SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KEYT) - The UC Santa Barbara men's basketball team won their fifth straight game Thursday night, defeating UC San Diego for the first time since the 2022-23 season. The Gauchos did not allow any second-chance points and limited the Tritons to their lowest scoring output of the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams started cold, combining to go 3-for-10, and the Tritons narrowly led 4-2. Out of the first media timeout, the Gauchos scored on four straight possessions to take a 13-9 lead. The Gauchos got two three-pointers from CJ Shaw, one three from Colin Smith and an easy lay-in by Marvin McGhee IV.

The Gauchos kept extending their lead through the middle part of the half after back-to-back threes by Miro Little and Shaw put the Gauchos up 20-11. Momentarily, UC Santa Barbara led by double digits, but a basket by the Tritons cut it back to single digits.

The remainder of the period was back-and-forth, with the Gauchos taking a slight advantage late as they went into halftime with a 13-point lead, 35-22. The Gauchos forced the Tritons into tough shots throughout the first half as they made just nine field goals, shot 33.3 percent from the field, and 22.2 percent from beyond the arc. Santa Barbara also forced eight turnovers.

The second half started much like the first, with the teams shooting just a combined 21 percent from the field. The Tritons made two baskets and three free throw enroute to an 8-2 run that cut the UC Santa Barbara lead to seven.

Coming out of the first media timeout, the Gauchos went on a 7-0 run of their own to take a 14-point lead with just over 12 minutes remaining. After extending their lead to 14, the game would turn back-and-forth through the middle part of the half as the Gauchos hung on to their double-digit lead.

Down the stretch, the Gauchos took over. Zion Sensley hit a second-chance three-pointer before Little put the Gauchos up 17 at the three-minute mark after a pair of free throws. The Gauchos held on to the double-digit lead down the stretch

NOTABLES
The Gauchos held the Tritons to their lowest scoring output of the year, 48 points. Additionally, the Gauchos held UC San Diego to 36 percent from the field, the lowest shooting percentage they have allowed to an opponent this season.
The Gauchos' 17 forced turnovers are the second most they have forced this season and the most against a Division I team this season.
Four Gauchos scored in double figures, with Miro Little leading the way with 15.
The Gauchos' 23 points off turnovers marked the second most this season and the most against a Division I team.
Despite UC San Diego grabbing nine offensive rebounds, UC Santa Barbara did not allow any second-chance points.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos return to The Thunderdome on Saturday, Jan. 31, to host Cal State Fullerton at 6 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live stats available.

(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics)

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UC SANTA BARBRA, Calif. (KEYT) - In the final moments of their Thursday evening game, the UC Santa Barbara Women's Basketball team fell 52-49 to the visiting UC San Diego Tritons. A strong defensive performance by the Gauchos was paired with a hesitant offensive effort that ultimately allowed the Tritons to overpower their hosts.

FROM HEAD COACH RENEE JIMENEZ
"I thought we were too conservative the entire game. They have to decide that in a game like this, especially when our defense is doing such great work for us, and we were just passing up shots. You're not going to get a better one than the one that's in front of you," Jimenez said.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos left the first behind by just one after a back-and-forth with their opponents. Olivia Bradley put the Gauchos on the board first with a layup, but San Diego went on to hold a slight lead for the majority of the quarter. The Blue and Gold bounced back with a free throw and three-pointer to finish the first 13-12, San Diego.

Santa Barbara surged in the second, this time finishing the quarter ahead by one themselves at 28-27. They spent the quarter sinking threes, making four in a row before polishing off their progress with two layups. The Gauchos reached a seven-point lead, but the Tritons came back by six before the half. San Diego then possessed the third quarter, outscoring the Gauchos 12-6, and left the third ahead at 39-34.

Jessica Grant got the Gauchos within reaching distance of the Tritons with a three-pointer at the start of the fourth. Then, facing a 41-37 deficit, freshman Chauncey Andersen turned on her jets and scored ten points in a row – single-handedly bringing the Gauchos to their own four-point lead.

The Tritons, however, would take over the remaining minutes and score nine more points to bag the win. The game was tied at 49-49 for the final stages of the quarter, but a last-second layup and free throw combination by Makayla Rose placed the Tritons ultimately ahead at 52-49.

Andersen had her best collegiate outing yet, getting her first double-double and leading the team in both rebounds and points at 13 and 17. She also shot 55%, going five for nine. Bradley also reached double digits, sinking 15 to bolster the Gaucho offense.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos visit Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 31 to wrap the month of January. They will tip off at 2:00 p.m. in TItan Gym.

