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Students The Pavilion Crowd 2-28 vs. UC Irvine
Scott Kresie

Men's Basketball

A true home court advantage for both Aggie basketball teams

Men's basketball begins its Big West schedule Thursday at home against UC Riverside (7 p.m.); women's basketball's first league home game set for Saturday, at 2 p.m., versus Hawai'i

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For visiting basketball opponents at The Pavilion in recent years, it has been "abandon hope all ye who enter here."
 
For both men and women, Aggie programs have won better than three of every four games played in their friendly confines. And now that Big West Conference play is upon us, the foreboding words of Dante's "Devine" Comedy are no joking matter for those UC Davis foes.

It all starts in earnest on Thursday when coach Jim Les' crew entertains UC Riverside at home. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. Meanwhile at the exact same moment on the Highlanders' court, coach Jennifer Gross and Company hope to start a run at an unprecedented fourth straight BWC championship.

Gross and Les believe their respective league-title chases are wide open, and while a postseason media poll expects the women to be at or near the top in March, another poll of so-called experts has the local men struggling. Recent play of both Aggie groups validates the distaff vote, contradicts the assessment of the men.

"Really pleased with where we are heading into conference," Les told my Enterprise colleague Bob Dunning last week. "The growth of our entire team over the course of the season has been great so far. Very pleasing to see."

And as the men inch closer to Thursday, Les is loving his guys' preparation: "The integrity of our practices is really starting to pay off on game nights. I'm a firm believer that it all starts in practice and carries over to when they turn the lights on. We're right where we need to be heading into conference. We keep playing like this, we're going to be in the mix."

UC Davis men are 6-10. Only once, the season opener at Loyola of Chicago, have the Aggies been routed. Davis has split its last six games and is coming off a sparkling 101-41 victory against Holy Names (Oakland) on Friday. UC Riverside is 10-6 and has been led by 6-9 Washington State transfer Arinze Chidom (13 ppg).

But the Aggies counter with senior guard Joe Mooney, who went for 35 points in a win at Northern Arizona and continues to average 15.4 a game. UC Davis is a deep squad and can use Saint Louis transfer, 6-11 center Matt Neufeld (10.7 points a game) inside or fall back on impressive freshman guard Ezra Manjon (Heritage High of Brentwood). Manjon is bringing energy, 10.3 points and more than four assists a night.

St. Mary's transfer Stefan Gonzalez has been sizzling of late, too, averaging 12.3 ppg over his last eight outings.

"It's hard to pick a favorite," Les surmises. "Santa Barbara has been looking good and Irvine has a lot of people back, but it's going to be a very competitive conference.

"Once conference starts everything gets ramped up and different teams can emerge. I think the league is really up for grabs. No clear favorite, for sure. We've played a really good, competitive schedule in some tough environments. This team has been prepped for Big West play. We keep playing with the intensity we've shown and we're going to be right there in late February and early March."

One thing remains constant: The Pavilion is a tough place for visitors.

Over the last six seasons, UC Davis men are 54-15 (.782) at home, 4-0 this campaign. The women are 58-17 (.773), 4-2 in 2019-20.

Like the men, the women looked like world-beaters in their final tuneup for Big West as William Jessup fell to another balanced attack, 96-32.

With preseason all-BWC choice Nina Bessolo (20 points) and Foothill High (Sacramento) product Makaila Sanders (19) off the bench to fuel the fire, the rout of Jessup was a crystal clear indication that Aggie opponents will have to be prepared for any form of firepower.

Paced by swingman Katie Toole's 15.7-point average, UC Davis can call on junior Cierra Hall — the team's leading rebounder who also put up 32 points versus Boston College in a performance for the ages on Dec. 5. Hall had 13 rebounds in that victory.

On any given night, Gross is confident in each of her talented castmembers...

There is emerging sophomore Kayla Konrad, post Sage Stobbart, point guard Mackenzie Trpcic, who's been joined by capable back-court mates Campbell Gray, Evanne Turner and Sanders. Veteran Sophia Song is expected back from injury at some point, so a quick look down the statistic sheet gives fans an idea of the depth at hand for Gross.

"On this team, all of the players are capable of helping, and that's the exciting thing," Gross told me on New Year's Day. "We're starting to see what different people can do, and this might be one of those teams where we're better when everybody is contributing. That's kind of the direction we're going.

"It will be interesting."

Indeed. And to make things even more interesting for local fans, there are three women's-men's doubleheaders featured, the first of which will be conducted on Saturday, Feb. 1. It will be Alumni Day as Gross' group meets UC Santa Barbara at 2:30 p.m. while Les and his troops face Cal Poly (5 p.m.).

In addition to celebrating with Aggies of yore, on that day the school will be celebrating the 1998 men's D-II National Championship winners. It was a team on which current associate head coach Kevin Nosek played.

RSVP for complimentary tickets by clicking here and entering the code BBALLALUM Hospitality will begin at halftime of the women's game and continue through halftime of the men's contest.

Ready for some basketball? Looks like the Aggie men and women are, too.


One of the most well-known and respected sports writers in the industry, former Davis Enterprise sports and managing editor Bruce Gallaudet joined the UC Davis Athletics staff as its feature writer in the summer of 2018. Since then, visitors to UCDavisAggies.com have enjoyed his unique perspective on campus student-athletes, coaches, teams, individuals, programs, events and projects that represent the fifth-ranked public school in the nation.
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Players Mentioned

Stefan Gonzalez

#2 Stefan Gonzalez

G
6' 2"
Senior
Joe Mooney

#22 Joe Mooney

G
6' 3"
Senior
Matt Neufeld

#13 Matt Neufeld

C
6' 11"
Senior
Ezra  Manjon

#5 Ezra Manjon

G
5' 11"
Freshman
Nina Bessolo

#5 Nina Bessolo

F
6' 0"
Senior
Cierra Hall

#32 Cierra Hall

F
6' 0"
Junior
Kayla Konrad

#23 Kayla Konrad

F
6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
Makaila Sanders

#20 Makaila Sanders

G
5' 8"
Sophomore
Sophia Song

#21 Sophia Song

F
5' 11"
Senior
Sage Stobbart

#11 Sage Stobbart

P
6' 3"
Redshirt Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Stefan Gonzalez

#2 Stefan Gonzalez

6' 2"
Senior
G
Joe Mooney

#22 Joe Mooney

6' 3"
Senior
G
Matt Neufeld

#13 Matt Neufeld

6' 11"
Senior
C
Ezra  Manjon

#5 Ezra Manjon

5' 11"
Freshman
G
Nina Bessolo

#5 Nina Bessolo

6' 0"
Senior
F
Cierra Hall

#32 Cierra Hall

6' 0"
Junior
F
Kayla Konrad

#23 Kayla Konrad

6' 0"
Redshirt Sophomore
F
Makaila Sanders

#20 Makaila Sanders

5' 8"
Sophomore
G
Sophia Song

#21 Sophia Song

5' 11"
Senior
F
Sage Stobbart

#11 Sage Stobbart

6' 3"
Redshirt Sophomore
P