Feb. 23, 2009
Game Notes
DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Davis men's basketball team resumes Big West Conference action this week when it faces Pacific and UC Santa Barbara in road games. The Aggies face Pacific Wednesday night in Stockton before taking on the Gauchos Saturday night in Santa Barbara. Both games can be heard on KFSG 1690-AM as well as www.ucdavisaggies.com.
UC Davis enters the week 12-15 overall and 7-6 in the conference. The Aggies are tied with Pacific (14-11, 7-6) for third place in the Big West. The two teams trail co-leaders Long Beach State and Cal State Northridge, who both stand at 8-4. There are less than two weeks remaining in the regular season as the Aggies have just one more game after this week.
UC Davis is coming off of a 71-70 loss to Fresno State on Saturday night at The Pavilion as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters event. Joe Harden led the Aggies with a career-high 25 points, and Dominic Calegari added 16. Neither team led by more than eight points as there were 12 lead changes and 11 ties. UC Davis led 69-66 before Fresno State used one final push to claim the one-point win. Mark Payne posted a team-high seven rebounds and seven assists.
Four Aggies are averaging 11 points or better per game with Vince Oliver leading the team with 15.7 ppg. Harden is second with 14.9 followed by Calegari (11.1) and Payne (11.0).
Pacific is coming off a 66-60 loss at San Diego on Saturday. Prior to that, the Tigers lost at UC Santa Barbara, 67-57. Overall, Pacific has lost four of six games since defeating the Aggies at The Pavilion on Jan. 31. Bryan LeDuc leads the team with 11.0 points per game, and Chad Troyer is averaging 10.6.
Pacific leads the all-time series 74-10, including an 80-65 win in Davis earlier this season. The Tigers trailed 30-26 at the half but outscored the Aggies 54-35 in the second half. Oliver led all scorers with 20 points. Payne, Calegari and David Carter also finished in double figures. Chad Troyer led Pacific with 16 points.
UC Santa Barbara (12-13, 5-7 Big West) plays at Cal State Northridge on Wednesday before hosting the Aggies on Saturday. The Gauchos have won four straight games and feature Chris Devine, who has been named Big West Player of the Week two straight times. UC Davis defeated UCSB, 89-75, on Jan. 22 at The Pavilion.
