NCAA Tournament Quest Begins Wednesday

March 10, 2009

DAVIS, Calif. - The UC Davis men's basketball team begins its quest for its first Big West Conference championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament when it faces UC Irvine in the first round of the Big West Tournament Wednesday night in Anaheim. The game tips at 6 p.m. at the Anaheim Convention Center and can be heard on KFSG 1690-AM as well as at www.ucdavisaggies.com. UC Davis is the No. 8 seed while UC Irvine is No. 5, but both teams finished with identical 12-18 records overall.

UC Davis heads to Anaheim with one First Team and two Second Team All-Big West members. Vince Oliver, the Aggies' leading scorer and the fourth-leading scorer in the conference with 15.5 points per game is one of six players to be named Big West First Team All-Conference. Joe Harden and Mark Payne are each Second Team members. Harden is second on the team and fifth in the Big West with 14.9 ppg. He's also third in the conference with 7.2 rpg. Payne is averaging 10.8 points and 5.7 rebounds and leads the Aggies in numerous other categories. The Aggies' potent offense, which ranks third in the Big West in scoring, is also helped by Dominic Calegari's 10.9 points per game.

UC Irvine finished with four wins in its final five games, including a 65-62 win at Cal State Fullerton last Saturday. The team's only loss since Feb. 14 was a 75-74 setback at home against Long Beach State on Feb. 26. Eric Wise, a Second Team All-Big West selection, leads UCI with 14.2 ppg. Michael Hunter is averaging 11.8, and Kevin Bland is tossing in 10.0 points and a team-leading 7.2 rebounds per game.

UC Irvine leads the all-time series, 12-9, but UC Davis swept the season series. The Aggies defeated the Anteaters, 88-85, on Jan. 17 before claiming an 85-76 victory on Feb. 12. Joe Harden averaged 20 points and seven rebounds in the two wins.

The four-day tournament features the No. 5 through No. 8 seeds squaring off on Wednesday. No. 6 Cal State Fullerton and No. 7 UC Riverside will play following the UC Davis game. A win for the Aggies would advance them to a quarterfinal match-up with No. 3 Pacific on Thursday. Top-seed Cal State Northridge and No. 2 Long Beach State have byes into Friday's semifinal round. UC Santa Barbara is the No. 4 seed and joins Pacific with a bye into the quarterfinals. The winner of the tournament receives the Big West's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

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