# 1989–90 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team

The 1989–90 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team represented the University of California, Santa Barbara during the 1989–90 college basketball season. They were led by head coach Jerry Pimm in his 7th season at UCSB. The Gauchos were members of the Big West Conference and played their home games at the UC Santa Barbara Events Center, also known as The Thunderdome.
UCSB finished the season 21–9, 13–5 in Big West play to finish third in the conference regular season standings. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 9 seed in the Southeast Region, they beat Houston in the first round before losing to No. 1 seed Michigan State in the second round.
The season was a memorable one for UCSB fans. The 1989–90 team beat eventual National champion UNLV in front of a raucous crown at The Thunderdome on February 26, 1990. It would end up being UNLV's only loss over a stretch of 55 games between the 1989–90 and 1990–91 seasons. The Gauchos also won the first NCAA Tournament game in school history.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 25, 1989* | | Pepperdine | W 67–46 | 1–0 | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California |
| Nov 28, 1989* | | at San Diego | W 79–62 | 2–0 | USD Sports Center San Diego, California |
| Dec 1, 1989* | | vs. Bradley | W 86–60 | 3–0 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Dec 2, 1989* | | at Iowa | L 79–85 | 3–1 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Dec 9, 1989* | | at Loyola Marymount | L 101–104 | 3–2 | Gersten Pavilion Los Angeles, California |
| Dec 17, 1989* | | Eastern Washington | W 72–67 | 4–2 | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California |
| Dec 19, 1989* | | Oregon | W 70–54 | 5–2 | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California |
| Dec 23, 1989* | | Boston University | W 89–68 | 6–2 | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California |
| Jan 2, 1990 | | San Jose State | W 82–61 | 7–2 (1–0) | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California |
| Jan 4, 1990 | | Utah State | W 91–66 | 8–2 (2–0) | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California |
| Jan 7, 1990 | | at Pacific | L 53–75 | 8–3 (2–1) | Alex G. Spanos Center Stockton, California |
| Jan 9, 1990 | | at Fresno State | W 70–51 | 9–3 (3–1) | Selland Arena Fresno, California |
| Jan 11, 1990 | | New Mexico State | L 61–74 | 9–4 (3–2) | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California |
| Jan 13, 1990 | | Long Beach State | W 82–67 | 10–4 (4–2) | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California |
| Jan 15, 1990 | | at Utah State | W 91–82 | 11–4 (5–2) | Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Logan, Utah |
| Jan 20, 1990 | | at UC-Irvine | W 73–66 | 12–4 (6–2) | Bren Events Center Irvine, California |
| Jan 25, 1990 | | at No. 5 UNLV | L 67–69 | 12–5 (6–3) | Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Jan 29, 1990 | | Cal State Fullerton | W 72–64 | 13–5 (7–3) | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California |
| Feb 1, 1990 | | Pacific | W 57–45 | 14–5 (8–3) | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California |
| Feb 3, 1990 | | Fresno State | W 78–57 | 15–5 (9–3) | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California |
| Feb 5, 1990* | | at Santa Clara | W 82–63 | 16–5 | Leavey Center Santa Clara, California |
| Feb 8, 1990 | | at Long Beach State | W 84–67 | 17–5 (10–3) | The Gold Mine Long Beach, California |
| Feb 10, 1990 | | at New Mexico State | L 64–66 | 17–6 (10–4) | Pan American Center Las Cruces, New Mexico |
| Feb 15, 1990 | | at Cal State Fullerton | W 75–70 | 18–6 (11–4) | Titan Gym Fullerton, California |
| Feb 17, 1990 | | UC Irvine | L 97–98 | 18–7 (11–5) | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California |
| Feb 26, 1990 | | No. 4 UNLV | W 78–70 | 19–7 (12–5) | The Thunderdome (6,387) Santa Barbara, California |
| Mar 3, 1990 | | at San Jose State | W 77–76 | 20–7 (13–5) | The Event Center San Jose, California |
| Big West tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 1990* | | vs. Pacific Big West tournament Quarterfinal | L 62–65 | 20–8 | Long Beach Arena Long Beach, California |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 15, 1990* | (9 SE) | vs. (8 SE) Houston First Round | W 70–66 | 21–8 | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Mar 17, 1990* | (9 SE) | vs. (1 SE) No. 3 Michigan State Second Round | L 58–62 | 21–9 | Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll Source. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||