# 2020–21 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team

The 2020–21 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team represented the University of California, Santa Barbara in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gauchos, led by fourth-year head coach Joe Pasternack, play their home games at The Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, California as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 22–5, 13–3 in Big West Play to finish as regular season champions. They defeated Long Beach State, UC Davis, and UC Irvine to be champions of the Big West tournament. They received the Big West’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Creighton.

## Previous season

The Gauchos finished the 2019–20 season 21–10, 10–6 in Big West play to finish in a tie for second place. They were scheduled to play UC Riverside in the quarterfinals of the Big West tournament, however, the tournament was canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 29, 2020* 4:00 pm | | St. Katherine | W 92–55 | 1–0 | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA |
| December 3, 2020* 4:00 pm | | Bethesda | W 123–52 | 2–0 | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA |
| December 7, 2020* 5:00 pm, BigWest.tv | | Loyola Marymount | W 69–58 | 3–0 | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA |
| December 12, 2020* 2:00 pm | | at Loyola Marymount | L 78–81 | 3–1 | Gersten Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| December 19, 2020* 3:00 pm | | at Pepperdine | W 75–63 | 4–1 | Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, CA |
| Big West regular season ||||||
| December 27, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UC Irvine | L 56–75 | 4–2 (0–1) | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA |
| December 28, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UC Irvine | L 69–73 | 4–3 (0–2) | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA |
| January 1, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cal State Fullerton | W 81–63 | 5–3 (1–2) | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA |
| January 2, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cal State Fullerton | W 65–61 | 6–3 (2–2) | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA |
| January 15, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UC San Diego | W 69–52 | 7–3 | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA |
| January 16, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UC San Diego | W 84–53 | 8–3 | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA |
| January 22, 2021 4:00 pm | | at Cal State Northridge | W 105–58 | 9–3 (3–2) | Matadome Northridge, CA |
| January 23, 2021 4:00 pm | | at Cal State Northridge | W 80–66 | 10–3 (4–2) | Matadome Northridge, CA |
| January 29, 2021 4:00 pm | | at UC Davis | W 72–51 | 11–3 (5–2) | The Pavilion Davis, CA |
| January 30, 2021 4:00 pm | | at UC Davis | W 89–86 $^{OT}$ | 12–3 (6–2) | The Pavilion Davis, CA |
| February 5, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Long Beach State | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues. | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues. | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA |
| February 6, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Long Beach State | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues. | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues. | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA |
| February 12, 2021 9:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | at Hawaii | W 59–50 | 13–3 (7–2) | Stan Sheriff Center (0) Honolulu, HI |
| February 13, 2021 7:00 pm, Spectrum Sports | | at Hawaii | W 81–74 $^{OT}$ | 14–3 (8–2) | Stan Sheriff Center (0) Honolulu, HI |
| February 19, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cal State Bakersfield | W 71–66 | 15–3 (9–2) | The Thunderdome (0) Santa Barbara, CA |
| February 20, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cal State Bakersfield | W 63–44 | 16–3 (10–2) | The Thunderdome (0) Santa Barbara, CA |
| February 26, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at UC Riverside | W 72–68 | 17–3 (11–2) | SRC Arena (0) Riverside, CA |
| February 27, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UC Riverside | L 52–68 | 17–4 (11–3) | SRC Arena (0) Riverside, CA |
| March 5, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cal Poly Rivalry | W 71–57 | 18–4 (12–3) | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA |
| March 6, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cal Poly Rivalry | W 70–54 | 19–4 (13–3) | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA |
| Big West tournament ||||||
| March 11, 2021 11:00 am, ESPN3 | (1) | vs. (9) Long Beach State Quarterfinals | W 95–87 | 20–4 | Mandalay Bay Events Center (3) Las Vegas, NV |
| March 12, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | vs. (4) UC Davis Semifinals | W 71–55 | 21–4 | Mandalay Bay Events Center Las Vegas, NV |
| March 13, 2021 8:30 pm, ESPN2 | (1) | vs. (2) UC Irvine Championship | W 79–63 | 22–4 | Mandalay Bay Events Center Las Vegas, NV |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 20, 2021 12:30 pm, truTV | (12 W) | vs. (5 W) No. 19 Creighton First Round | L 62–63 | 22–5 | Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Pacific. ||||||
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