Dec. 1, 2010

Final Stats

BERKELEY, Calif. - Despite a career high 27 points for senior Joe Harden, the UC Davis men's basketball team couldn't upend the California Golden Bears, as the Aggies fell 74-62 Wednesday in front of a crowd of 6,753 at Haas Pavilion.

After trailing 39-30 at the break, UC Davis had the lead down to six mid-way through the second half. Cal exploded from there for a 13-1 run, taking a double digit lead that they would not surrender.

The Aggies shot 49 percent from the floor as a team and 87 percent from the line, but allowed Cal to shoot 54 percent as a team for the game. UC Davis was also out rebounded 31-21, while the turnover margin was even at 13-13.

"I thought we did some good things tonight," said head coach Gary Stewart. "We took care of the ball, particularly in the second half with four turnovers as a team. We were able to make 49 percent of our shots, so I thought we did some really good things. There were five plays that were 50/50 plays and Cal made them all. To beat a team like this on the road, you have to get those plays, so give credit to Cal that they did."

Harden poured in the game high 27 points on 11 of 19 shooing for UC Davis, which dropped to 3-5. Mark Payne also chipped in with 15 points, five assists and four rebounds for the Aggies. The Golden Bears had three players in double figures, led by Gary Franklin's 13 points, as Cal improved to 4-2 on the season.

"He was terrific," said Stewart when asked about Harden. "As good as he was in relationship to scoring the ball, it was the other things too. I thought his leadership was outstanding and you need that coming into an environment on the road like this."

The Aggies started strong in the first half, fighting back from an early deficit to take their first lead of the night with a 14-13 score. Payne had seven of the first 11 points, before a Ryan Sypkens three gave UC Davis the one point advantage with 12:11 on the clock.

Harden had a game high 12 points in the first half, using one of his long ranged two-point field goals to give the Aggies a 21-20 lead at the 8:10 mark. The back and forth action continued, with a stretch of nearly eight minutes where neither team led by more than three points.

After five ties and four lead changes in the first half, Cal took the lead for good on a pair of Gary Franklin free throws that made the score 27-26, with 4:39 remaining in the half. The Golden Bears ended the half on a 13-4 run over a five minute stretch, taking a 39-30 advantage into the locker room.

A pair of Eddie Miller finishes in the paint helped the Aggies to cut the deficit to four early in the second half with a 47-43 score. Cal responded with an 8-0 run however, going up 55-43 with 12:13 remaining in the game.

A quick 6-0 run had the Aggies within six, but they would get no closer, as the Golden Bears put the game out of reach with a 13-1 run, to go up by as many as 18 at the 6:11 mark, with a 68-50 score. Some late baskets for UC Davis brought the final score to 74-62.

"We weren't as good defensively as we thought we would have been coming into the game," said Stewart. "They spaced us out and made some shots from three and then got the ball in the interior. They're difficult to guard. But we didn't give up transition baskets and we forced them into the half court. So we'll go back and look at the film and make some adjustments accordingly."

UC Davis will return home this weekend, when they play host to the Notre Dame de Namur Argonauts on Saturday, Dec. 4 in a 7 p.m. contest.