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.

1989–90 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball
NCAA tournament, second round
Conference	Big West Conference
Record	21–9 (13–5 Big West)
Head coach	Jerry Pimm (7th season)
Home arena	The Thunderdome

1989–90 Big West men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 2 UNLV†	16	–	2		.889			35	–	5		.875
No. 24 New Mexico State	16	–	2		.889			26	–	5		.839
UC Santa Barbara	13	–	5		.722			21	–	9		.700
Long Beach State	12	–	6		.667			23	–	9		.719
Utah State	8	–	10		.444			14	–	16		.467
Pacific	7	–	11		.389			15	–	14		.517
Cal State Fullerton	6	–	12		.333			13	–	16		.448
San Jose State	5	–	13		.278			8	–	20		.286
Fresno State	4	–	14		.222			10	–	19		.345
UC Irvine	3	–	15		.167			5	–	23		.179
† 1990 Big West tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

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.

Roster

1989–90 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 3 Idris Jones 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Fr G 15 Carrick DeHart 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Sr Inglewood, California F 34 Lucius Davis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — So F 35 Gary Gray 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) — Jr F 55 Eric McArthur 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Sr South Pasadena, California	Head coach Jerry Pimm (USC) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

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.