Game 23 - Salute to Heroes Night

Cal State Fullerton Titans (9-14, 1-7 BWC)
at
UC Davis Aggies (18-4, 8-1 BWC)

Thursday, Feb. 12 - 7 p.m.
The Pavilion (5,670) - Davis, Calif.

Salute to Heroes Facebook Event Page

Radio: KSAC (105.5 FM) - Scott Marsh (PBP)
Video Stream
Live Stats
In-game Twitter Updates

Game Notes DAVIS, Calif. - Starting with Thursday's Big West matchup against Cal State Fullerton, UC Davis' lone game of the week, the Aggies will host two of their next three games. A victory will give UC Davis its second regular-season sweep over the Titans since these teams first met during the 1961-62 season.

The second round of Big West games commenced last Saturday when the Aggies visited CSUN. By leaving the Matadome with a 13-point victory, UC Davis secured its first sweep over a league team this year. The Aggies can collect their second sweep in as many opportunities by defeating CSF.

For former UC Davis Aggie Dedrique Taylor, Thursday's game will provide the Titans' current head coach another opportunity to visit his alma mater. In his inaugural visit last year, UC Davis topped the Titans by 12 points.

Series Record: Cal State Fullerton leads 15-12
Last UC Davis Win: 79-68; 1/17/15 in Fullerton
Last Cal State Fullerton Win: 74-64; 2/13/14 in Fullerton
Series Streak: UC Davis +1

UC DAVIS THANKS YOU
UC Davis will honor all individuals who proudly served our nation before Thursday's game against Cal State Fullerton tips off as part of Salute to Heroes night.

CONGRATULATIONS COACH LES
UC Davis head coach Jim Les collected career victory No. 200 when the Aggies recorded another season sweep over CSUN with its 68-55 road win on Feb. 7.

WE'RE NUMBER ONE! WE'RE NUMBER ONE!
For the sixth consecutive week, UC Davis is the No. 1 team in the country (out of 345 Div. I teams) with its three-point percentage. The Aggies sport a .462 percentage from the behind the arc.

BETTER THAN 50/50 ODDS? I'LL TAKE THAT
UC Davis is also ranked No. 4 in the nation, and No. 1 in the Big West, with its .503 field goal percentage. The Aggies are the only Division I team in the country to hold a top-five three-point and field goal percentage.

HE'S NUMBER ONE! HE'S NUMBER ONE!
For the first time in the program's Division I history, a UC Davis player leads all players in the nation from behind the arc with his three-point percentage. Corey Hawkins is that individual, and for the third week in a row, holds a NCAA-high .526 figure.

RANKED NO. 4 BECAUSE HE CAN SCORE
Senior guard Corey Hawkins is ranked No. 4 among all Division I players in the nation with his 21.3 points per game average.

ESPN + UC DAVIS = WINNING COMBINATION
After its successful showing on ESPN3 at UC Irvine last week, the network will now air another game across the country when UC Davis men's basketball visits Long Beach State on Feb. 19. Tipoff from the Walter Pyramid is set for 7 p.m.

With Monday's announcement, UC Davis will now appear on ESPN and its family of networks on four occasions this season.

RITCHART RECEIVES PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
By averaging 21.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, shooting .708 percent overall and .600 percent from three to help UC Davis, who began the week of Feb. 2 tied for first place with two other teams, remained atop the Big West standings by itself when the team ended its Southern California road trip with wins at UC Irvine (2/5) and CSUN (2/7).

Last Thursday at UC Irvine, the senior guard/forward led all players with 22 points on a season-high 10 of 11 shooting from the field. Ritchart knocked down 2 of 3 shots from three; that lone miss prevented him from recording his second perfect shooting line for the season. Two days later at CSUN, he led all players once again with 21 points and canned a three with 1:43 remaining to push the Aggies' lead to nine and seal the victory.

The league's announcement on Monday, Feb. 9, marked the third time that Ritchart received weekly honors as an Aggie.

THERE IS A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
By receiving Big West Player of the Week accolades, UC Davis received honors on consecutive weeks for the first time since joining the Big West in 2007.

On Feb. 2, Corey Hawkins received his second weekly award from the conference.

HE'S DEFINITELY ON THE LIST
Corey Hawkins is on Lou Henson Mid-Major Watch List - an award that is presented to the best mid-major player in the nation. Including his NCAA-high .526 percentage from three, the senior guard also holds another six top-100 individual NCAA rankings. Hawkins' 21.3 points per game scoring average is the best in the Big West Conference and the fourth -highest among all Division I players; UC Davis' first-ever Big West scoring champion is also ranked No. 11 nationally by averaging 3.21 three-point field goals per game.

CLIMBING THE MID-MAJOR LADDER
For the sixth week, UC Davis earned a top 25 ranking when CollegeInsider.com released its mid-major poll Monday evening. In its latest listing, the Aggies are ranked No. 13 - the highest ranking in school history.

On Nov. 24, UC Davis made its inaugural Division I appearance on CollegeInsider.com's Mid-Major Top 25 poll when the Aggies received one vote. Five weeks later, UC Davis earned its first-ever, D-I national ranking when the media outlet listed the Aggies as the No. 25 mid-major team in the nation in its Dec. 22 poll.

