Feb. 15, 2011

Final Stats

SEATTLE, Wash. - The UC Davis men's basketball team shot 55 percent from the field in order to overcome 22 turnovers, while Joe Harden and Mark Payne each scored 19 points in a 88-78 win over Seattle University Tuesday at Key Arena.

Harden had a halfcourt buzzer beater at halftime, sparking a 6-0 run to start the second half for the Aggies. UC Davis (9-16) led for most of the second half and and held the Redhawks to 27 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes. Seattle (9-16) shot just 38 percent from the floor for the game with a 56 percent mark at the foul line. The Redhawks also had turnover problems of their own with 16 in the game.

Harden led four Aggies in double figures, posting 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting to go along with 6 rebounds. Payne's 19 points came on 6 of 11 shooting with a 6 of 7 mark at the line. Eddie Miller had 15 points while Ryan Sypkens chipped in with 11 points.

Seattle also had four players in double figures, with Alex Jones scoring a game high 20 points on 6 of 10 shooting. Sterling Carter posted 18 points on 7 of 14 shooting while Cervante Burrell and Aaron Broussard and added 16 and 15 points, respectively.

"This is a difficult venue to play in against a team that's better than a lot of people think," said head coach Gary Stewart. "We have a tendency to get excited about a shootout; our guys like to play that way. Sometimes you have to win it on the defensive end and we were able to do that in the second half."

Seattle jumped out to a 23-14 lead at the 10:14 mark in the first half, behind Jones' 10 points. UC Davis suffered from seven turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game and had 14 by halftime.

The Redhawks led by as many as 12 in the opening period, taking a 36-24 advantage thanks to a Broussard layup with 5:48 on the clock. The Aggies outscored Seattle 16-9 to close out the half, including a quick 6-0 run to get back in the game.

Harden sank a half court buzzer beater to make the score 45-40 at the break with the Redhawks still in the lead. Harden had 13 first half points to lead all scorers through 20 minutes.

UC Davis carried some momentum over into the second half, using a 9-4 run to tie the score at 49-49, after a Miller three with 17:28 on the clock. The Aggies took their biggest lead of the game with a 69-60 score at the 9:01 mark.

Seattle fought back to tie the game at 77-77 with 3:16 on the clock. UC Davis closed out the game on a 11-1 run, holding the Redhaws without a field goal for over three minutes en route to the final 88-78 score.

"I have great respect for Cameron's team because they compete so well," said Stewart. "Their scheme and the matchup was excellent. We had to make a lot of adjustments on what they were doing early."

UC Davis will be back home on Saturday, participating in an ESPNU BracketBuster game against Hawai'i at 2 p.m. in The Pavilion.