(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics)

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By Ray Sanchez, Priscilla Alvarez, CNN

(CNN) — Two days after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota reportedly tackled a home caregiver from sub-Saharan Africa to the snowy pavement and took her away in a van, a close friend made the 1,400-mile journey to a controversial Texas detention facility where she’s being held.

“She was so surprised to see me,” said her friend, Justin, a 40-year-old home caregiver who asked his full name not be used for fear of retaliation. “She never believed that anybody knew where she was.”

She isn’t alone.

Dozens of asylum seekers like her, as well as refugees who passed a rigorous, years-long vetting process before being admitted to the United States, have been arrested in Minnesota in recent weeks, immigration lawyers and advocates say.

The immigrants are shackled and placed on flights to detention facilities in Texas, where they are forced to recount painful asylum claims with limited or no contact with family members or attorneys, lawyers and advocates say. Some, after days of interviews with officers, have been released in Texas without money, identification or phones. Others remain detained without information about why they’re being held.

“It really is a campaign of terror. It is designed to scare people,” said Laurie Ball Cooper, vice president for US legal programs at the International Refugee Assistance Project. “I know there have been many tales of disorganization. I’m not sure this is one.”

Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar, acknowledged Thursday the immigration enforcement effort in Minnesota needed to be “fixed” and said his team was working on a drawdown plan while sharpening the focus of operations on undocumented immigrants with criminal records.

Deployed by the administration to Minneapolis to manage ICE operations in the wake of Alex Pretti’s fatal shooting, Homan said not “everything that’s been done here has been perfect” and that “certain improvements can and should be made.”

‘Arrest first, investigate later’

The refugees come from countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Syria, El Salvador, Venezuela and Russia, Ball Cooper said. They entered the US legally but cannot apply for permanent status until a year after they’ve been admitted to the country, as required under US law. Ball Cooper and other advocates have been in touch with some of those refugees, who they say have not been charged with crimes or immigration violations that would leave them open to removal proceedings.

“I am aware of cases where the person was arrested, detained in Minnesota and put on a plane (to Texas) in 90 minutes or less,” Ball Cooper told CNN, adding that attorneys and advocates in Minnesota and Texas have been left scrambling to connect with many of the refugees.

Late Wednesday, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Trump administration from arresting or detaining resettled refugees in Minnesota while a class-action lawsuit challenging the practice plays out. The judge also ordered the immediate release of all detained refugees in Minnesota, as well as the release of those taken out of the state within five days and gave the government 48 hours to provide a list of detained refugees.

A handful of refugees in the case are represented by the International Refugee Assistance Project and other legal and advocacy organizations. The suit and attorneys for the plaintiffs accuse federal officers of “hunting down” resettled refugees door-to-door and transferring them to facilities in Texas.

“It’s a fishing expedition,” Ball Cooper said of the administration’s targeting of refugees, including chi

By CNN Meteorologist Briana Waxman

(CNN) — Snow, damaging winds and dangerous coastal flooding are expected to impact parts of the southern Appalachians, the Carolinas and southern Virginia this weekend as a powerful winter storm rapidly intensifies off the Southeast coast.

Impacts will begin late Friday into Saturday, with snow and hurricane-force wind gusts possible along parts of the North Carolina and Virginia coast by Saturday night. Coastal New England, particularly eastern Massachusetts, could see snow and wind later in the weekend if the storm tracks closer to shore.

A low-pressure system is expected to form near the North Carolina coast late Friday before rapidly strengthening as it moves north Saturday, a process known as bombogenesis. As the bomb cyclone intensifies, it will draw very cold air southward, allowing snow to fall across areas that don’t often see significant winter weather.

More than 28 million people across the Southeast are under winter storm watches and warnings, including parts of northern Georgia, the Carolinas and southern Virginia. Many of these areas are still recovering from last weekend’s deadly winter storm, which left snow and ice-covered roads, widespread travel disruptions and protracted power outages.

Heavy snow for winter-weary Southeast

Snow is expected to pile up in parts of the southern Appalachians, the Carolinas and southern Virginia late Friday night into Saturday as the storm rapidly strengthens offshore.

The most impactful snowfall is expected across central and eastern North Carolina into southern Virginia, where 5 to 10 inches of snow are projected. Locally higher totals are possible if narrow bands of heavy snow develop. Cities including Raleigh and Greensboro, North Carolina, and Norfolk, Virginia, are among those at risk for significant snow accumulations.

