Nov. 24, 2010

Complete Game Notes

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Live Audio



UC DAVIS MEN'S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES
UC Davis (2-4, 0-0)
vs.
Seattle (2-5, 0-0)

Saturday, November 27, 2010
1 p.m. (PST) - Davis, Calif.
The Pavilion (7,100)
KFSG (1690 AM)

OPENING TIPS
- UC Davis took their first win vs. a Division I opponent in the 2010-11 season, defeating Sacramento State 61-54 on the road Tuesday.
- The Aggies took a commanding 37.5 - 15.0 lead in the Causeway Cup standings, thanks to the football and men's basketball wins over Sacramento State in the last week.
- Ryan Sypkens had a game high 16 points at Sacramento State, after 5 of 8 shooting and four second half threes in the game. Sypkens tied a career high for points and 3 pt. FGs made vs. the Hornets.
- UC Davis changed their starting lineup for the first time this season at Sacramento State, giving Mike Kurtz his first career start over Alex Tiffin, who started the previous five contests.
- Joe Harden had 13 points at Sacramento State and now needs just 9 points to reach 1000 career points.
Seattle comes into the contest with a 2-5 overall record, after a recent win vs. Navy, 75-70.
- The Redhawks have already played two Big West opponents, falling to Cal Poly 76-60 and UC Irvine 85-77.
- Seattle has four players averaging double figures in points led by freshman Sterling Carter, who is posting 16.6 points per game and has 21 three-point FGs on the season.
- Aaron Broussard is averaging a near double-double for the Redhawks, with 13.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Saturday's game will mark the 4th time UC Davis and Seattle have met, with the Redhawks holding a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series. UC Davis dropped two contests last season vs. the Redhawks, falling 88-78 at home, before a late non-conference matchup on the road, when the Aggies fell 81-56 on Feb. 16, 2010.

HEAD COACHES
Gary Stewart is in his 18th year as a head coach and his 8th season with the Aggies. He currently owns a 222-251 overall record and a 80-132 mark on the sidelines with UC Davis. Stewart was with the Aggies during all four years of the transition to Division I and is set to lead the program into their fourth year as a D1 member.

Cameron Dollar holds a 19-19 overall record in his second year with the Redhaws and 30-41 overall record his third overall year as a head coach. Prior to Seattle, Dollar served seven years as an assistant coach at the University of Washington.

SEATTLE SCOUTING REPORT
The Redhawks come into Saturday's matchup with a 2-5 overall matchup. Seattle most recently played in the 2K Sports Classic, hosted by UC Irvine, and dropped two out of three games, winning their final game vs. Navy, 75-70. Prior to the UC Irvine tourney, the Redhawks lost to Cal Poly in their home opener 76-60. Seattle did take a win versus Pac-10 member Oregon State, 83-80, for their first win of the season.

MEDIA COVERAGE
Saturday's contest will air on KFSG (1690 AM) with Scott Marsh on the call. Bill Herenda will also provide analysis for the game. The broadcast will be simulcast on ucdavisaggies.com through Game Central by Stretch Internet. The game will also be streamed live and available to watch on on Big West TV. Live stat are available via ucdavisaggies.com, with a tip time set for 1 p.m. PT.


LAST TIME OUT
The Aggies took their win vs. a Division I opponent, with a big victory over local rival Sacramento State, 61-54. Ryan Sypkens scored a game high 16 points off the bench to spark the offense for UC Davis. Joe Harden reached double figures for the fifth consecutive game with 13 points, while adding six rebounds. Eddie Miller also turned in his best effort on the young season, tallying 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting, eight rebounds and three assists.

CAUSEWAY CUP CONTINUES
UC Davis jumped ahead in the Causeway Cup standings after a dramatic 17-16 win in the football Causeway Classic on Saturday, Nov. 20. The Causeway Cup awards points to either UC Davis or Sacramento State. Each of the schools' 18 common teams usually compete against each other at least once during the year. The winner is given the pre-determined amount of points of either five or 10. If the two schools meet just once in a season, then all the points will go to the winning team. But if the teams play each other two times or more, the points are divided by how many meetings occur. A men's basketball win just three days after football gave the Aggies a commanding 37.5 - 15.0 lead in the 2010-11 Causeway Cup standings. The winner of the cup must score more than 50 points out of a possible 100. Last year, UC Davis took a 55.83 - 44.17 victory over Sacramento State.

CHECK THAT...
After checking the stats from previous games, an interesting correction has been made to the first game of the season vs. Florida Atlantic. In that game, Mark Payne was originally credited with 13 free throws on 13 attempts. After the error was revealed, Payne was 14 of 14 at the line vs. FAU. Not only did the correction give Payne a 20-10 game, but the 14 free throws made ties a career high for the senior guard.

