A banked Ajay Mitchell floater with 1.9 seconds left gave UC Santa Barbara a 65-64 upset of the University of Hawaii men’s basketball team at the Stan Sheriff Center’s SimpliFi Arena on Thursday night.
Hawaii falls to 15–6 overall and 6–3 in Big West play, while UCSB improves to 17–3 overall and 8–1 in conference play.
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Hawaii went cold in the first half, shooting just 7-for-29 from the field, including 2-for-13 from 3, but managed to trail by just nine at the break.
The Rainbow Warriors started the second half on an 8–0 run, led by two Kamaka Hepa 3-pointers, and an 11–2 run for UH gave the Boes a 64–63 lead with 2:35 left. However, UCSB, despite their chances as preseason Big West favorites and current leader of the ‘Boz, didn’t score the rest, leaving town with a win.
Mitchell had a game-high 24 points for UCSB and also had five rebounds and a team-high three assists.
For Hawaii, Samuta Avia had a team-high 13 points, while Bernardo da Silva had 12 points on 4-for-12 shooting and was one rebound shy of a double-double.
UH kicks off its homestand with a Saturday night game against Cal State Bakersfield at 7 p.m.