Farther south, accumulating snow is also expected across parts of South Carolina and into eastern Georgia, where temperatures will remain cold enough for snow. Totals in these areas are generally expected to be lower, but even an inch or less of snow would be disruptive in places like Atlanta that rarely see winter weather.

Very cold air already in place will allow snow to accumulate quickly across the region, sticking to roads, bridges and untreated surfaces with little melting. Travel conditions are expected to deteriorate rapidly once snow begins, and hazardous conditions could persist into Sunday morning before snow tapers off.

Powerful winds could create blizzard conditions

As the storm rapidly intensifies offshore, powerful winds will significantly worsen impacts across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.

The strongest winds are expected near the coast, where gusts could approach hurricane force, or 75 miles per hour, along parts of the North Carolina and Virginia shoreline by Saturday night. Where these winds coincide with heavy snow, blizzard conditions are possible, with near-zero visibility and extremely dangerous travel, particularly along the Outer Banks of North Carolina and into southeast Virginia.

Farther inland, strong and persistent winds will still pose serious problems. Gusts of 25 to 35 mph are expected from Georgia through the Carolinas and into southern Virginia, with higher gusts possible at times. These winds will combine with dry, powdery snow to cause blowing and drifting snow, sharply reducing visibility and making travel hazardous even after snowfall rates decrease.

Gusty winds could also extend into coastal New England later in the weekend, especially if the storm remains closer to the coast.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KEYT) - Freshman guard Troy Plumtree led five Mustangs in double-digit scoring figures with a career high 31 points – more than tripling his previous collegiate best – and the Cal Poly men’s basketball program set a new single game program record for free throw percentage in a 104-79 Thursday victory at Cal State Bakersfield.

Sophomore Hamad Mousa finished with 15 points while fellow guard Cayden Ward added 12 for Cal Poly (8-14, 4-6), which snapped a three-game slide with its highest offensive output of the season and by shooting 55.4 (36-for-55) percent from the floor. The Mustangs also drained 12 three-pointers – including eight in the first half to lead by 21 at the break.

Finishing 20-for-20 from the free throw line, Cal Poly established a new program record for most conversions without a miss, besting a 17-for-17 performance at UC Irvine on March 3, 2022.

Junior Jackson Mosley contributed 11 points for the Mustangs while senior Aaron Price, Jr. enjoyed a season high 10 points. Sophomore Peter Bandelj contributed a game high seven assists.

Plumtree, whose previous collegiate best was a nine-point effort versus UC Riverside (Dec. 6), finished 13-for-17 from the floor to record the highest field goal total by a Mustang this season. He entered Thursday with just 57 points scored on the season.

Cal Poly trailed 14-8 after Thursday’s initial five-and-a-half minutes before taking its first lead of the night with a 7-0 run. Cal State Bakersfield scored on its next possession before Mosley drained a deep three-pointer to extinguish the host’s last advantage of the evening.

Keeping Cal State Bakersfield to just two field goals during a seven-minute span, Cal Poly – which shot 56.3 (18-for-32) percent during the first half – went up 46-26 with three-minutes left on a Plumtree layup.

Cal Poly – which enjoyed first-half three-pointers from seven different players – took a 56-35 lead into the break.

Into the second half, Cal State Bakersfield cut its deficit to 71-53 with 10-and-a-half minutes remaining before Cal Poly scored on its next two possessions and maintained a minimum 23-point edge the remainder of the night.

Cal Poly Noteworthy (at Cal State Bakersfield)

Up Next: Cal Poly stays on the road, closing a two-game swing at UC Riverside on Saturday, Jan. 31. Tip time is 5 p.m.
Troy Plumtree’s 31-point night marked the fourth highest scoring game by a Cal Poly player this season.
A double-digit scorer in all 21 appearances, Hamad Mousa stayed atop the Big West scoring chart at 20.4 points per game.
Cal Poly’s 56-point first half matched its second highest single-half total of the year. The Mustangs scored 60 during the second half against Pacific Lutheran (Nov. 5) and 56 in the second at Montana (Nov. 14).
Cal Poly’s previous scoring high this season came during a 101-79 season-opening win versus Pacific Lutheran.
Thursday’s game marked Cal Poly’s fifth 100-point game under second-year head coach Mike DeGeorge.

(Article courtesy Cal Poly)

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