SANTA BARBARA, Calif – A couple of trends continued Wednesday night when the University of Portland dropped a 76-53 decision to UC Santa Barbara in men’s basketball action at The Thunderdome: the Gauchos (5-5) remained perfect at home while the Pilots (5-8) continued their struggles away from the Chiles Center.

UCSB improved to 5-0 at home, making it four wins over West Coast Conference opponents among that mark. The Gauchos have posted victories over San Francisco, San Diego, Pepperdine and now the Pilots at The Thunderdome.

Portland, meanwhile, falls to 0-7 on the season away from the Chiles Center, 0-5 on the road and 0-2 at neutral sites.

Pilot sophomore forward Marcus Lewis recorded his fourth career double-double – and first of this season – finishing with 19 points and 12 rebounds, but he received little help from the rest of the Pilots.

“Marcus (Lewis) gave us a heartbeat and hope with his play tonight,” Portland head coach Michael Holton said.

Sophomore forward Chris Devine led the Gauchos with 19 points, while Cecil Brown and Joe See added 16 and 11, respectively.

Portland shot 32 percent (19-60) from the field and converted just 12 of 20 at the free throw line. UCSB finished at 55 percent (29-53) from the floor and made 9 of 13 at the stripe. The Gauchos had the long-range shot dialed in and were 9 of 21 from downtown compared to the Pilots’ 3 of 16 three-point shooting.

“We were thoroughly outplayed in every aspect of the game,” Holton said. “Their execution early set the tone and they made shots as a result of crisp offensive execution.”

UCSB led by as many as 23 points on two occasions early in the second period, the first at 55-32 after an 11-4 run after halftime. Portland trimmed the lead to 62-47 on Ben Sullivan’s putback with 5:50 remaining, but the Gauchos kept a safe lead for the win.

Portland took an early 12-8 lead to start the game, but UCSB closed the half with a 16-6 run over the final 5:57 for a 40-27 advantage going into the break.

The UP backcourt of Pooh Jeter and Darren Cooper entered the game averaging 29.8 points, but struggled offensively against UCSB. Jeter finished with 15 points on 4 of 14 shooting, while Cooper had just three points on 1 of 7 shooting.

Pilots’ freshman Alex Tiefenthaler made his first collegiate appearance, logging seven minutes and grabbing one rebound.

UP will conclude its non-conference schedule on Friday, Dec. 30 at Cal Poly. The Pilots and Mustangs will tip at 7 p.m. at Mott Gym.