Mavericks Upend UC Santa Barbara, 85-74

Wednesday, December 19

Omaha, Neb.

7 p.m.

Omaha

5-7

UC Santa Barbara

8-3

Team	1	2	F
UC Santa Barbara	35	39	74
Omaha	48	37	85

Omaha men's basketball bench celebration

Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann

Mavericks Upend UC Santa Barbara, 85-74

Dec 19, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

OMAHA, Neb. -- A 55-percent shooting performance carried the Omaha men's basketball team Wednesday night, as the Mavericks earned an 85-74 win over UC Santa Barbara at Baxter Arena. With their second straight win, the Mavericks improve to 5-7 on the season, while the Gauchos drop to 8-3.

Leaders for Omaha
Zach Jackson finished with a team-leading 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Matt Pile registered his third double-double in four games on 13 points and a career-high-tying 11 rebounds with a career-best five assists, two blocks and a steal.

Mitch Hahn hit 5-of-7 from the field for 11 points with two rebounds and four assists, and KJ Robinson matched him with another 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting with three 3-pointers.

Leaders for UC Santa Barbara
Armond Davis scored a game-high 26 points with five 3-pointers and a 7-of-8 showing at the stripe. Devearl Ramsey joined him in double figures with 10 points.

Team Stats
Omaha outshot UCSB .550 (33-of-60) to .410 (25-of-61) and drained 10 triples. The Gauchos had the edge on the boards, 36-26.

The Mavericks also committed a season-low-tying seven turnovers, marking their fourth straight game limiting their turnovers to single digits. Omaha scored 17 points off eight Gaucho turnovers for the night.

Inside the First Half
A season-best shooting effort in the first half saw Omaha hit at a .607 clip as a team. Jackson's 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting powered the effort, and Matt Pile added nine points, eight rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal in the first 20 minutes.

An early 7-0 run put Omaha ahead by the first media timeout, with Pile credited for four points and seven boards in the first five minutes of play. A 5-0 run gave Omaha a 12-point advantage with 7:47 left, after which UCSB responded with a 6-0 spurt out of the timeout. The Mavericks closed the half with a pair of key threes in the last 10 seconds -- one from Gibson and another at the buzzer from Ayo Akinwole -- to lead 48-35 at the break.

Inside the Second Half
Pile opened the second half with a dunk, followed by buckets from Jackson and Zach Thornhill to extend Omaha's run to 12-0.

UCSB pulled within 12 with 13 minutes to play, but Omaha held its double-digit lead the rest of the way. The Mavericks took their largest lead with 8:48 remaining, when a short 5-0 run on a Gibson tip-in and a three-point play from Hahn made it 72-52.

Noting Tonight's Game
-Tonight marked Omaha's third shooting performance of 50 percent or better.
-Zach Jackson's 22 points were his sixth effort with 20+ points this season.
-JT Gibson is the only Maverick to hit a 3-pointer in all 12 games.
-The all-time series between Omaha and UC Santa Barbara is now tied at 2-2.

Up Next
Omaha caps non-conference play with a trip to Rice this Friday, Dec. 21, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. in Houston, Texas. Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1620 The Zone, and links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.