March 7, 2015

Box Score | Postseason Central

DAVIS, Calif. - Senior Corey Hawkins capped his spectacular career on Hamilton Court with 30 points while Brynton Lemar scored 10 straight Aggie points during a three-minute stretch in the second half, as the Big West champion UC Davis men's basketball team finished unbeaten at home this season with an 80-61 win over UC Irvine before 4,345 fans at the Pavilion.

UC Davis, which will enter next week's Big West Tournament at Honda Center in Anaheim as the top seed, improved to 24-5 overall while finishing the home season with a spotless 14-0 record.

"This game was special in so many respects: the home court record; continuing to build our résumé for the postseason; building momentum heading into next week; making sure we send these four seniors out appropriately after all they have done for this program," said head coach Jim Les.

The Aggies' 24 wins are the most in the Division I era, and the biggest total since 1999-2000.

Hawkins' final game on Hamilton Court marked the eighth time in his career that he scored 30 or more points in a game, and the 38th time that he posted a total of 20 or more. With Saturday's performance, Hawkins now sits alongside Audwin Thomas (1975-79) for the most 20-plus point games in a career.

Will Davis II scored 12 points and Mamadou Ndiaye added 11 for the Anteaters who fell to 18-11 overall and 11-5 in the Big West.

"That was awesome playing in front of that crowd tonight," said Josh Ritchart following the game.

"We beat a tough team, which is a great momentum boost heading into the postseason."

UC Davis trailed by as many as six points in the first half and was down 28-24 at halftime before tying the game, 33-33, early in the second half on a Hawkins three-point play. An 8-2 Aggie run gave UC Davis a 46-39 lead with 12:21 remaining.

The Aggies were up 46-41 when Brynton Lemar, a sophomore from San Diego went to work. He hit back-to-back jumpers for a 50-43 lead and then hit two more treys as UC Davis went up 56-54 with 8:02 on the clock.

UC Irvine got to within eight points twice but the lead gradually built down the stretch, leading to a celebration of the Aggies' four seniors - Ritchart, Avery Johnson, Tyler Les and Hawkins.

"I think we did a great job keeping our emotions under control tonight. It was exciting having our friends and family in attendance for tonight's senior ceremony. This was a special night for all of us from start, to finish," said T. Les.

Johnson scored 13 points for UC Davis, Hawkins went 11-for-11 at the line, and Neil Monson grabbed seven rebounds.

Even though the Aggies were assured a first-place finish regardless of Saturday's result, UC Davis was intent on treating this game like any other.

"This game was important to us for all the reasons [previously mentioned], we play to win," added J. Les.

With its perfect home record, the Aggies become the first team since Long Beach State during the 2011-12 season to win every game played at home in a single season.

UC Davis, which won its first Big West regular-season title with Thursday's comeback win over UC Riverside, will face CSUN in the tournament quarterfinals next Thursday in Anaheim. The winner of the three-day event secures the Big West's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. As regular-season champion, UC Davis is guaranteed at least a bid to the NIT.

Tipoff for Thursday's quarterfinal game from the Honda Center will take place at 12 p.m.

Other quarterfinal games taking place after UC Davis' matchup against CSUN include Hawai'i vs. Long Beach State (30 minutes after the Aggies' game ends), UC Riverside vs. UC Irvine (6 p.m.) and Cal Poly vs. UC Santa Barbara (30 mins. after UCR-UCI ends).

UC DAVIS 80, UC IRVINE 61

UC IRVINE (18-12, 11-5 BWC)

Davis II, Will 4-11 4-4 12; Ndiaye, Mamadou 4-9 3-4 11; Young, Alex 4-9 1-29; Dimakopoulos,Ioannis 3-5 0-0 7; Souza, Travis 2-3 0-0 6; Martin, Jaron2-7 0-0 6; Best, Mike 3-7 0-0 6; Nelson, Luke 0-9 2-4 2; Wright, Aaron 0-22-2 2; Saprykinas, Haroldas 0-0 0-0 0; McConnell, Reed 0-0 0-0 0. Totals22-62 12-16 61.

UC DAVIS (24-5, 14-2 BWC)

Hawkins, Corey 9-16 11-11 30; Johnson, Avery 3-6 4-4 13; Lemar, Brynton 4-60-0 10; Fox, Josh 3-9 2-4 8; Adenrele, J.T. 2-6 4-6 8; Ritchart, Josh 2-30-0 6; Les, Tyler 0-0 2-2 2; Monson, Neal 1-1 0-0 2; Graham, Darius 0-3 1-21; Dueck, Justin 0-0 0-0 0; Onyebalu, Michael 0-0 0-0 0; Funtarov, Georgi0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-50 24-29 80.

UC Irvine..................... 28 33 - 61
UC Davis...................... 24 56 - 80

3-point goals--UC Irvine 5-16 (Souza, Travis 2-3; Martin, Jaron 2-5;Dimakopoulos,Ioannis 1-1; Best, Mike 0-1; Nelson, Luke 0-3; Wright, Aaron0-1; Young, Alex 0-2), UC Davis 8-16 (Johnson, Avery 3-5; Ritchart, Josh2-3; Lemar, Brynton 2-3; Hawkins, Corey 1-4; Graham, Darius 0-1). Fouledout--UC Irvine-None, UC Davis-None. Rebounds--UC Irvine 37 (Ndiaye, Mamadou8), UC Davis 36 (Monson, Neal 7). Assists--UC Irvine 10 (Young, Alex 3;Nelson, Luke 3), UC Davis 13 (Johnson, Avery 3; Hawkins, Corey 3). Totalfouls--UC Irvine 22, UC Davis 17. Technical fouls--UC Irvine-TEAM, UCDavis-None. A-4345