Men’s Basketball Falls To UC Santa Barbara in Regular-Season Finale

Box Score SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team concluded the regular-season with a 81-61 loss to UC Santa Barbara Saturday night at the Thunderdome. The Rainbow Warriors (22-10, 13-7) entered the evening still in contention for a share of the Big West title. But those hopes were quickly dashed by the Gauchos (24-17, 15-5) who got off to a fast start and finished the regular-season as league co-champions with UC Irvine.

The setback was UH's largest margin of defeat this year. With the loss -- UH's first in its last five road games -- the 'Bows slipped to fifth in the Big West standings. UH will now face Cal State Fullerton in the quarterfinals of the Big West Championship Thursday, March 9 at 2:30 p.m. PT/12:30 p.m. HT.

The game pitted an elite offense versus UH's stout defense. UCSB, among the top 10 shooting teams in the nation, put their offense on full display, shooting 63 percent in the first half to take a commanding 20-point lead at the break. UCSB finished the game shooting 53 percent while becoming the first team to put up better than 80 points against UH this year.

Five different Gauchos finished in double-digit scoring, led by Miles Norris' 18 points and 10 rebounds. Noel Coleman led UH with 15 points with all but two coming in the first half, JoVon McClanahan had 11 points and five assists, while Mor Seck contributed seven points and a team-high nine rebounds in his third straight start.

UCSB got off to a fast start, scoring 10 of the game's first 12 points. The Gauchos built a double-digit lead less than seven minutes into the game though it was just a 25-19 game with nine minutes left in the half. But UCSB exploded for a game-turning 21-7 run the rest of the way to take a 46-26 lead into the locker room.

The Gauchos continued to stay hot in the second half. The 'Bows would get no closer than 15 after the break as UCSB completed the wire-to-wire win and defeated UH for the third straight time. The Gauchos turned the ball over just four times, while out-scoring UH 42-22 in the paint.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Noel Coleman: G; 6' 2"; Junior

#3 JoVon McClanahan: G; 5' 10"; Junior

#23 Mor Seck: C; 7' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#4 Noel Coleman
: 6' 2"; Junior
: G

#3 JoVon McClanahan
: 5' 10"; Junior
: G

#23 Mor Seck
: 7' 1"; Freshman
: C

Players Mentioned

#4 Noel Coleman

#3 JoVon McClanahan

#23 Mor Seck

Players Mentioned

#4 Noel Coleman

#3 JoVon McClanahan

#23 Mor Seck