# 2022–23 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team

The 2022–23 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team represented the University of California, Santa Barbara in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gauchos, led by sixth-year head coach Joe Pasternack, played their home games at The Thunderdome in Santa Barbara, California as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 27–7, 15–5 in Big West Play to tie as regular season champions. They defeated Cal Poly, UC Riverside, and Cal State Fullerton 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 Baylor.

## Previous season

The Gauchos finished the 2021–22 season 17–11, 8–5 in Big West play to finish in fifth place. They defeated UC Irvine in the quarterfinals of the Big West tournament before losing to Long Beach State in the semifinals.

## 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 7, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | San Francisco State | W 75–59 | 1–0 | 25 – Anderson | 14 – Kelly | 10 – Mitchell | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA |
| November 11, 2022* 2:00 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. Fresno State | W 61–54 | 2–0 | 16 – Kelly | 15 – Kelly | 4 – Kelly | Kaiser Permanente Arena (121) Santa Cruz, CA |
| November 18, 2022* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Northern Arizona | L 54–63 | 2–1 | 18 – Mitchell | 7 – Kelly | 2 – Mitchell | Findlay Toyota Court (463) Flagstaff, AZ |
| November 21, 2022* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Hampton Santa Barbara Beach Classic | W 79–66 | 3–1 | 17 – Mitchell | 16 – Norris | 8 – Mitchell | The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, CA |
| November 23, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | North Alabama Santa Barbara Beach Classic | W 89–71 | 4–1 | 17 – Mitchell | 7 – Kelly | 7 – 2 Tied | The Thunderdome (1,327) Santa Barbara, CA |
| November 29, 2022* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Duquesne | L 61–72 | 4–2 | 15 – Pierre-Louis | 9 – Pierre-Louis | 5 – Norris | UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse (1,863) Pittsburgh, PA |
| December 3, 2022* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Pacific | W 82–71 | 5–2 | 22 – Sanni | 11 – Kelly | 8 – Pierre-Louis | The Thunderdome (1,623) Santa Barbara, CA |
| December 10, 2022* 5:00 p.m., WCC Network | | at Pepperdine | W 67–64 $^{OT}$ | 6–2 | 16 – Pierre-Louis | 8 – Kelly | 3 – Mitchell | Firestone Fieldhouse (651) Malibu, CA |
| December 12, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | San Diego Christian | W 81–68 | 7–2 | 15 – Norris | 5 – Keat Tong | 5 – Mitchell | The Thunderdome (457) Santa Barbara, CA |
| December 17, 2022* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Portland State | W 85–73 | 8–2 | 25 – Mitchell | 10 – Norris | 5 – Mitchell | Viking Pavilion (748) Portland, OR |
| December 21, 2022* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | vs. Appalachian State Jerry Colangelo Classic | W 61–50 | 9–2 | 22 – Mitchell | 10 – Norris | 4 – Mitchell | Footprint Center Phoenix, AZ |
| Big West regular season |||||||||
| December 29, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Cal State Fullerton | W 66–58 | 10–2 (1–0) | 24 – Mitchell | 4 – Keat Tong | 3 – Mitchell | Titan Gym (965) Fullerton, CA |
| December 31, 2022 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UC San Diego | W 82–61 | 11–2 (2–0) | 23 – Mitchell | 7 – Kelly | 6 – Mitchell | The Thunderdome (1,063) Santa Barbara, CA |
| January 7, 2023 7:00 p.m., SPSN | | at Cal Poly Rivalry | W 62–57 | 12–2 (3–0) | 16 – Norris | 6 – 3 Tied | 5 – Mitchell | Mott Athletics Center (1,882) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| January 11, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Cal State Bakersfield | W 60–48 | 13–2 (4–0) | 14 – Norris | 7 – Keat Tong | 3 – Mitchell | Icardo Center (1,008) Bakersfield, CA |
