UC Santa Barbara defeats Cal State Bakersfield 71-66 in Big West Conference Tournament first round

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Stephan Swenson scored all 15 of his points in the second half to lead No. 5 seed UC Santa Barbara to a 71-66 victory over eighth-seeded Cal State Bakersfield on Wednesday night in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament.

UCSB (20-12) will move on to face Cal State Northridge on Thursday.

Swenson added six rebounds and four steals Kenny Pohto scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Gauchos. Colin Smith shot 5 for 7, including 3 for 5 from beyond the arc to finish with 13 points.

The Roadrunners (14-18, 0-1) were led by Jemel Jones, who recorded 15 points and four assists. Corey Stephenson added 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks for CSU Bakersfield. CJ Hardy also scored 12 points.

UCSB went into the half leading 32-25. Smith scored seven first-half points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.