Nov. 29, 2010

Complete Game Notes

Live Video

Live Audio



UC DAVIS MEN'S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES
UC Davis (3-4, 0-0)
at
California (3-2, 0-0)

Wednesday, December 1, 2010
7:30 p.m. (PST) - Davis, Calif.
Haas Pavilion (11,877)
KFSG (1690 AM)

OPENING TIPS
- UC Davis put together their first win streak of the season, taking an 80-58 win over Seattle during the holiday weekend, after defeating Sacramento State 61-54 earlier in the week.
- The Aggies led the entire game vs. the Redhawks, using an 11-2 run to start the second half to go up by double figures, before leading by as many as 24 in the game.
- Eddie Miller had a career high 20 points to lead all scorers vs. Seattle. Miller shot 6 of 9 from the field and 3 of 5 from behind the arc, also recording a career high in 3-point FGs made.
- Freshman Mike Kurtz established himself as a fixture in the starting lineup, starting his second consecutive game and tallying 6 pts, 6 rebs and 4 blks. The other four starters have started in all seven games this season.
- Joe Harden reached 1000 career points vs. Seattle. after 16 points and a 10 for 10 effort from the line brought his total to 1007 points, in just three seasons as an Aggie.
- California comes into Wednesday's contest with a 3-2 overall record, having dropped their last two games.
- The Golden Bears defeated #21 Temple, 57-50, in the opening round of the Old Spice Classic, in Orlando, Fla. Cal followed that performance by losing 57-44 to Notre Dame, scoring just five points in the first half.
- Since the shot clock was instituted in 1986, the lowest total point output was set by Savannah State and North Carolina Central, when they combined to score 18 points in January of last year. Savannah State only had five points at the break of that game, as well.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Wednesday's game will mark the 32nd time UC Davis and Cal have met, with the Golden Bears having won every game in the all-time series. UC Davis has not faced Cal in over 20 years, with the last meeting coming during the 1986-87 season. The Aggies dropped a 90-71 decision in the last meeting.

HEAD COACHES
Gary Stewart is in his 18th year as a head coach and his 8th season with the Aggies. He currently owns a 223-251 overall record and a 81-132 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.

Mike Montgomery holds a 49-24 record in his third year with the Golden Bears and a 596-268 overall record as a head coach. Prior to coming to Cal, he was 393-167 (.702) over 18 years at Stanford from 1987-2004 and 154-77 (.667) during the previous eight seasons at Montana. Montgomery entered the 2010-11 season with a 593-266 (.690) record at the college level, a mark that places him 10th in victories among active coaches at the Division I level. Overall, 27 of his 28 teams have posted winning records. Following the 2003-04 season, he left Stanford to become the head coach of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, where he compiled a 68-96 record in two seasons. He then served as an assistant to the athletic director at Stanford and worked as a television commentator for two years before accepting the offer to coach at Cal.

CALIFORNIA SCOUTING REPORT
The Golden Bears come into Wednesday's matchup with a 3-2 overall record. Cal most recently dropped a 68-46 contest vs. Boston College, in a consolation game at the 2010 Old Spice Classic. The Golden Bears started the season on a good note, defeating Cal State Northridge 80-63, before blowing out defending Mountain West champion New Mexico, 89-64. In a bizarre two game stretch, Cal knocked off #21 Temple 57-50, and then had a 5-point first half against Notre Dame en route to a 57-44 loss. The Golden Bears returns just one starter from last season's Pac-10 championship team and were picked to finish 7th in the conference.

MEDIA COVERAGE
Wednesday'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 calbears.com. Live stat are available via ucdavisaggies.com, with a tip time set for 7:30 p.m. PT.

LAST TIME OUT
The Aggies managed their first win streak of the young season, taking an 80-58 victory over Seattle at home. UC Davis led the entire game against the Redhawks, using a 11-2 run early in the second half to gain some separation, en route to the win. Joe Harden scored his 1000th career point, after 16 points and a 10 for 10 effort from the line brought his total to 1007 points, in just three seasons as an Aggie. Eddie Miller had a career best 20 points to lead the Aggies, after 6 of 9 shooting and three triples. Mark Payne also chipped in with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists.

LOWENTHAL IN THE NCAA RANKS
With the first NCAA statistical rankings posted on Monday, Nov. 29th, Todd Lowenthal is the only player for the Aggies that received an individual ranking in the top 100. Lowenthal leads the team in assists and steals and is among the nation's best with 2.3 steals per game (57th) and a 2.36 assist to turnover ratio (85th). The next highest ranking for UC Davis is Mark Payne, who is shooting 82.2 percent from the free-throw line (182nd). As a team, the Aggies are ranked 93rd in free-throw percentage, shooting 71.1 percent.

Q&A WITH STEWART AND PAYNE
In the Nov. 29, 2010 issue of ESPN the Magazine, there is an article on page 64 about "hybrid players." Senior guard Mark Payne (6-8, 215 lbs.) was originally interviewed to be included in the article, with head coach Gary Stewart also commenting on Payne's status as a hybrid player. The Payne section was eventually left out of the final article, but the Q&A session with Payne and Stewart is available online to read. Visit ucdavisaggies.com and check out the "around the web" section to access a link to the conversations.

UC RIVERSIDE HOME GAME TO BE TELEVISED
UC Davis has picked up a televised game this season at home vs. UC Riverside on January 27th, with a tip time set for 7 p.m. The recently added game will air on Comcast California. The Aggies play in four televised games this season, but the Jan. 27th tilt will be the only home contest televised for UC Davis.

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 -1052 career points - Ranks T-16th overall in UC Davis career scoring
Joe Harden - 1007 career points - Ranks 18th overall in UC Davis career scoring

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 375 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).