NO PROBLEM, WE'VE GOT THIS
Even with him not in the lineup in the Aggies' Feb. 5 first-place battle at UC Irvine, the Aggies still routed the Anteaters, 75-56, to remain in a first place tie with Long Beach State. Two days later, UC Davis won its second straight game without the senior guard by defeating CSUN by 13 points.

THE CHASE TO NOTHING CONTINUES
UC Davis takes a 10-0 home record into Thursday's contest against Cal State Fullerton. The Aggies are bidding for the Big West's first undefeated home record since Long Beach State (12-0) in 2011-12.

ANYONE, ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
UC Davis enters this week's games atop the Big West standings in first place and is the only league team with an undefeated home (10-0) and winning road record (8-4).

THE DEFINITION OF CONSISTENCY
UC Davis has shot 50 percent in 14 games, and no worse than 44 percent in any game.

ANOTHER ERASER PLEASE
UC Davis blew past its previous Division I record for the most wins in a season, which was 14, with more than a month's worth of games still yet to play.

By winning both road games at UC Irvine (2/5) and CSUN (2/7), men's basketball set another record for the most road victories; this year's squad matched the previous mark of six wins entering that week, and stood alone once the team returned to Davis.

If UC Davis downs Cal State Fullerton Thursday night, this year's squad will win its ninth Big West game of the year, matching the program's current D-I record.

All three records were previously set by Les' 2012-13 team.

WE MUST PROTECT OUR HOUSE
By defeating UCSB on Jan. 29, UC Davis remained unbeaten at home this season and set a new Division I school record by collecting its ninth home victory. The previous mark of eight wins was originally set by the 2007-08 and 2009-10 teams.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
Coming off of a 9-22 season, UC Davis has set a Division I record for most victories (previous mark was 14) and is on pace for a 20-win campaign. Should the Aggies accomplish that, they would become the third team in Big West history to win single- digit games one year and 20 the next. Fresno State (7-20 in 1976-77, 21-6 in 1977-78) and Utah State (4-23 in 1981-82, 20-9 in 1982-83) are the others.

TOP 25 TALENT
Just a handful of days after grabbing the nation's attention after scoring 28 points and collecting 10 rebounds in Jan. 10's ESPNU home game against Long Beach State, Corey Hawkins was named one of the nation's best college basketball players by ESPN.

The senior guard was ranked No. 25 in college basketball pundit John Gasaway's annual hype-free, performance-based listing of the top 25 players in the country.

YOU CAN'T STOP THEM ALL
UC Davis leads all Big West teams by averaging 9.05 three-point field goals per game, holds the highest success rate from distance with its .462 percentage, and sports four of the league's top 10 shooters from behind the arc in seniors Corey Hawkins, Avery Johnson, Tyler Les and Josh Ritchart on its roster.

Hawkins leads all league players with his .526 three-point percentage; Les is No. 4 and is shooting .467 from three; Ritchart is No. 5 with his .462 clip; Johnson completes the list with his .418 mark.

Coincidentally, all four ranked players are redshirt seniors.

THEY ARE WITHIN RANGE ONCE THEY CROSS MIDCOURT
Seniors Josh Ritchart and Corey Hawkins also hold top-10 field goal percentages. The former is ranked No. 2 among all Big West players with his .533 figure, the latter is No. 5 and shooting .512 from the floor.

A FIVE-TOOL PLAYER IN BASKETBALL?
As the numbers indicate, that's the best way to describe Corey Hawkins since the senior guard can defend, score, protect the ball, create open looks for teammates and force turnovers. Hawkins' NCAA and Big West rankings include (through games played on Feb. 10):

NCAA
Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - 1/.526
Points Per Game - 4/21.3
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game - 11/3.21
Total Three-Point Field Goals - 55/61
Field Goal Percentage - 65/.512
Total Points - 75/404

Big West Conference
Points per Game - 1/21.3
Three-Point Field Goal Percentage - 1/.526
Three-Point Field Goals Made - 2/3.21 per gm.
Assists Per Game - 4/3.79 per gm.
Defensive Rebounds - 5/4.58 per gm.
Field Goal Percentage - 5/.512
Free Throw Percentage - 5/.806
Steals - 5/1.47 per gm.
Assist-To-Turnover Ratio - 9/1.29
Rebounding - 12/5.4 per gm.

KEEP YOUR HEAD ON A SWIVEL
Is the best piece of advice for all Aggie players on the court whenever sophomore guard Darius Graham, or senior guard Corey Hawkins possess the ball. The pair lead the team with 81 and 72 assists respectively; combined, they are responsible for 48 percent of the team's total.

YOU KNOW WHAT IS COMING AND YOU STILL CANNOT STOP HIM
Among all active Big West players, senior guard Tyler Les is ranked No. 2 with 186 three-point field goals. Of his 211 career field goals, 88 percent were made from distance.

THE AGGIES' 1-2 PUNCH FROM THREE
Three-point sharpshooter Tyler Les is No. 2 in the Big West Conference among all active players with 186 three-point field goals. So who is the only player preventing Les from claiming the top spot? Teammate Josh Ritchart and his 212 threes.

HE'S THEIR TOP DEFENDER, AND HE CAN SHOOT FROM THREE?
Known for stifling opponents' top players each and every game, Avery Johnson has developed a new part of his game by knocking down threes on a regular, and consistent basis. Including his career-high four-basket performance in the Aggies' Big West opener vs. CSUN,

Johnson has canned 23 threes this season to surpass his total from last year (18) with a month's worth of games remaining.