2023–24 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team

The 2023–24 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team represents the University of California, Santa Barbara in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gauchos, led by sixth-year head coach Joe Pasternack, play their home games at The Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, California as members of the Big West Conference.

2023–24 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball
Conference	Big West Conference
Record	5-3 (0–0 Big West)
Head coach	Joe Pasternack (7th season)
Assistant coaches	Larry Lewis Derek Glasser Skye Ettin Brian Eskildsen
Home arena	The Thunderdome (Capacity: 5,000)
Seasons ← 2022–23 2024–25 →

2023–24 Big West men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Hawai'i	0	–	0		–			7	–	1		.875
Cal State Northridge	0	–	0		–			7	–	3		.700
Long Beach State	0	–	0		–			7	–	4		.636
UC Santa Barbara	0	–	0		–			5	–	3		.625
Cal State Fullerton	0	–	0		–			6	–	4		.600
UC Irvine	0	–	0		–			6	–	4		.600
UC San Diego*	0	–	0		–			5	–	5		.500
Cal State Bakersfield	0	–	0		–			4	–	5		.444
UC Riverside	0	–	0		–			4	–	6		.400
UC Davis	0	–	0		–			3	–	5		.375
Cal Poly	0	–	0		–			3	–	7		.300
* ineligible for the 2024 NCAA tournament due to transition period
† 2024 Big West tournament winner As of December 14, 2023

Previous season

The Gauchos finished the 2022–23 season 27–8, 15–5 in Big West play to finish in fourth place.^[1] They defeated Cal Poly,^[2] UC Riverside,^[3] and Cal State Fullerton to win the Big West tournament and earned the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.^[4] In the NCAA tournament, they received the #14 seed in the South Region.^[5] In the first round, they lost to #3 region seed Baylor.^[6]

Roster

2023–24 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F 00 Koat Keat Tong 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Crean Lutheran HS Bentiu, South Sudan G 1 Josh Pierre-Louis 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Temple Plainfield, NJ G 4 Cole Anderson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Clovis West HS Fresno, CA G 7 Matija Belic 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So KK Mladost Zemun Belgrade, Serbia G 8 Gage Gomez 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Arroyo Grande HS Arroyo Grande, CA G 10 Jason Fontenet II 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Bella Vista Prep Phoenix, AZ G 11 Ben Shtolzberg 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Creighton Northridge, CA F 12 Evans Kipruto 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Jr Barton Community College Nairobi, Kenya G 13 Ajay Mitchell 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Limburg United Ans, Belgium F 14 Kilian Brockhoff 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr Sports Club Rasta Vechta Cuxhaven, Germany G 18 Henry Hartwell 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS So El Camino HS Oceanside, CA F 21 Yohan Traore 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So Auburn Tours, France F 23 Ariel Bland 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Golden State Prep Eden Prairie, MN G 26 Elia Bongiorno 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr The King's Academy Arona, Italy F 31 Konner Baroni 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Jr Yuba College Auburn, CA C 34 Mezziah Oakman 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr City College SF New York, NY F 40 David Pickles 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Mercer Island HS Seattle, WA G 99 Max Sheldon 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr San Marcos HS Santa Barbara, CA	Head coach Joe Pasternack (Indiana) Assistant coach(es) Larry Lewis (Morehouse) Derek Glasser (Arizona State) Skye Ettin (TCNJ) Brian Eskildsen (Tennessee) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: September 27, 2023

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 9, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Portland State	L 76–82	0–1	21 – Anderson	13 – Bland	5 – Pierre-Louis	The Thunderdome (3,840) Santa Barbara, CA
November 13, 2023* 6:05 p.m., CBSSN		at UTEP	L 76–89	0–2	23 – Traore	6 – Tied	5 – Pierre-Louis	Don Haskins Center (7,121) El Paso, TX
November 19, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Le Moyne	W 96–72	1–2	20 – Anderson	11 – Bland	10 – Pierre-Louis	The Thunderdome (1,756) Santa Barbara, CA
November 22, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		Westmont	W 91–79	2–2	21 – Mitchell	9 – Bland	4 – Tied	The Thunderdome (1,204) Santa Barbara, CA
November 27, 2023* 7:00 p.m., MWN		at Fresno State	W 69–65	3–2	27 – Mitchell	7 – Mitchell	2 – Tied	Save Mart Center (2,796) Fresno, CA
November 29, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Northern Arizona	W 70–59	4–2	30 – Mitchell	10 – Pierre-Louis	5 – Mitchell	The Thunderdome (1,603) Santa Barbara, CA
December 6, 2023* 6:00 p.m., MWN		at New Mexico	L 61-84	4-3	22 – Mitchell	5 – Tied	5 – Mitchell	The Pit (10,311) Albuquerque, NM
December 9, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Bethesda	W 126-76	5-3	20 – Anderson	13 – Bland	10 – Bland	The Thunderdome (798) Santa Barbara, CA
December 16, 2023* 1:30 p.m.		vs. Loyola Marymount Jerry Colangelo Classic						Footprint Center  Phoenix, AZ
December 20, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Howard						The Thunderdome  Santa Barbara, CA
Big West regular season
December 28, 2023 6:30 p.m., ESPNU/ESPN+		at UC Davis						University Credit Union Center  Davis, CA
December 30, 2023 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at UC Riverside						SRC Arena  Riverside, CA
January 4, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		UC San Diego						The Thunderdome  Santa Barbara, CA
January 6, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Cal Poly						Mott Athletics Center  San Luis Obispo, CA
January 11, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Cal State Bakersfield						The Thunderdome  Santa Barbara, CA
January 13, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Long Beach State						The Thunderdome  Santa Barbara, CA
January 18, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at CSUN						Premier America Credit Union Arena  Northridge, CA
January 20, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Cal State Fullerton						The Thunderdome  Santa Barbara, CA
January 25, 2024 9:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Hawai'i						Stan Sheriff Center  Honolulu, HI
February 1, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		UC Davis						The Thunderdome  Santa Barbara, CA
February 3, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at CSU Bakersfield						Icardo Center  Bakersfield, CA
February 8, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		UC Irvine						The Thunderdome  Santa Barbara, CA
February 10, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		CSUN						The Thunderdome  Santa Barbara, CA
February 15, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at UC San Diego						RIMAC Arena  La Jolla, CA
February 17, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		Hawai'i						The Thunderdome  Santa Barbara, CA
February 22, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at UC Irvine						Bren Events Center  Irvine, CA
February 29, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Cal Poly						The Thunderdome  Santa Barbara, CA
March 2, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Cal State Fullerton						Titan Gym  Fullerton, CA
March 7, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Long Beach State						Walter Pyramid  Long Beach, CA
March 9, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		UC Riverside						The Thunderdome  Santa Barbara, CA
Big West tournament
March 13, 2024  ESPN+		vs. TBD Quarterfinals						Dollar Loan Center  Henderson, NV
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific.

Source^[7]

References

1. "2022-23 Men's Basketball Standings". The Big West. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
2. "Gauchos Move On To Big West Semifinals". University of California, Santa Barbara. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
3. "Highlanders Fight to the Finish in Big West Semifinal". UC Riverside Athletics. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
4. "UCSB Men's Basketball Wins Big West Tournament Title". Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
5. "2023 Division I Men's Basketball Official Bracket". NCAA.com. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
6. "Baylor powers past UC Santa Barbara 74-56 in March Madness". CBS Sports. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
7. "2023-24 UC Santa Barbara Basketball Schedule". UC Santa Barbara. Retrieved September 27, 2023.