Seattle University lost to UC Santa Barbara, 88-50, Wednesday night in a non-conference men’s collegiate basketball game at KeyArena at Seattle Center.
Jack Crook (Manchester, England) led the Redhawks with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 shooting from the free throw line, while Emmanuel Chibuogwu (Seattle, Wash.) scored a season-high 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 shooting from the free throw line.
UC Santa Barbara (5-7) took the lead on its first possession when Eric Childress hit a three-pointer, and the Gauchos never relinquished their advantage. The Gauchos held a 39-28 lead into the locker room at halftime, and then went on a 20-1 scoring run to start the second half, taking firm control of the contest.
Michael Bryson tied a UC Santa Barbara single-game record with nine made three-pointers as he notched a double-double with 36 points and 13 rebounds. For the game, the Gauchos shot 53.1 percent (34-of-64) from the field, including 14-of-30 from behind the three-point line, and 75 percent (6-of-8) from the free throw line.
“They (UC Santa Barbara) are a very good basketball team. We tried to take some stuff away and give some stuff up, and we thought Bryson’s weakest part of a solid all-around game was the three-point shot, but tonight he was hot from there,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said. “Even with that, I thought there were some things we did do in the first half to stay within earshot, but in the second half we did not sustain those positive aspects.”
After defeating the Washington Huskies at Alaska Airlines Arena Monday night, the Gauchos completed the Pacific Northwest sweep by winning every category over the Redhawks, including rebounds (39-31) and assists (23-12). UC Santa Barbara scored 16 points off 15 Seattle U turnovers, while the Redhawks scored only three points off nine Gaucho turnovers.
Seattle University (6-8) heads into its Western Athletic Conference schedule, starting with a road trip to the Midwest to face Missouri-Kansas City Thursday, Jan. 7, and Chicago State Saturday, Jan. 9. Both games will be broadcast live on 770 AM KTTH, with Dave Grosby providing the play-by-play starting with the pregame show shortly before tipoff. The Redhawks return to KeyArena Saturday, Jan. 16, to face CSU Bakersfield in a special 7:30 p.m. tipoff, as the game against the Roadrunners will be televised live by the American Sports Network.