Jan. 23, 2010

Final Stats

STOCKTON, Calif. - UC Davis was defeated by Pacific, 77-61, Saturday night in a Big West Conference men's basketball game at the Alex G. Spanos Center. Joe Harden led the Aggies with a game-high 19 points, and Mark Payne added 15. It wasn't enough, however, as the Tigers used a big first half and led from start to finish. The loss drops UC Davis to 7-11 overall and 3-3 in the Big West. Michael Nunnally and Demetrece Young each led Pacific (12-6, 5-1 Big West) with 15 points.

Pacific dominated the first half on its way to a 36-15 halftime lead. The Tigers held the Aggies to just two field goals in the game's first 18 minutes and 4-for-20 shooting in the first period.

Pacific opened up with a 7-0 lead and built it to 13-3 eight minutes in. The biggest run of the half came after the Aggies cut it to 16-8 on a free throw by Todd Lowenthal. The Tigers proceeded to go on a 14-1 blitz and led 30-9 at the 2:29 mark.

UC Davis went nearly 10 minutes without a field goal before Ryan Sypkens made a three-pointer with just under two minutes left in the half to make it 32-13.

The Aggies could not make up much ground in the opening minutes of the second half. A Payne three-pointer with 15:08 remaining made it 44-27 before the Tigers went on a 10-0 run to extend their cushion to 54-27.

The lead grew to as much as 57-29 with 11 minutes remaining before UC Davis outscored Pacific, 32-20, the rest of the way. Overall, the Aggies responded to outscore the Tigers, 46-41, in the second half.

UC Davis shot 59 percent in the second half after just 20 percent in the first half. Harden scored 18 of his 19 points in the second half. Dominic Calegari finished with nine points after being saddled with foul trouble in the first half. Payne led UC Davis with seven rebounds and four assists.

Pacific held a 39-24 advantage in rebounds and shot 52 percent for the game. The Aggies shot 44 percent overall.

UC Davis returns to action Thursday night when it plays at UC Riverside.