AGGIES INK JT ADENRELE
The UC Davis men's basketball team announced Wednesday, Nov. 17 that JT Adenrele from Oakmont High School in Roseville, has signed a National Letter of Intent and will join the Aggies next fall. Adenrele, a 6-foot-6 220-pound forward, helped lead Oakmont to an impressive 25-8 overall record during the 2009-10 season. They also finished second place in their division with a 9-3 record and advanced to the section semifinals under head coach Rick Campbell. Adenrele averaged 11.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game at Oakmont as a junior. For his play in the 2009-10 season, he was awarded SFL League Honorable Mention. Adenrele also played AAU during the off season from spring through summer, under coach Ernest Taubodo with the E-Times Hoops Academy.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Joe Harden and Mark Payne have both put together double-doubles this season, with Harden posting two consecutive in the most recent games. Throughout the season, all double-doubles by the Aggies will be monitored on a game-by-game basis.

Joe Harden Mark Payne
UC Santa Cruz 11-17 - 16 pts./11 rebs. Florida Atlantic 11-12 - 20 pts./11 rebs.
Wisc.-Milwaukee 11-14 - 21 pts./11 rebs.

1000 POINT WATCH
Seniors Joe Harden and Mark Payne entered the season just shy of the 1000-point plateau, with each player starting the year with over 900 points. Payne reached the career milestone on Nov. 14 vs. Wisc.-Milwaukee, scoring 17 points in the game and becoming the 17th member of the UC Davis 1000-point club. Harden should join Payne soon, with just 22 points needed to reach 1000. The progress of Harden and the overall career standing of Payne will be monitored on a game-by-game basis.

Mark Payne -1039 career points - Ranks 17th overall in UC Davis career scoring
Joe Harden - 991 career points

NO PAYNE NO GAIN
Despite missing eight games due to injury last season, senior guard Mark Payne was the Big West active career leader in three separate categories entering the 2010-11 season, including points (964), assists (352) and steals (149).

In the UC Davis record books, Payne is also in the top ten in career assists and steals and climbing the leader board. His progress will be monitored on a game-by-game basis.

CAREER ASSISTS CAREER STEALS
1. Angelo Rivers, 1982-86 467 1. Dante Ross, 1996-99 186
2. Dante Ross, 1996-99 380 2. Angelo Rivers, 1983-86 180
3. Mark Payne, 2007-Present 369 3. Chris Familetti, 1988-89, '90-92 172
4. Mark Payne, 2007-Present 152

WINNING BREEDS WINNING
There has been a common theme for the UC Davis men's basketball team over the past three years: consistent improvement.

2007-08 season: nine wins, two conference wins. 2008-09 season: 13 wins, seven conference wins. 2009-10 season: 14 wins, eight conference wins.

Coach Stewart is hoping that the Aggies will look to improve on that mark again this season.

"The theme is return and advance," said Stewart. "We want to get to the upper echelon of the conference, return to the conference tournament and advance farther than we did last year. The charge again is to continue to move the program forward, trying to build on some of the successes that we had last year. We feel like if we can remain healthy, we have a golden opportunity to do that."

COACH Gary Stewart ON TWITTER
This season we will keep up with head coach Gary Stewart on Twitter, "retweeting" his latest tweets, starting with the most recent ones.

"I am fired up! Go Ags!"
15 Oct

"First day of "official" basketball practice! We are two hours away from taking the floor........."
15 Oct

"Coach Gross is an incredible teacher/coach. Without question, she will continue the long line of outstanding wbb coaches to lead the Ags!"
8 Oct

"and.......Congratulations to Jennifer Gross, who was named the Head Women's Basketball Coach for the 2011-12 season and beyond!"
8 Oct

"I am looking forward to seeing him coach one last season at the helm of the Ags!"
8 Oct

"On behalf of the entire men's basketball program at UC Davis, we wish him a retirement filled with joy and great health."
8 Oct

"UC Davis Women's Basketball Coach, Sandy Simpson, announces his retirement. Simple put, he is an outstanding coach and a wonderful person."
8 Oct

"First day of school, 2010-11. Go Ags!"
23 Sep

NOTABLE NON-CONFERENCE GAMES
Cal and perennial national power UCLA highlight a schedule that features three non-conference teams that reached the 20-win plateau. Pac-10 regular-season champion Cal, which beat Louisville in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to eventual national champion Duke in the second, finished 24-11. The Bears will host the Aggies on Dec. 1 at Haas Pavilion as the teams meet for the first time since the 1986-87 season. The Aggies and Bruins will play on Dec. 13 at legendary Pauley Pavilion, facing each other for the second time in the past four seasons. Cal joins Wisc.-Milwaukee (20-14) and Portland (21-11) as 20-game winners on the Aggies' non-conference schedule.

TELEVISED GAMES
UC Davis has a guarantee of three televised games this season, with the possibility of more to come. Currently, the Aggies will make appearances in games vs. UCLA, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara. In the Dec. 13 matchup with the Bruins, the game will be televised on Prime Ticket. ESPNU will cover the Long Beach State game on Jan. 12, while the Feb. 2 tilt with UC Santa Barbara will also be on Prime Ticket.

HARDEN'S PRESEASON PLAUDIT
Senior guard Joe Harden was named to the Big West Preseason All-Conference Team, voted on by a panel of media members. Harden has been selected to the Big West All-Conference Second Team the past two seasons. Last season, he was also named to the 2010 Big West All Tournament Team and he was named the 2009-10 Best Hustle Player in the Big West. Entering the 2010-11 season, Harden was third in active career leaders in points (908) and rebounds (445).