March 6, 2008

Final Stats

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine defeated UC Davis, 79-62, Thursday night in a Big West Conference men's basketball game at the Bren Events Center. Dominic Calegari led UC Davis with 17 points, and Vince Oliver added 11. Patrick Sanders led UC Irvine with 18 points as five Anteaters finished in double figures. UC Davis shot a perfect 16-for-16 from the line. The loss dropped the Aggies to 9-21 overall and 2-13 in the Big West while UC Irvine improved to 15-14 and 9-6 in the Big West.

Calegari accounted for half of the Aggies' points in the first half and did his damage from both inside and outside. He scored the first points of the game on a three-pointer in the Aggies' first possession before the Anteaters responded with an 8-0 run. Michael Hunter made two treys during the stretch as UC Irvine led 8-3 just over two minutes into the game.

UC Irvine would remain in front for the rest of the half and led by as many as eight points. Calegari kept the Anteaters from extending their advantage by scoring 10 of the Aggies' final 15 points in the half. His three-point play at the 6:25 mark pulled UC Davis within 26-22, and a pair of free throws by the sophomore made it 32-26. Calegari finished the half with 13 points. A Hunter bucket with 59 seconds left in the half accounted for a 34-26 halftime lead for UC Irvine.

The margin was still eight points after a Mark Payne bucket just over four minutes into the second half made it 41-33. At that point, UC Irvine put together its second big run of the game. A fast-break layup by Hunter at the 13:13 mark capped off a 9-2 burst and gave the Anteaters a 50-35 lead. Three minutes later, an 8-0 run gave UC Irvine a 60-41 advantage just past the midway point of the second half.

Trailing 67-46, the Aggies ran off nine straight points. The run was completed with an Oliver three-pointer with 4:15 left as UC Davis trailed just 67-55 at that point. It would be as close as the Aggies would get the rest of the way

UCI shot 55 percent for the game, including 61 percent in the second half. UC Davis finished 41 percent from the floor. The Aggies held a large advantage at the line as the Anteeaters scored just six times in seven attempts. UC Irvine outrebounded UC Davis, 79-62.

Payne and David Carter each finished with eight points for UC Davis. Payne hauled in a game-high seven rebounds.

UC Davis concludes its regular season against UC Riverside Saturday night in Riverside. The winner of the game will advance to next week's Big West Tournament.