Orlando Johnson lived up to his status as the Big West Conference's leading scorer, getting 21 on Thursday night to lead UC Santa Barbara to a 69-61 victory over Cal State Northridge.
Johnson, who came in averaging 20.2 points per game, was 7 of 13 from the field, including 3 of 6 on 3-pointers. James Nunnally added 16 points for the Gauchos (9-6, 4-1 Big West), and Greg Somogyi pulled down 10 rebounds.
Stephan Hicks led the Matadors (5-11, 2-4) with 18 points off the bench, and Aqeel Quinn scored 12. Northridge shot just 33 percent from the field.
The Gauchos led by as many as 13 in the first half en route to a 31-22 halftime advantage. But Northridge scored the first 11 points of the second period to take a 33-31 lead. UCSB responded with a 26-7 run over the next 10 minutes to put the game away.
