The University of California Santa Barbara Gauchos feasted on Cougars for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night, routing Washington State 71-43 in the opening round of the Great Alaska Shootout at the Alaska Airlines Center.
UCSB star forward Alan Williams scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, sitting out much of the second half as his team cruised to victory. Zalmico Harmon led UCSB with 17 points and John Green added 11.
Brett Boese scored 13 points to lead WSU, but most of his points came long, long after the game had been decided.
Williams made his presence known from the get-go, gobbling up rebounds like they were Thanksgiving dinner rolls as he helped the Gauchos build a 13-3 lead out of the gate. Williams scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds in the first half as his team built a 34-12 halftime lead.
"Our focus was to do a better job rebounding and do a better job taking care of the basketball, those were the two real key things," said coach Bob Williams whose team had a 46-32 rebounding advantage.
Alan Williams was the Big West Player of the Year last season, averaging 21.3 points per game and leading Division I in rebounding with 11.5 boards per contest. The 6-8, 265-pound senior forward led the Gauchos (2-2) to 21 wins and a second-place finish in the conference.
But it wasn't just the UCSB star who did damage during the Gauchos' devastating first half. Harmon had 12 of his 17 points in the first 20 minutes for UCSB, Green scored six and Michael Bryson added five as UCSB went to the locker room with a huge lead.
Washington State (1-3) starved from the field early, missing 15 of their first 16 shots to start the game. Cougars coach Ernie Kent was forced to call timeout with 13 minutes left in the first half after UCSB's Eric Childress tossed an alley-oop to Bryson. The stoppage did little to stem the tide, with Bryson knocking down a 3-pointer on UCSB's next possession as the early carnage continued.
Kent called his second timeout of the half after Green capped a 7-0 run with back-to-back jumpers that put UCSB up 20-7 with eight minutes to go in the first, but the stoppage had no effect on the bleeding as his Cougars finished an atrocious 3 of 33 from the field (9.1 percent) in the half.
"We just couldn't hit a basket," Kent said.
This was the third meeting between the two teams, who had split their prior match-ups.
The Gauchos were last in Alaska for the 2002 Top of the World Classic, where they went 1-2. The Huskies won the Shootout in their last visit to Alaska, riding tournament MVP Klay Thompson – now an NBA star with the Golden State Warriors – to the 2009 tourney title.
The game started 40 minutes late due to overtime in the day's other quarterfinal, a 77-71 Mercer victory over Rice.
Washington State freshman guard Ny Redding sat out the first half for an unspecified violation of team rules. He started the second half, but his presence failed to make much difference. UCSB pushed its lead to 31 points in the second half as the toothless Cougars cat napped their way through the blowout. Washington State shot 22.8 percent from the field and hit just four of 21 3-pointers.
"This game will gobble you up if you don't play it the right way," Kent said.
With the game essentially decided midway through the second half, Williams grabbed a seat on the bench and stayed there as coach Williams elected to save his star for the semifinal.
"I thought the kids kept their composure, they didn't get scrambly, they didn't get rattled in the second half," coach Williams said.
UCSB will play Mercer at 8 p.m. on Friday in the semifinals, while the Cougars will face Rice at 2 p.m. on Friday in the consolation round at the Alaska Airlines Center. The UCSB-Mercer winner will face the winner of Friday's 5:30 p.m. Pacific vs. Colorado State game in the tournament championship, which is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Contact reporter Matt Tunseth at 257-4335 or mtunseth@alaskadispatch.com
UCSB 71, WASHINGTON ST. 43
WASHINGTON STATE (43) – Longrus 3-3 3-4 9, Wahkinson 1-6 1-2 3, Iroegbu 0-7 0-0 0, Kernich-Drew 0-7 0-0 0, Lacey 1-8 0-0 3, Davis 0-2 4-4 4, Railey 1-5 2-3 4, Dunbar 2-4 0-0 4, Cheatum 0-2 1-3 1, Johnson 0-1 2-2 2, Boese 5-10 0-0 13. Totals 13-57 13-18 43.
UCSB (71) – Brewe 2-4 0-0 5, Williams 4-13 4-4 12, Harom 7-11 0-0 17, Smith 2-4 0-1 4, Bryson 3-8 0-0 7, Childress 0-4 0-0 0, Taylor 2-3 0-0 6, Hart 1-1 2-2 4, Lakoju 1-3 0-0 2, Burks 1-1 0-0 3, Green 5-7 1-3 11. Totals 28-59 7-10.
Washington St. 12 31 -- 43
UCSB 34 37 -- 71
3-point goals – WSU 4-21 (Iroegbu 0-2, Kernich-Drew 0-4, Lacey 1-6, Davis 0-1, Redding 0-1, Dunbar 0-1, Boese 3-6; UCSB 8-17 (Brewe 1-1, Harmon 3-4, Smith 0-2, Bryson 1-3, Childress 0-2, Taylor 2-3, Burks 1-1. Rebounds – WSU 32 (Hawkinson 13); UCSB 46 (Williams 12). Total fouls – WSU 15, UCSB 16. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls -- none. Assists – WSU 10 (Redding 6); UCSB 22 (Childress 6). Turnovers – WSU 9 (Lacey 4); UCSB 10 (Childress 3). Blocks – WSU 3 (Railey 2); UCSB 4 (four with 1). Steals – WSU 4 (Redding 2); UCSB 5 (five with 1). Attendance – 2,588. Officials – Spitznagel, Zakarian, Corson.
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