There’s a reason the Hawaii men’s basketball team has not swept its annual Central California road trip for the last eight years.

That reason: UC Santa Barbara.

The lethargic Gauchos awoke in the second half and turned back one of the Rainbow Warriors’ better efforts at the Thunderdome in Isla Vista, Calif., in recent years as struggling UCSB won 77-71 in a Saturday matinee to snap UH’s three-game winning streak.

UH (15-12, 7-8 Big West) dropped into a sixth-place tie with UCSB, which came into Saturday having lost four of five since the teams’ first meeting in Honolulu. The Gauchos (14-11, 7-8) earned a season sweep with their fifth straight win over the Rainbow Warriors going back to 2021-22.

Eran Ganot’s ‘Bows have not won at the Thunderdome since his first season in 2016. This time, coming off a program-record 29-point win at Cal Poly on Thursday, they could not protect a nine-point halftime lead as UCSB rung up 52 after intermission.

Huge second halves from reigning Big West Player of the Year Ajay Mitchell and Josh Pierre-Louis carried the day for the Gauchos. Mitchell scored 17 of his 23 points after the break while Pierre-Louis had 13 of his 16.

"We were close," Ganot said of the goal of a trip sweep in a post-game phone interview.

"They got going. They won the possession battle," Ganot said. "That got their half-court offense going because we had some pick-sixes that gave them some momentum. And when we had some tough defensive stretches, they got it off the board. A really big differential in this game."

On the signature play of the game, Mitchell drove right of the lane and put in a runner, plus the fifth foul on UH center Bernardo da Silva, for the go-ahead three-point play with 1:24 to play.

Da Silva had an otherwise strong game with 14 points on 5-for-5 shooting with seven rebounds.

UH freshman Tom Beattie, who scored a season-high 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting, came back with a bucket off of an in-bounds play with a minute left.

"Tom's been coming along in all facets," Ganot said. "He's had a couple of double-digit scoring games, and to have it on the road against the team picked to win our league. He guarded for some stretches the player of the year (Mitchell). He's very fearless. It's good to see him coming along, grow and get better."

Mitchell, who started 2-for-9 but was 6-for-9 in the second half, got a spinning left-handed shot in the lane to go with 40 seconds remaining. Hawaii’s Noel Coleman then had a pass out of the post stolen by Pierre-Louis, his fourth swipe of the game, and UH had to take a foul.

Pierre-Louis went 0-for-2 at the line with under 30 seconds left. Justin McKoy drove and looked for a call, but none came.

UH took a foul on Jason Fontinet II with 12.3 seconds left and he connected on both. McKoy, who scored 14, fired up a desperation 3 at the other end that was off the mark as UH’s last gasp.

Paint points, a key statistic in the Gauchos’ 78-61 rout of UH in Honolulu on Jan. 25, were again a swing factor as UH limited UCSB to 12 in the first half. But the hosts exploded for 32 in the second.

The 'Bows faced an immediate nine-point hole but rallied back with 10 straight, and kept the momentum rolling into the half, at which point they led 34-25.

Guard Matija Belic was an active presence with his 11 points and center Yohan Traore added 10 points and six rebounds for coach Joe Pasternack.

UH, which missed point guard JoVon McClanahan for a fourth straight game due to a shoulder injury, returns home and has a bye on Thursday for a single-game week against Long Beach State on Saturday. There are five games remaining before the Big West tournament in Henderson, Nev.

"This is a good opportunity to recharge and heading into this final stretch of the year ... I think we're better today than we were a couple weeks ago," Ganot said.

This story was updated with quotes from UH coach Eran Ganot.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.