Gauchos Spank Vandals, 69-54 Tutt Tosses In 24 Points To Lead Santa Barbara To Easy Victory

Raymond Tutt scored 24 points to lead the University of California Santa Barbara to a 69-54 Big West Conference men’s basketball triumph over the visiting Idaho Vandals Thursday night.

B.J. Bunton added nine points for the Gauchos (8-11, 3-6 Big West), while Jason Jackman tossed in 16 points for Idaho (10-12, 3-6).

Santa Barbara led 34-24 at halftime, but the Vandals managed to stay close and cut the Gauchos’ advantage to 42-37 on a pair of free throws by Kris Baumann.

Unfortunately for Idaho, those free throws were two of only four points Baumann scored in missing all 10 field goals he tried - including seven from 3-point range.

And UCSB answered them in a big way when Tutt rattled off seven consecutive points to push the Gauchos’ lead back to 49-37 with 10:47 remaining.

Idaho never got closer than 49-39 the rest of the way.

“They were better in every phase of the game tonight,” Idaho coach Kermit Davis said of the Gauchos. “We haven’t been beat that soundly in a long time.”

Idaho made just 19 of 56 field goal tries and only 1 of 12 3-point attempts.

The Vandals were also outrebounded for the first time in seven games.

UC Santa Barbara 69, Idaho 54

Idaho (10-12, 3-6) - Thompson 2-6 3-4 7, Byrne 2-3 1-2 5, Jackman 7-13 2-5 16, Baumann 0-10 4-8 4, Turner 6-14 3-4 15, Scott 0-0 1-2 1, Harris 1-7 0-0 2, Elliott 1-2 1-2 4, Wendt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-56 15-27 54.

UC Santa Barbara (8-11, 3-6) - Tutt 8-17 7-7 24, Wallace 2-5 0-0 4, Bunton 3-8 3-4 9, Bean 1-3 0-0 2, Allen 2-5 2-2 6, Merrill 0-2 0-0 0, Williams 3-5 5-6 13, Chavez 0-1 0-0 0, Stock 2-3 0-0 6, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Dalton-Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Pinkney 2-6 1-2 5. Totals 23-56 18-21 69.

Halftime-UC Santa Barbara 34, Idaho 23. 3-Point goals-Idaho 1-12 (Elliott 1-2, Wendt 0-1, Harris 0-1, Thompson 0-1, Baumann 0-7), UC Santa Barbara 5-9 (Williams 2-2, Stock 2-2, Tutt 1-3, Allen 0-1, Johnson 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Idaho 36 (Thompson 9), UC Santa Barbara 44 (Wallace 11). Assists-Idaho 8 (Baumann, Turner 3 each), UC Santa Barbara 18 (Chavez 4). Total fouls-Idaho 19, UC Santa Barbara 19. Technical-Elliott.

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