Feb. 20, 2009
Game Notes
DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Davis men's basketball team returns to action Saturday night when it hosts Fresno State as part of the annual ESPNU BracketBusters event. The game, which is part of "Pack The Pavilion Night", will cap off a doubleheader with the Aggie women's basketball team. Tip-time for the men's game is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the contest can be heard on KFSG 1690-AM as well as www.ucdavisaggies.com.
Saturday's match-up is part of the national ESPNU BracketBusters weekend. A total of 51 games featuring 102 teams will be played over the course of Friday and Saturday. It's the second year the Aggies have taken part in BracketBusters and the first year they are hosting. Last year, UC Davis played at Loyola (Md.). All nine Big West teams are playing a BracketBuster game on Saturday.
In its last outing, UC Davis (12-14) overcame a 14-point second half deficit on its way to a 75-73 victory at Cal Poly on Wednesday night. Vince Oliver led the Aggies with 19 points, including the game-winning three-pointer with four seconds remaining. Oliver's effort also included a team-high nine rebounds. Joe Harden added 16 points, and Dominic Calegari finished with 15. Seven different Aggies accounted for the team's 13 three-pointers. UC Davis trailed 56-42 with just under 14 minutes to play.
Fresno State enters the game 10-17 overall and is 2-10 in the Western Athletic Conference. The Bulldogs are coming off a 73-69 home loss to Hawaii on Thursday night. Overall, they have lost three straight and five of their past six games. Common opponents with the Aggies include Sacramento State (W, 77-75), Pacific (W, 66-64), Cal State Bakersfield (W, 66-51) and Cal Poly (W, 90-87 in overtime). Freshman Paul George leads the team with 15.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, and junior Sylvester Seay is averaging 15.0 ppg. Senior Dwight O'Neill is averaging 12.8 ppg. The trio has accounted for nearly 58 percent of the team's scoring.
Fresno State leads the all-time series 37-18. The teams have not played each other since the 1983-84 season. The Bulldogs have won 10 straight games in the series.
The contest is the final non-conference game of the season for UC Davis.
