LAS VEGAS – UC Santa Barbara hadn't won a postseason game since the 1990 NCAA Tournament, when it defeated Houston in the first round.
Michigan State, featuring a young guard named Mark Montgomery, eliminated the Gauchos, who went on to suffer through a 26-year dry spell without a postseason win.
That drought ended Monday, at the expense of Montgomery's Northern Illinois Huskies.
In the opening round of the inaugural Vegas 16 Tournament at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Santa Barbara used a furious second-half rally to defeat the Huskies, 70-63.
"I think we played unbelievable basketball in the first half, but as I told them at halftime, you have to still close," Montgomery said.