"We could have given in, we could have caved in, because obviously when you're on the floor with a talented team like theirs, it's easy to say, 'Hey man, it's gonna be tough for us to come back,'" Barnes said. "And I thought our guys hung in there."

The Gauchos relied on the diverse, inside-outside skill set of transfer forward Miles Norris, who scored 11 of his 14 points in a 10-minute stretch near the middle of the game. Four other players scored at least eight points for UCSB, which shot 50 percent on the night, as its balanced offensive attack was a bit too much for the Roadrunners.

"That's a good basketball team, and some of those shots were contested shots," Barnes said. "Again, they're not good because they can't make shots or they can't play."

CSUB showed some improvement from a flat 19-point loss at UC Davis on Saturday, while playing its second game since losing top scorer and team leader Higgins.

"It was definitely a big impact on the team, because of the relationship that everybody got with Kaleb," forward Antavion Collum said. "It was a tough blow to see him break down in front of us. We just feel for him, and we just feel like we gotta do something for him."

The Roadrunners got a strong showing from fill-in point guard Ivan Reynolds, with eight points and six assists. Freshman forward Ugnius Jarusevicius posted a career-high 15 points on 7-for-14 shooting, after taking just 14 combined shots in the last six games, to lead all scorers. He credited it to "finding my shots, finding my place in the system, and (hoping) everything opens for me to be better."

"It's obvious that he has a knack for scoring the basketball," Barnes said. "He's got to do a better job around the basket, but I really feel good, just about him going forward ... If you're a freshman and you're playing against guys that are fifth-year seniors and you have that kind of performance, we have a lot to look forward to with him."

CSUB got off to a competent start, but Marvin McGhee III's two 3-pointers were countered by a pair from UCSB's Ajare Sanni. The two teams were tied 11-11 seven minutes into the game, after which point the Gauchos never trailed. Calvin Wishart and Josh Pierre-Louis connected from deep to help them build their initial lead.

The Roadrunners scored nine straight as the first half wore on, thanks to a three-point play, a steal and another transition layup by Reynolds. However, CSUB endured a tough sequence in which Reynolds turned it over himself to Norris, whom Collum intentionally fouled. Norris made one of two free throws, then a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession.

McGhee countered with a layup, but the Roadrunners entered the break down 33-26.

They got as close as 39-33, when Jarusevicius showed his outside shooting prowess on a corner 3, but suffered a bad break when a Collum block led to a loose ball recovered by Pierre-Louis, who swiftly went straight to the hoop and converted through a foul. That play kicked off a 13-5 run for UCSB's biggest lead of the night.

With the loss, CSUB fell to 5-11 on the year, 1-4 in Big West play. With Higgins out indefinitely, the concern now turns to players like Travis Henson, whose knee injury limited him to one minute. Collum and Modestas Kancleris have also been banged up in recent games.

On the flip side, Naseem Gaskin saw significant action for the first time in a month, and fellow point guard Dalph Panopio has a chance to make his season debut Jan. 26.

"Like coach said, stay the course," Reynolds said. "We gotta keep building. We can't give up now, because we could flip this."

The Roadrunners host UC San Diego Saturday.