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Ajay Mitchell deposited a bank shot with 1.9 seconds left in UC Santa Barbara’s 65-64 basketball victory over Hawaii in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
“It was a great feeling,” said Mitchell, a 6-foot-4 point guard who finished with a game-high 24 points. “I work on those shots every day. Especially at the end of the game, I’m ready to shoot it or pass the ball to the open man. It was a great feeling, for sure.”
The outcome kept the visiting Gauchos atop the Big West. In winning for the 13th time in 14 games, the Gauchos improved to 17-3 overal and 8-1 in the Big West. The ’Bows fell to 15-6 and 6-3.
The ’Bows rallied from a miserable first half — and 13-point deficit — to take a 64-63 lead when center Bernardo da Silva piroutted past Koat Keat Tong for a layup with 2:44 to play.
The ’Bows missed two chances to extend the advantage when point guard JoVon McClanahan’s 3 would not fall with 1:17 to play and combo guard Noel Coleman’s layup attempt rimmed out. UCSB center Andre Kelly rebounded Coleman’s miss with 26 seconds to play.
The Gauchos worked for a play, but a ball heading out of bounds was touched by a UH player with 5.9 seconds to play.
On the reset, Mitchell, who is left-handed, got the ball and drove to right of the lane. With McClanahan on his hip, Mitchell pushed a left-handed floater that banked in for a 65-64 lead with 19 seconds to play.
“I did not call ‘bank,’” Mitchell admitted. “I called ‘game.’”
It appeared the ’Bows had the correct scheme in forcing Mitchell to his right.
“He’s a heck of a player,” Ganot said. “He’s been clutch all year. We forced him into a tough shot, contested, and he made it.”
Coleman’s desperation heave was off the mark as the final horn sounded on the ’Bows’ first league loss at home this season.
“It sucks,” said UH forward Samuta Avea, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half. “It doesn’t come down to one play. It’s a lot of stuff we’ve got to clean up throughout the game. But to fight like that, and then force a guy who’s a lefty to his right hand, and he hits a tough floater going right, I mean, yeah, it hurts, for sure. But a credit to him. It’s a big shot.”
Kelly said: “He made a great play. I had a lot of confidence he was going to make it the whole time. I like having the ball in his hands late in the game. He does it for us all the time. … If I said I was surprised, I’d be lying. He makes plays all the time. It was a great play and I’m happy it went in.”
Mitchell had set the tone early with drives into the lane. He scored 14 points in the first half, and sparked two surges that boosted the Gauchos to double-digit leads. A 14-0 run widened the advantage to 16-6, and then an 8-0 surge made it 31-18 with 4:51 left in the first half.
“They were just getting downhill,” da Silva said.
The Gauchos scored 24 paint points in building a 36-27 lead at the intermission.
“We came back twice,” Ganot said. “Down early, came back in the second half. Then they made a run, and we came back again, and took the lead. I’m proud of our guys. That first half was the worst of the year in all phases. You can’t have that over time against good teams. Second half we defended. Second half our offense was better. We took care of the ball today (five turnovers). Give (the Gauchos) credit. They made a couple more plays than we did.”
UH associate head coach John Montgomery said McClanahan’s late 3 attempt and Coleman’s missed layup were better looks than Mitchell’s final shot.
“His went down and ours didn’t, and that’s the difference in the game,” Montgomery said. “Margins are thin, and their guy made one more play than us.”
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