pointers in 7 straight,
12 of last 13.
F 15 Alan Williams - Out indefinitely with strained left
hamstring tendon.
F 21 Mitch
Brewe - Averaged 17 minutes in last two games, 9.8 per
game on the season.
G 32 John
Green - Projected starter, broken bone in his foot has him
sidelined indefinitely.F 34 Shawn
Moore - Has played in 6 straight since missing Big West
opener at Fullerton.
G 43 Duke DaRé - Logged 10 minutes vs. CSUN,
his highest total in league play.
•
The Opponents
Saturday will mark the first-ever conference game between the
Gauchos and Hawai'i. The programs have met six times starting
in 1959 and Santa Barbara holds a 4-2 edge. The teams have
not played since the Gauchos defeated the Rainbow Warriors 57-51 to
open the 2003 season in Honolulu. UCSB has played Long Beach
State more than any other opponent. The 49ers and Gauchos
have met 115 times and Long Beach holds a 60-55 all-time edge,
winning 77-70 in Santa Barbara on Jan. 5. LBSU also won all
three games last season, including a 77-64 victory in the Big West
Tournament Championship game. The match-up in the league
tourney final was the third straight between the schools.
UCSB won the first two.
•
The Gauchos At Home
UCSB is 5-3 at home this season after dropping a 75-69
decision to Cal State Northridge on Thursday night. After
opening the year with Thunderdome wins over The Master's College
and the University of San Diego, the Gauchos lost a game to
Wyoming. On Dec. 15, they defeated San Diego Christian and on
Jan. 3 they topped UC Irvine. After a loss to Long Beach
State, they bounced back with a Jan. 19 double-overtime win over
Cal Poly. Last season, UCSB went 11-3 at home with the losses
coming to Long Beach State, San Diego State (in overtime) and UNLV
(in double overtime), all teams that advanced to the NCAA
Tournament.
•
Youth Is Served
The Gauchos' leading scorer is sophomore Alan Williams.
Their third leading scorer is freshman Taran Brown. The fifth
leading scorer is freshman Michael Bryson. Of the 1,210
points that UCSB has scored through 18 games this season 858, or
70.9%, have been scored by freshmen or sophomores. Of the
team's 580 individual rebounds 492, or 84.8%, have been collected
by freshmen and sophomores. Finally, of the team's 85 blocked
shots 85, or 100.0%, have been recorded by freshmen and
sophomores.
•
Gauchos Remain On Record Three-Point Pace
After making 10-of-27 three-point attempts in its loss to Cal
State Northridge on Thursday night, UCSB remains on a school record
pace. Through 18 games, the Gauchos are averaging 8.7
three-point baskets per game, a pace that would equate to
approximately 270 over a 31-game season. On Dec. 29 at Cal
State Fullerton, UCSB made a season-high 15 three-point baskets,
the third highest total in school history and the most since it
made 16 against Arizona in the first found of the 2002 NCAA
Tournament. One game after making a season-high 15, the
Gauchos hit for season-best 50.0% (13-of-26) in a Jan. 3 win over
UC Irvine. After making fewer than 40.0% from three-point
range in its first six games this season, UCSB has been at 39.1% or
better in eight of the last 12 games.
• Brown
Breaks Freshman Three-Point Record
Freshman Taran Brown made four three-point baskets in the Gauchos'
game against Cal State Northridge on Thursday night, giving him 46
on the season, a new UCSB freshman record. With a minimum of
13 games to play, he will likely extend that record. Brown
broke a record that had stood since 1990 when Idris Jones made
43. With a minimum of 13 games left in the season, it is
likely that he will extend the mark. Brown also has 18
blocked shots on the season, the fifth most by a freshman in school
history. As for his scoring, he has 227 points and needs just
19 to move past James Nunnally and into 10th all-time, and his
scoring average of 12.6, if it remained the same, would be second
all-time. Another UCSB freshman, Michael Bryson, has 20
three-point baskets and needs three more to move into ninth
all-time.
•
Close Encounters Of The Winning Kind
Of UCSB's 18 games this season, 10 have been decided by
double-figure margins. The eight that have been decided by a
solo digit have seen the Gauchos winning four times. Upon
further inspection, however, when the game has been really tight,
they have come out on the winning end. In three games decided
by three or fewer points, two of which went overtime (at Santa
Clara and vs. Cal Poly), UCSB is a perfect 3-0.
•
A Trend Comes To Screeching Halt
The Gauchos made 25-of-54 shots from the field in Thursday's
loss to Cal State Northridge, 46.3%. The Matadors hit
25-of-58, 43.1%. It marked the first time this season that
UCSB has outshot an opponent and lost the game. Prior to
Thursday, UCSB was 7-0 in games in which it had a higher field goal
percentage that its opponent and 0-10 in games when its opponent
had a higher field goal percentage.