| January 14, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UC Riverside | L 64–65 | 13–3 (4–1) | 15 – Mitchell | 6 – Kelly | 4 – Mitchell | The Thunderdome (3,384) Santa Barbara, CA |
| January 16, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UC Irvine | W 73–65 | 14–3 (5–1) | 22 – Kelly | 12 – Norris | 7 – Mitchell | Bren Events Center (3,123) Irvine, CA |
| January 19, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | CSUN | W 72–52 | 15–3 (6–1) | 18 – Mitchell | 11 – Keat Tong | 6 – Tied | The Thunderdome (1,472) Santa Barbara, CA |
| January 21, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Cal State Bakersfield | W 76–58 | 16–3 (7–1) | 24 – Norris | 7 – Norris | 4 – Mitchell | The Thunderdome (942) Santa Barbara, CA |
| January 26, 2023 10:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Hawaii | W 65–64 | 17–3 (8–1) | 24 – Mitchell | 7 – Tied | 3 – Mitchell | Stan Sheriff Center (5,178) Honolulu, HI |
| February 2, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Cal Poly Rivalry | W 68–62 | 18–3 (9–1) | 18 – Norris | 6 – Kelly | 8 – Mitchell | The Thunderdome (3,942) Santa Barbara, CA |
| February 4, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at CSUN | L 67–72 | 18–4 (9–2) | 17 – Norris | 11 – Kelly | 3 – Tied | Premier America Credit Union Arena (522) Northridge, CA |
| February 9, 2023 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Long Beach State | W 75–72 | 19–4 (10–2) | 17 – Mitchell | 10 – Kelly | 10 – Mitchell | Walter Pyramid (2,836) Long Beach, CA |
| February 11, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UC Davis | W 84–74 | 20–4 (11–2) | 24 – Mitchell | 8 – Norris | 8 – Pierre-Louis | The Thunderdome (2,341) Santa Barbara, CA |
| February 15, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UC Irvine | L 59–70 | 20–5 (11–3) | 25 – Mitchell | 8 – Norris | 5 – Wishart | The Thunderdome (2,175) Santa Barbara, CA |
| February 18, 2023 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UC Riverside | L 63–74 | 20–6 (11–4) | 22 – Kelly | 8 – Kelly | 6 – Mitchell | SRC Arena (746) Riverside, CA |
| February 20, 2023 7:00 p.m., SPSN | | Cal State Fullerton | L 60–74 | 20–7 (11–5) | 17 – Norris | 9 – Norris | 7 – Mitchell | The Thunderdome (1,972) Santa Barbara, CA |
| February 23, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Long Beach State | W 78–73 | 21–7 (12–5) | 28 – Mitchell | 7 – Norris | 6 – Mitchell | The Thunderdome (1,502) Santa Barbara, CA |
| February 25, 2023 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UC San Diego | W 87–71 | 22–7 (13–5) | 25 – Norris | 11 – Kelly | 8 – Wishart | LionTree Arena (1,489) La Jolla, CA |
| March 2, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UC Davis | W 89–86 | 23–7 (14–5) | 20 – Mitchell | 6 – Pierre-Louis | 6 – Mitchell | University Credit Union Center (2,113) Davis, CA |
| March 4, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Hawaii | W 81–61 | 24–7 (15–5) | 18 – Norris | 10 – Tied | 11 – Mitchell | The Thunderdome (4,123) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Big West tournament |||||||||
| March 9, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | (2) | vs. (10) Cal Poly Quarterfinals | W 64–54 | 25–7 | 24 – Mitchell | 8 – Kelly | 5 – Mitchell | Dollar Loan Center Henderson, NV |
| March 10, 2023 8:30 pm, ESPNU | (2) | vs. (3) UC Riverside Semifinals | W 92–87 | 26–7 | 28 – Mitchell | 6 – Tied | 7 – Mitchell | Dollar Loan Center (1,194) Henderson, NV |
| March 11, 2023 6:30 pm, ESPN2 | (2) | vs. (4) Cal State Fullerton Championship | W 72–62 | 27–7 | 20 – Mitchell | 10 – Kelly | 4 – 2 tied | Dollar Loan Center (1,897) Henderson, NV |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 17, 2023* 10:30 am, TNT | (14 S) | vs. (3 S) No. 11 Baylor First Round | L 56–74 | 27–8 | 15 – Norris | 7 – Kelly | 4 – Mitchell | Ball Arena Denver, CO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South. All times are in Pacific. |||||||||
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