Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
UC Santa Barbara
Wildcats Grind Out a 70-63 Home Court Win Over UC Santa Barbara
12/17/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
OGDEN, Utah -- Nobody watching Weber State's Wednesday night match up at home versus the Gauchos would mistake it for the Christmas Nutcracker ballet. Thirty-six combined turnovers and 47 combined personal fouls made sure that would not be the case.
In the end, though, the Wildcats danced for joy with a hard fought 70-63 win over UC Santa Barbara. It was WSU's third straight win and pushed their record to 5-4, while the loss evened UCSB's record at 5-5.
"It wasn't pretty, I knew it wouldn't be," said WSU head coach Randy Rahe. "They are well coached, they have great athletes and their defensive pressure gave us fits all night. But I thought we matched their intensity, especially down the stretch, and we made some good plays on both ends. This was a good win. If they don't win the Big West, they will be right there."
Four was again the magic number for the Wildcats who are now 5-0 this season when they have four or more players in double figure scoring. The night, however, belonged to junior center STEVE PANOS (6-8, 240 / Salt Lake City, Utah) who pour in a career high 21 points and became the first Wildcat this season to break the 20-point plateau.
"I kind of started out slow, but the coaching staff wanted me to be aggressive on the offensive end and try to get their big men in trouble," said Panos. "When the shots started falling, I got into a comfortable rhythm and it just kept going."
Panos missed his first three shot attempts - all in the first five minutes of the first half - then settle in and hit eight straight the rest of the game and was 5-7 from the field.
The Wildcats got another big lift off the bench from senior forward DAVIIN DAVIS (6-4, 190 / Midland, Texas) who scored 13 points and handed out a game high five assists in 31 minutes. Davis came off the bench for the fourth straight game after being a starter in the first five. He has scored in double figures all four games.
"Daviin has really played well off the bench and been the key to our success in the last three games," said Rahe. "Not many veteran seniors would be happy in this situation but he's embraced the role and is playing the best basketball of his career right now."
The first half looked like it was played in a foot deep mud puddle with neither team able to pull away. Weber State finally got a break with 4:12 left in the game and leading 26-23. DAVIS made one of two free throws, then after a missed shot by UCSB, he came down and threw down a monster dunk driving on the baseline to ignite an 11-3 scoring run to end the half giving the ?Cats a 37-29 lead.
The Gauchos came out in the second half with some fire in their eyes, pulling to within one at 44-43 with 13:07 remaining on a short jumper by 7-2 center GREG SOMOGYI. After Nick Hansen missed a three-pointer, UCSB had a chance to take the lead with 11:28 remaining following a media timeout, but Gauchos had a bizarre sequence in which guard JAMES POWELL missed four straight three-point attempts in 18 seconds. UCSB got three offensive rebounds, but on the fourth, it went out of bounds, possession to Weber State.
The Wildcats then got a big three-pointer from KELLEN McCOY (5-6, 180 Sr. Guard / Norman, Oklahoma) at the 10:58 mark to go up four at 47-43. UCSB got two within two at 47-45 but PANOS then had an old fashion three-point play and scored seven of WSU's next nine points to take a 56-50 lead with 6:40 remaining.
UCSB crawled back to within four a 58-54 on two free throws by JAMES POWELL after a technical foul was called on the WSU bench. But back to back hoops by DAVIIN DAVIS and STEVE PANOS put the ?Cats back up by eight.
Still, the Gauchos refused to fold even after NICK HANSEN (6-4, 200 Jr. Forward/ Pocatello, Idaho) hit a three send the ?Cats to a 65-56 lead with 2:41 left.
With 45 seconds left, UCSB's CHRIS DEVINE scored a bucket and was fouled by PANOS who left the game with his fifth personal. DEVINE made the free throw and suddenly the Gauchos were back to within four at 67-63. KELLEN McCOY was fouled and made one of two making it a five point game.
UCSB's JESSE BYRD had a chance to cut the lead to three, but missed two free throws. McCOY came up with a big rebound on the second miss and was fouled. He calmly sank both shots with 24 seconds left. PAUL ROEMER's three pointer missed and went out of bounds. The Wildcats got the ball and the Gauchos elected not to foul and the game ended.
The Gauchos were led by CHRIS DEVINE who scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. JESSE BYRD was the only other player in double figure scoring for UCSB with 12 and made it a "double/double" with a game high 14 rebounds.
The Wildcats have two off before beginning a three-games-in-four-days road adventure beginning this Saturday, December 20 at in-state Utah in a 4:05 p.m. (MST) tip off on The mtn. tv network. The Wildcat then fly to Biloxi, Mississippi for two games in the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic. On Monday, December 22 they play Texas-Pan American and on Tuesday, December 23 face Southern Mississippi before breaking for Christmas.
