SANTA BARBARA (Interstat) — CJ Shaw scored 20 points and UC Santa Barbara used a decisive first-half run to defeat Nevada 76-63 on Wednesday at the Thunderdome. The Gauchos improved to 3-0, while the Wolf Pack fell to 2-1. Attendance was 2,297. Nevada entered after an overtime win over Saint Mary’s, while UC Santa Barbara had beaten Oakland and San Francisco State. UC Santa Barbara led 40-24 at halftime after closing the first half with a 32-16 surge over the final 14 minutes. Nevada trimmed the deficit to six points midway through the second half, but the Gauchos answered each rally and pulled away late.

The first half began evenly. Styles Phipps made a driving layup for Nevada, Eric Dibami answered with a layup for UC Santa Barbara, and Elijah Price hit a jump shot. Miro Little made two free throws, Phipps made two free throws, and CJ Shaw hit a 3-pointer to give the Gauchos an early 7-6 lead. Vaughn Weems tied the game at 8 with a stepback jumper with 14:53 remaining before halftime. From there, UC Santa Barbara took control. CJ Shaw made a layup, Antonio Chol hit a 3-pointer, Viljami Vartiainen connected on a 3-point jump shot, and Vartiainen made three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. Eric Dibami added a turnaround jumper to cap a 13-1 run that put the Gauchos ahead 21-9 with 9:58 left in the first half. Nevada’s Styles Phipps made a free throw to stop the run, but UC Santa Barbara kept scoring. Marvin McGhee made two layups, Myles Walker hit a 3-pointer for Nevada, and Antonio Chol answered with a 3-pointer for the Gauchos. CJ Shaw made a driving layup, Peyton White made a layup for Nevada, and Aidan Mahaney hit a 3-pointer. Koat Keat Tong made a layup, Vaughn Weems made a driving layup for Nevada, and Marvin McGhee hit a 3-pointer. Elijah Price made a jump shot for Nevada, Marvin McGhee made two free throws, and Keyon Kensie made a floating jump shot at the end of the half. Nevada made only one 3-pointer in the first half, a Myles Walker 3-pointer with 5:57 remaining. UC Santa Barbara led 40-24 at the break.

Nevada opened the second half with energy. CJ Shaw made a layup for UC Santa Barbara, but Vaughn Weems made a layup, Simon Majok made a layup, and Peter Bandelj hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 42-31. Aidan Mahaney answered with a stepback 3-point jump shot, and Peyton White made a layup for Nevada. RJ Smith made a floating jump shot and a layup, and Aidan Mahaney made a layup to push the Gauchos’ lead to 51-33. Elijah Price made two free throws for Nevada, Keyon Kensie made a dunk, and CJ Shaw made two free throws. Cedric Lath made a layup and a free throw, Michael Simcoe made a free throw for UC Santa Barbara, and Styles Phipps made a pullup jump shot. Aidan Mahaney made a floating jump shot, Styles Phipps made two free throws and a layup, and Miro Little made a layup. Vaughn Weems made an alley-oop for Nevada, Styles Phipps made a driving layup, and Phipps made a free throw to bring Nevada within 58-52 with 5:07 remaining. Aidan Mahaney made two free throws, Styles Phipps made a layup, and CJ Shaw made a layup. Peyton White made a free throw, CJ Shaw made another layup, and CJ Shaw made four free throws to extend the lead. Peyton White made a layup, Miro Little made two free throws, Vaughn Weems made a layup, and Miro Little made six more free throws. Styles Phipps made a driving layup for Nevada, and Kade Snyder made a layup at the end. UC Santa Barbara never trailed in the second half and answered each Nevada run with free throws and layups. The Gauchos held on for the 76-63 win.

Nevada shot 23 of 58 from the floor, 2 of 18 from 3-point range, and 15 of 19 from the free throw line. UC Santa Barbara shot 22 of 51 from the floor, 7 of 26 from 3-point range, and 25 of 30 from the free throw line. Both teams had 10 offensive rebounds. Both teams had five assists. UC Santa Barbara had four blocks. Nevada committed 12 turnovers, and UC Santa Barbara committed 11. Nevada committed 22 fouls, while UC Santa Barbara committed 18. Nevada had 34 points in the paint, and UC Santa Barbara had 28. Nevada had 13 points off turnovers, and UC Santa Barbara had 12. Nevada had 16 fastbreak points, and UC Santa Barbara had six. Nevada scored 63 points from 69 possessions, an offensive rating of 91.3. UC Santa Barbara scored 76 points from 66 possessions, an offensive rating of 114.7. UC Santa Barbara made 25 free throws, while Nevada made 15.

Styles Phipps led Nevada with 20 points, six rebounds, and three assists in 28 minutes. CJ Shaw paced UC Santa Barbara with 20 points, three rebounds, one assist, and one block in 25 minutes. Aidan Mahaney added 12 points, four rebounds, and four assists in 32 minutes. Miro Little had 12 points, one rebound, and three assists in 26 minutes. Peyton White contributed nine points, six rebounds, and one assist in 20 minutes. Eric Dibami had four points, eight rebounds, and two blocks in 17 minutes. Elijah Price finished with seven points, six rebounds, and four assists in 33 minutes. Marvin McGhee scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds in 26 minutes. RJ Smith had four points, five rebounds, and four assists in 23 minutes. Viljami Vartiainen added six points and two rebounds in 15 minutes.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of UC Santa Barbara 78, Nevada 77. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Nevada with a 77.4 percent probability to win. The total of 139 finished under the 145.5 over/under line.