Rainbow Warriors lose at UCSB in OT

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. >> Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara played another basketball thriller in the Big West on Thursday night.

Trailing by as many as nine in the second half, the Rainbow Warriors fought back in the last six minutes, and Brocke Stepteau buried a 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.

UH scored the first basket of the extra period, but UCSB got an NBA-distance 3-pointer from Max Heidegger and another trey from Leland King II and held off the Warriors 84-82 to remain undefeated at the Thunderdome. Stepteau had another tying look blocked by Marcus Jackson at the OT buzzer.

The victory kept the Gauchos (17-5) — arguably the most improved team in the country — tied for first place in the Big West at 6-2 with UC Davis. UH fell to 4-3 (13-7 overall) and had its streak of wins following losses stopped at five games. The Warriors were coming off a home defeat against Cal State Fullerton.

Sheriff Drammeh did all that he could to contain Heidegger, the leading scorer in the Big West. But the UCSB shooting guard withstood Drammeh’s in-your-face pressure and scored 25 points on 7-for-17 shooting, three of 10 from behind the arc.

“You know, 7-for-17 is a pretty good job against him,” said UH coach Eran Ganot, who suffered his first career overtime defeat. “I wish we could have done a better job keeping him off the line, but he’s also got a lot of good players around him, which makes it really tough to provide support and that’s why they’re a good team.”

UH was hurt in the paint against the bulkier Gauchos. Jalen Canty, at 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds, powered his way for 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting. King, 6-7, 215, made nine of 14 shots en route to 21 points as well.

“That’s one of the things where you want to provide support,” Ganot said of defending the big men. “They got the weapons on the perimeter and guys who can shoot it. I think we got to do our work early better next time, make them work for it. They got a lot of layups.

“At the end of the day, I thought that was the biggest difference, in the paint.”

The Gauchos shot 50 percent from the floor (31-for-62) and outrebounded UH 37-28. Canty led the team with 10 boards for a double-double.

UH shot 49 percent, making 30 of 61 from the floor. The Warriors were 8-for-23 on 3-pointers.

Mike Thomas played a solid game for UH, recording a double-double of 25 points (on 7-for-12 shooting, 10-for-12 from the free-throw line) and 10 rebounds.

Stepteau, who returned from a two-game injury absence, played a terrific second half. He finished with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting and handed out six assists.

“He’s been really good this year, to be honest,” Ganot said. “It’s fun to watch his development as it is with anybody’s development — look at the guys on Santa Barbara over the year. Brocke is probably one of the more efficient players in the country. People still don’t realize what he’s doing, but he’s giving us 10 a game and I think he’s close to 60 percent from the field on the year, close to 50 from three and close to 80 from the line. How many guards are doing that?”

Stepteau hit a floater and Purchase buried a 3 after a UCSB turnover to give UH a 63-61 lead with 3:07 left in the second half.

The Warriors last led 67-66 when Heidegger, with Drammeh practically in his jersey, nailed a 2-pointer to put the Gauchos up.

Stepteau’s 3-point attempt was blocked by UCSB’s Jackson, and Canty scored on a mini hook shot with one second left on the shot clock for a 70-67 lead with 14.7 seconds to go.

The Warriors somehow found Stepteau in the right corner and he nailed his 3 to tie the score at 70.

Said Ganot of the game-tying shot: “That play gave us options for our two best shooters and we made the right read and you just got to knock it down. Fortunately he did to send it to overtime and give us a chance.”

Heidegger misfired at the buzzer.

He wouldn’t miss in overtime, knocking down a long-distance trey for a 73-72 lead. King hit another for a 76-72 advantage.

It was 82-78 when Drammeh drove in for a basket and was fouled. But the officials ruled the foul came on the dribble and a possible three-point play was waved off. Drammeh made one of two free throws.

Canty made a free throw at the other end for an 83-79 UCSB lead with 17.4 seconds to go in the overtime. Purchase drilled a long-distance 3, cutting the margin to one with 10.4 seconds left.

The Warriors fouled King and he made one free throw to make it 84-82 with nine seconds left.

UH got the ball to the 5-9 Stepteau along the right baseline, but this time his shot was blocked by the 6-4 Jackson as the buzzer sounded.

“That was a great game from a fan’s standpoint,” said UCSB coach Joe Pasternack. “It had a little of everything. I was really proud of the way our guys defended in the overtime, putting us in a position to win.”

While it was a tough way to start out on the road — UH continues at Cal Poly on Saturday — Ganot liked how his team battled back in the second half.

“I’m happy with our resolve and giving us a chance,” he said. “This is a good team here, this is a good team period, especially here. We had to endure some tough stretches, but we came back every time and gave ourselves a chance. That’s all you can ask for. That’s why I’m really proud of our guys’ development and improvement.

“It’s a balance there, because you’re proud of the effort but not satisfied with the result.”