•
The "Other" Williams
Prior to straining his left hamstring tendon with six minutes
to play in the first half on Jan. 19 vs. Cal Poly, sophomore Alan
Williams had seven points, five rebounds and two blocked
shots. The injury, which occurred as Williams went up to
block a shot and came down off-balanced, will keep him sidelined
indefinitely. He was coming off of a 28 point, 11 rebounds,
four block shot game in a Jan. 12 win at UC Davis that represented
the ninth double-double of the season for Williams and 11th of his
career, the 28 points were just one shy of his career-high and the
most that he has scored in a non-overtime game. The nine
double-doubles are the most by a Gaucho since Kealon Wallace had 10
in 1995-96. It was also his second straight and fifth in the
last six games. He continues to lead the Gauchos in scoring
(17.4 points per game), rebounds (9.9 per game) and blocked shots
(2.4 per game). Williams is nearly averaging a double-double
and has scored 20 or more in two of his last three and four of his
last six games. The last Gaucho to finish the season
averaging 10 or more points and 10 or more rebounds per game was
Eric McArthur in 1990. On Dec. 1 at Santa Clara, Williams had a
career-best game with 29 points and 17 rebounds. That
performance was the first time a Gaucho has had 25 or more points
and 15 or more rebounds in the same game since Jan. 29, 1990 when
McArthur had 28 points and 21 rebounds against Cal State
Fullerton. The 17 boards were the most by a UCSB player since
Josh Merrill collected 18 against Westmont on Dec. 7, 1996. For his
efforts, he was named Big West Player of the Week. In all,
Williams has scored in double-figures 15 times in 17 games and he
has tallied 20 or more six times, all in the last 11 games. Also,
he has collected 10 or more rebounds 10 times. In addition to
his career-high 17 on Dec. 1 at Santa Clara, he had 16 in the Big
West opener at Cal State Fullerton on Dec. 29. Williams has
40 blocked shots this season, including 16 in his last five
games. He has at least one in six straight and 14
overall. In fact, he has two or more 13 times. He has a
high of five twice, once each against San Diego and UC
Irvine. With his four blocked shots on Jan. 12 at UC Davis,
Williams now has 79 and has moved into eighth in school
history.
•
Taran It Up
Freshman Taran Brown bounced back from a tough two-game trip
to UC Davis and Pacific with solid efforts in the last two
games. Brown struggled on the Gauchos' trip north, averaging
3.5 points and making 3-for-14 from the field, 21.4%, but in the
last two games, he has averaged 15.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per
game while shooing 41.0% overall and hitting 7-of-16 from
three-point distance, 43.7%. Brown has scored in
double-figures in five of the last seven games and 13 times overall
this season. He is averaging 12.6 points per game, third on
the team but first among Big West freshmen, as well as 5.7
rebounds, second on the team. On Dec. 29 at Cal State
Fullerton, he made a career-high six three-point baskets and scored
20 points. He has 20 or more three times. Brown scored
22 and 20 in back-to-back games against Illinois State and The
Master's College in mid-November becoming the first Gaucho freshman
ever to score 20 or more in two straight games. The 22 he had
at Illinois State were the most by a UCSB freshman since James
Nunnally had 22 against North Carolina on Nov. 21, 2008. He
is second on the team with 46 three-point baskets, the most ever by
a Gaucho freshman. Brown has had three or more three-pointers
11 times this season, including the last two games. He's made at
least one in 15 of 18 games. Since missing his first eight
three-point attempts this season, Brown has gone 46-of-113,
40.7%. Brown has 18 blocked shots on the year, the fifth most
by a Gaucho freshman. Finally, he recorded the first
double-double of his career with 20 points and 13 rebounds vs. The
Master's College on Nov. 17.
•Who's The Bos?
Junior Kyle Boswell had 15 points before fouling out of
Thursday's game against Cal State Fullerton. Boswell made
4-of-10 shots overall and 3-of-6 from three-point range. In
the previous game, a Jan. 19 double-overtime win over Cal Poly, he
tied his career-high with 23 points, including six in the final
1:10 of the second overtime. Boswell was fouled while shooting a
three-pointer with 1:10 left, making all three free throws, and
then, with nine seconds and left trailing by one, he was fouled
while making a lay-up, made the free throw and gave UCSB the 83-81
win. It was the third time this season that Boswell has
scored 23 in a game. He also did so on Dec. 6 at San Diego
State and Jan. 3 vs. UC Irvine. In the game at SDSU, he also
made a career-best seven three-point buckets, the most by a Gaucho
since Joe See made eight at Utah State on Jan. 6, 2005. On the
season, Boswell is now second on the team in scoring at 13.1 points
per game, a figure that is at its highest level since he scored 17
points in the opener at LSU. He has been in double-figures 11
times in the last 13 games, including a career-long streak of six
in a row prior to the Dec. 29 game at Cal State Fullerton.
