SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- The Omaha men's basketball team completed its West Coast swing Tuesday night, falling 77-70 to UC Santa Barbara at The Thunderdome.
Leaders for Omaha
Junior
Zach Jackson led the Mavericks in scoring for the fourth straight game, posting 17 points, seven rebounds, an assist and a block. Junior
Mitch Hahn collected his second consecutive double-double effort and his third of the season with 13 points and 13 boards.
Sophomore
JT Gibson added 14 points, three rebounds and five assists off the bench, while sophomore
KJ Robinson pitched in 12 points with six assists and two steals.
Leaders for UC Santa Barbara
UCSB had two 20-point scorers: Max Heidegger with 25 and Leland King II with 22 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double. Jalen Canty added another double-double with 14 points and 11 caroms, and Gabe Vincent rounded it out with 10 points. Marcus Jackson finished with a game-high 11 assists.
Team Stats
The Gauchos shot .475 (29-of-61) to Omaha's .439 (29-of-66) and outrebounded the Mavericks, 41-35.
Inside the First Half
Over the first half, Omaha was led by 10 points from Robinson, nine rebounds with four points from Hahn and eight points with five boards from Jackson. The Mavericks overcame a 12-point Gaucho lead -- 20-8 with 11:30 left -- rallying with an 18-2 run to go up 26-22 with 3:51 to go. By the break, Omaha led 30-29.
Inside the Second Half
A Hahn dunk with 11:39 remaining tied the game for the fifth time at 45-all, but UCSB went on a 22-7 scoring spurt for a 67-52 advantage with 5:23 left. Omaha managed to cut it to 73-66 on a Gibson three with under a minute to play, but Heidegger hit four of his final six free throws in the final 27 seconds.
The Mavericks are now 1-9 on the season, while the Gauchos improve to 7-2 with their sixth straight win.
Up Next
Omaha makes a return trip to Drake on Saturday, Dec. 9, with tipoff set for 5 p.m. in Des Moines, Iowa. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3, and Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1620 The Zone. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
