# 2015–16 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team

The 2015–16 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team represented the University of California, Santa Barbara during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gauchos, led by 18th year head coach Bob Williams, played their home games at the UC Santa Barbara Events Center, nicknamed the Thunderdome, as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season with a record of 19–14, 11–5 in Big West play to finish in fourth place. They defeated UC Davis in the quarterfinals of the Big West tournament to advance to the semifinals, where they lost to Hawaii. They were invited to the inaugural Vegas 16, which featured only eight teams, where they defeated Northern Illinois to advance to the semifinals, where they lost to Old Dominion.

## Schedule and results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition game ||||||
| 11/08/2015* 5:30 pm | | San Francisco State | W 66–45 | | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA |
| Non-conference games ||||||
| 11/13/2015* 7:00 pm | | at Nebraska–Omaha | W 60–59 | 1–0 | Baxter Arena (3,538) Omaha, NE |
| 11/16/2015* 7:00 pm, P12N | | at No. 15 California | L 67–85 | 1–1 | Haas Pavilion (8,847) Berkeley, CA |
| 11/21/2015* 2:00 pm | | Oregon State | L 59–71 | 1–2 | The Thunderdome (2,108) Santa Barbara, CA |
| 11/25/2015* 7:30 pm | | at San Francisco | W 68–61 | 2–2 | Sobrato Center (1,452) San Francisco, CA |
| 11/29/2015* 9:00 pm, P12N | | at Arizona State | L 68–70 | 2–3 | Wells Fargo Arena (4,026) Tempe, AZ |
| 12/03/2015* 7:00 pm | | USC | L 63–75 | 2–4 | The Thunderdome (3,585) Santa Barbara, CA |
| 12/13/2015* 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at South Dakota State | L 67–86 | 2–5 | Frost Arena (2,155) Brookings, SD |
| 12/16/2015* 4:00 pm | | at Vermont | L 68–75 | 2–6 | Patrick Gym (1,776) Burlington, VT |
| 12/21/2015* 12:00 pm | | vs. Akron South Point Holiday Hoops Classic | L 70–84 | 2–7 | South Point Arena (250) Enterprise, NV |
| 12/22/2015* 12:00 pm | | vs. Iona South Point Holiday Hoops Classic | W 80–76 | 3–7 | South Point Arena (250) Enterprise, NV |
| 12/28/2015* 8:00 pm, P12N | | at Washington | W 83–78 | 4–7 | Alaska Airlines Arena (7,376) Seattle, WA |
| 12/30/2015* 7:00 pm | | at Seattle | W 88–50 | 5–7 | KeyArena (1,383) Seattle, WA |
| 01/02/2016* 4:00 pm | | Point Loma Nazarene | W 87–46 | 6–7 | The Thunderdome (1,071) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Conference games ||||||
| 01/09/2016 9:00 pm | | at Hawaii | L 57–65 | 6–8 (0–1) | Stan Sheriff Center (7,627) Honolulu, HI |
| 01/14/2016 7:00 pm | | at Cal Poly | W 76–73 | 7–8 (1–1) | Mott Athletic Center (3,032) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| 01/16/2016 4:00 pm | | UC Irvine | W 61–52 | 7–9 (1–2) | The Thunderdome (3,527) Santa Barbara, CA |
| 01/20/2016 7:00 pm | | Long Beach State | L 67–77 | 7–10 (1–3) | The Thunderdome (1,975) Santa Barbara, CA |
| 01/23/2016 4:00 pm | | Cal State Northridge | W 74–61 | 8–10 (2–3) | The Thunderdome (1,693) Santa Barbara, CA |
| 01/28/2016 7:30 pm, Prime Ticket | | at Long Beach State | L 70–80 | 8–11 (2–4) | Walter Pyramid (3,064) Long Beach, CA |
| 01/30/2016 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | at UC Irvine | W 76–60 | 9–11 (3–4) | Bren Events Center (5,000) Irvine, CA |
| 02/04/2016 7:00 pm | | Hawaii | L 64–76 | 9–12 (3–5) | The Thunderdome (1,722) Santa Barbara, CA |
| 02/06/2016 7:00 pm | | Cal State Fullerton | W 81–68 | 10–12 (4–5) | The Thunderdome (1,726) Santa Barbara, CA |
| 02/11/2016 7:00 pm | | at UC Davis | W 72–66 | 11–12 (5–5) | The Pavilion (2,205) Davis, CA |
| 02/18/2016 8:00 pm | | at UC Riverside | W 65–55 | 12–12 (6–5) | UC Riverside Student Recreation Center (665) Riverside, CA |
| 02/20/2016 7:00 pm | | UC Davis | W 62–55 | 13–12 (7–5) | The Thunderdome (2,116) Santa Barbara, CA |
| 02/25/2016 7:30 pm, Prime Ticket | | at Cal State Northridge | W 78–63 | 14–12 (8–5) | Matadome (1,290) Northridge, CA |
| 02/27/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cal State Fullerton | W 80–62 | 15–12 (9–5) | Titan Gym (928) Fullerton, CA |
| 03/03/2016 7:00 pm | | UC Riverside | W 81–55 | 16–12 (10–5) | The Thunderdome (2,075) Santa Barbara, CA |
| 03/04/2016 4:00 pm | | Cal Poly | W 69–50 | 17–12 (11–5) | The Thunderdome (4,387) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Big West tournament ||||||
| 03/10/2016 2:30 pm, Prime Ticket | (4) | vs. (5) UC Davis Quarterfinals | W 81–55 | 18–12 | Honda Center (2,075) Anaheim, CA |
| 03/10/2016 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | (4) | vs. (1) Hawaii Semifinals | L 76–88 | 18–13 | Honda Center (5,134) Anaheim, CA |
| Vegas 16 ||||||
| 03/28/2016* 2:30 pm, CBSSN | | vs. Northern Illinois Quarterfinals | W 70–63 | 19–13 | Mandalay Bay Events Center Paradise, NV |
| 03/29/2016* 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. Old Dominion Semifinals | L 49–64 | 19–14 | Mandalay Bay Events Center Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.. ||||||