Boswell has 51 threes on the year, an average of 2.9 per game,
second in the Big West. In 13 games since his scoring average
dipped to a season-low 8.0 per game, Boswell has scored 195 points
and averaged 15.0 per game, making 43-of-96 from three-point range
over that span, 44.8%. He has made at least one three-pointer
in 16 consecutive games and 17 of 18 overall. He has hit two
or more 14 times and four or more five times. He has
116 career threes in 272 attempts, 42.6%, the second highest
percentage in school history.
•
The World According To Garth
After missing two games and playing just 22 minutes over a
four-game span because of an ankle injury, Nate Garth bounced back
with one of his best games of the season against Cal Poly on Jan.
19. Garth played a career-high 36 minutes, scored a
season-high 13 points, had eight assists, two steals and just two
turnovers. On Thursday vs. Northridge, he struggled
for the first time in a while, finishing with three points, three
assists and four turnovers. Garth is now averaging a
team-leading 4.0 assists per game and his assist to turnover ratio
of 2.1-to-1.0 is second on the team. Despite the four
turnovers vs. the Matadors, Garth has 20 assists and eight
turnovers in his last five appearances. On the season, the
team's only senior is averaging 5.8 points per game.
Garth had a career-high nine assists on Dec. 6 at San Diego State
and has had five or more seven times in his 16 games.
•
Taylor Made
Sophomore point guard T.J. Taylor has started the last six
games. While he went scoreless in the last two, he had 11
assists and just three turnovers. On Jan. 12 at UC Davis he
made all three of his field goal attempts, including a pair of
three-pointers, and tied his career-high with 10 points. He
also added six assists. In each of two games prior to the
Davis game, Taylor had a career-high nine assists. He is
averaging 4.0 points and 3.9 assists while shooting 44.1% overall
and 41.0% from three-point range. In seven Big West games he is
averaging 6.0 points and 6.9 assists per game while shooting 51.7%
overall and 47.6% (10-of-21) from three-point range. Over
that span, he also has 48 assists and just 15 turnovers. Taylor
leads the team with a 2.5-to-1.0 assist to turnover ratio.
•
The Life Of Bryson
Freshman Michael Bryson had eight points and made 2-of-5
three-point attempts in Thursday's game against Cal State
Northridge. In the previous game, a double-OT win over Cal
Poly on Jan. 19, Bryson made 3-of-7 shots, including a pair of
three-pointers, and scored 10 points in UCSB's win over Cal Poly on
Jan. 19. It was, however, on the other end of the court where
he really made his mark. Bryson was assigned to guard Mustang
forward Chris Eversley, their top scorer, and while he did score
17, Eversley was limited to 4-for-17 from the field. For his
part, Bryson had three blocked shots, three steals and five
rebounds in his team-high 42 minutes. He is now averaging 5.8
points and 2.8 rebounds per game, but in the last four contests, he
is averaging 10.0 points. On Jan. 5 vs. Long Beach State,
Bryson made five of his last seven shots, including three
three-pointers, and scored a career-high 15 points. He has
played in 17 of the 18 games this season, missing the Nov. 17
contest against The Master's College with a strained back.
Bryson is third on the team with 20 three-point baskets, having
made two or more in eight games.
• Horning In
Junior forward Keegan Hornbuckle, expected to start if he were
healthy at the beginning of season, saw, by far, his longest stint
of the season in the game against Cal State Northridge.
Because of a severe ankle sprain, Hornbuckle didn't make his
debut this season until the sixth game of the year. In his
debut against Wyoming, he played seven minutes. The next
game, at Santa Clara, he played three, but re-sprained the ankle
when he went up for, and made, a jump shot from the free throw
line. The re-injury cost him 41 more days on the sideline.
He re-debuted at UC Davis on Jan. 12, but played just six
minutes. Hornbuckle played just two minutes on Jan. 19 vs.
Cal Poly, but on Thursday, he went for 13 minutes, scoring nine
points and grabbing four rebounds. He made 4-of-5 shots from
the field, including his only three-point attempt.
•
Sam I Am
Freshmen forward Sam Beeler made his first career start on
Thursday night against Cal State Northridge and he made the most of
it. Starting in place of the injured Alan Williams, Beeler
scored a career-high 15 points, making all six of his field goal
attempts, in a career-high 22 minutes. He also set a new
career standard with three blocked shots and tied his best with six
rebounds. In the last two games, Beeler has made 8-of-10
shots while averaging 10.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocked
shots. Going back to the Gauchos' Dec. 1 game at Santa Clara,
he has made 19 of his last 25 shots, 76.0%, and is now making 62.2%
overall. Finally, Beeler has 20 points in the last two games,
the same total that he achieved in the previous 10 games
combined.
