Jan. 26, 2008

Final Stats

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - UC Davis was defeated by UC Santa Barbara, 60-45, Saturday night in Big West basketball action at The Thunderdome. Mark Payne led UC Davis with 13 points and tied a career-high with nine rebounds. Vince Oliver added 11, and Michael Boone came off the bench with nine points. Boone also added eight rebounds and five blocks, which were both career-highs. Alex Harris led UCSB with 14 points. The loss drops UC Davis to 8-12 overall and 2-5 in the Big West. UCSB improved to 15-5 and 4-3, respectively.

In a game that turned out to be more of a defensive battle, UCSB seized the early advantage by opening with a 10-0 lead. The Gauchos held the Aggies scoreless for nearly eight minutes to start the game. Dominic Calegari put the Aggies on the board for the first time at the 12:14 mark with a layup to make it 10-2.

"UC Santa Barbara was physical and aggressive at the start and got us back on our heels," said UC Davis head coach Gary Stewart. "Allowing a 10-0 start to a team of their caliber is a tall task."

By the time the half reached the six-minute mark, the UCSB lead was just 13-4. Shane Hanson knocked down a three-pointer with 5:55 left in the half to pull UC Davis within 13-7. A dunk by Payne a minute later made it 13-9 before the Gauchos closed the half on a 14-4 run and led 27-13 at the break.

In addition to the low-scoring first half, Boone came off the bench with four points, four rebounds and two blocks.

UC Santa Barbara opened up a 32-16 lead in the first two minutes of the second half before UC Davis began to pick away at the lead. Oliver made a trey at the 17:58 mark, and Calegari followed with a layup on the next possession to cut it to 32-21. A minute later, Boone made a layup to pull UC Davis within 32-23.

The Gauchos responded with a 9-4 run, and a layup by James Powell with 12:26 left upped the lead to 41-27.

The Aggies were not done, though. A 5-0 run, all from Payne, cut the lead down to nine once again at 41-32 with 10:29 to play. That's as close as UC Davis would get as UCSB went on a 9-2 run and led by as many as 18 in the final minute.

"I felt we really competed hard and fought our way back," added Stewart. "I didn't fault the effort tonight. The ball just didn't go in as much as we'd like it to."

UC Davis was held to 35 percent shooting while the Gauchos shot 49 percent. For the second straight game and third time in four games, UC Davis won the rebounding battle. This time, the Aggies outrebounded the Gauchos 33-25.

UCSB forced the Aggies into 16 turnovers while committing 11. Only three of the Aggies' 16 miscues came in the second half.

UC Davis is next in action Feb. 2 against Pacific at The Pavilion. The game starts a stretch where the Aggies play five of their next six at home.