One city, two college basketball teams on winning sprees — something will have to give tonight (Thursday, January 2) when Westmont travels across town to play UCSB at the Thunderdome. Westmont’s Warriors went into the Christmas break with a 12-0 record, while the Gauchos (10-4) had won eight of their last nine games.
The Gauchos historically have played the role of Goliath in the series, boasting a 43-5 record against the Warriors, according to the UCSB record book. Westmont sprung an upset in 1998 when Corey Blick, fouled on a desperation three-point attempt with a second remaining, sank all three free throws to sink the Gauchos, 54-53. Their last meeting in 2011 produced a more typical result, UCSB winning, 82-61.
The Gauchos’ stature as an NCAA Division I team would seemingly make them a 20-point favorite over the NAIA Warriors. Coach Joe Pasternack would not want them to read that. After the Gauchos looked at the scoreboard showing they had a 22-point lead over Rice in the second half of their November game, Rice came back and won, 82-81.