Box Score Jan. 17, 2009
Final Stats
IRVINE, Calif. - UC Davis picked up its second straight Big West Conference road win by defeating UC Irvine, 88-85, Saturday afternoon at the Bren Events Center. The Aggies built as much as a 19-point lead and held off a furious late rally by the Anteaters. Vince Oliver scored 16 of his game-high 24 points in the first half and added a career-high 10 rebounds.
UC Davis improved to 8-10 overall and 3-2 in the Big West. Eric Wise led UCI (5-12. 3-2 Big West) with 19 points. Joe Harden finished with 16 points for UC Davis while Dominic Calegari added 10. David Carter, Ryan Silva and Kyle Brucculeri each scored eight points.
The Aggies followed a similar blueprint as they did in Thursday's win at Cal State Fullerton by putting together a dominating first half. UC Davis trailed 7-6 four minutes into the contest before going on a 14-0 run. Adam Malik started it with a bucket before back-to-back three-pointers by Silva pushed the lead to 14-7. Mark Payne went 1-for-2 from the line, and a trey by Brucculeri gave the Aggies an 18-7 lead. Oliver capped off the run with a layup to make it 20-7 with 11:45 left in the half.
After going over five minutes without a score, UC Irvine battled back to within 23-15 before the Aggies used a 16-5 blitz to open up a 39-20 lead with just under three minutes left in the half. Oliver, who scored the Aggies' first six points, had eight more points during the run. The Anteaters scored the final six points of the half as UC Davis led 39-26 at the break.
"We got off to a great start and were aggressive at both ends," said UC Davis head coach Gary Stewart. "Our defense was outstanding in the first half, and we got out in transition. We were able to get some odd-number opportunities, and we capitalized on them."
UC Davis continued to maintain a double-digit lead well into the second half and led 69-51 with 7:37 remaining. From that point, the Anteaters begin to chip away at the deficit and trailed 78-66 with just under three minutes left. The Anteaters then ran off eight straight points to make it a 78-74 game with 1:46 left. UCI cut it to 87-85 with nine seconds left after a three-pointer by Brett Lauer.
At the other end, Payne went 1-for-2 from the line to give the Aggies an 88-85 lead with five seconds remaining, and Patrick Rembert missed a three-pointer as time expired.
"It's so difficult to hold a double figure lead, and they got energized by their crowd," said Stewart. "We got a little tentative and they were able to get back into the game. I'm proud of the way we stepped to the line, made some free throws at the end and closed it out."
The Aggies outshot the Anteaters 54 percent to 42 percent. UCI was held to just 28 percent in the first half. UC Davis scored its final eight points from the line.
UC Davis returns to action next week with a pair of home games. The Aggies host UC Santa Barbara on Thursday before taking on Cal Poly two days later. Both games tip at 7 p.m.
