UCSB runs past Northern Illinois for Vegas 16 victory
UCSB coach Bob Williams earned the 307th win of his coaching career with a 70-63 victory over Northern Illinois in the Vegas 16 quarterfinals at Mandalay Bay on Monday.
It was the first to come in a postseason tournament.
The Gauchos last postseason win came in 1990 when they defeated Houston 70-66 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Williams took over in 1998 and despite a successful run on the sidelines, he had never tasted victory in a game played after the conference tournament.
“I think to be honest, we probably have a 25-year monkey off our back now. That’s probably something bigger than a monkey when it comes to this time of the year,” he said. “The guys might have wanted it a little too bad and they may have been carrying that around a little on the floor. I thought we played incredibly tight in the first half.”
UCSB (19-13) fell behind 43-28 with 2:44 left in the first half before scoring the final four points before the break. The Gauchos surged in the second half, largely due to clamping down on the defensive end.
The Huskies started the second half 4 of 18 from the field and went 7-for-27 overall. UCSB finally grabbed the lead 57-56 on a Max Kupchak putback with 5:55 to play.
Sam Beeler scored the next three baskets as the Gauchos started to pull away. Beeler hit 8 of 9 shots from the field, mostly at the rim, to finish with 16 points.
“We’re primarily pick-and-roll and it’s all about my teammates’ vision,” he said. “They got me some looks and it’s my job to finish for them.”
Williams laughed about the last of his three straight baskets when Beeler stepped out and hit a 15-foot baseline jumper as the shot-clock wound down.
“It’s nice to see Sam come up big. He had a fun game and made some buckets,” the coach said. “When he makes a 15-footer, I think he called it ‘wet’, trust me that’s the longest shot he’s made all year.”
Gabe Vincent had 20 points to lead the Gauchos. Marshawn Wilson scored 14 in 21 minutes to pace Northern Illinois (21-13).
After the win, Williams reflected on all the times he found himself on the other side of the ledger in the postseason.
“It’s a relief. We’ve talked openly about how frustrated we’ve been in the postseason,” he said. “We had a free throw to cut it to one against Arizona with about a minute to go in the NCAA Tournament and lost that. We had San Diego State beat in the NIT at their place and lost at the buzzer when we missed free throws and they hit a 3 at the buzzer. Then we had some really tough draws in the NCAA. We had Florida and Ohio State when they were really good.
“Getting the kids excited to play in the CIT and CBI has been an issue. We haven’t played our best. I don’t think we played our best tonight, but we came back in the second half to win and I think tomorrow you’ll see a team that comes out and plays better.”
UCSB will play Old Dominion in Tuesday’s first semifinal at 6 p.m.
“It’s great for the program,” he said of finally advancing. “It’s a lot better than the losses, I’ll tell you that. It’s a lot more fun when you get a win to see if now you can build some momentum.”
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj
