After a strong start to their 2011-2012 season, the Santa Clara Broncos were torn apart defensively by the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos as they fell 89-56. The entire game was a struggle for Santa Clara and they found themselves trailing by 18 points at halftime. With UC Santa Barbara scoring 47 points in the second half, they closed out the contest nice and early on Tuesday night.
Santa Clara simply couldn't make a basket against the Gauchos. The team shot 4-for-22 behind the arc and shot just 63.2% (12-for-19) from the charity stripe. In contrast, Santa Barbara made 25 free throws and hit six of their 20 attempts from 3.
Niyi Harrison led the Broncos with 15 points and hauled in five rebounds. The only other player to score in double-figures, Kevin Foster, shot just 3-for-13 from the field (including 1-for-8 behind the arc) on his way to 12 points.
For UCSB, James Nunnally scored 24 points and Orlando Johnson added 21 of his own. Six players scored 7 or more points and they played stellar defense throughout the game.
Santa Clara will have a few days to recover from the loss before taking on San Jose State on Saturday.