SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — James Nunnally and Orlando Johnson scored 22 points each and UC Santa Barbara defeated UC Irvine 71-58 on Thursday night.
Nunnally made 8 of 14 shots for the Gauchos (9-6, 2-2 Big West) and Johnson was 8 of 17 and also pulled down seven rebounds.
Eric Wise led the Anteaters (7-10, 1-3 Big West) with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Daman Starring and Mike Wilder had 11 points each.
UC Santa Barbara, which led at 45-36 at halftime, saw its lead shrink to 51-47 on Darren Moore’s jumper with 6:08 remaining. The Gauchos closed the door with a 7-0 run — a 3-pointer by Jordan Weiner (12 points) and two layups from Johnson — to make it 58-47 with 2:43 remaining.
