DAVIS, Calif. — Six games against postseason qualifiers from last season — including four NCAA Tournament teams and the College Basketball Invitational champion — highlight this year's schedule for the UC Davis men's basketball team, as Head Coach
Jim Les announced the program's slate of 30 regular season contests for 2021-22 on Friday.
Persevering through a shortened 2020-21 season that featured a nearly two-month layoff without games and limited practice opportunities, the Aggies finished 10-8 overall and 6-4 in league play, posting wins in six of their final seven regular season contests and a win over conference newcomer CSU Bakersfield in the opening round of the Big West Tournament before falling to eventual champion UC Santa Barbara.
All-Big West selections
Ezra Manjon and
Elijah Pepper return to lead squad into the new season after being named to the all-conference second team last year. Manjon, whose lay-up at the buzzer lifted UC Davis to the win over the Roadrunners to open postseason play, led the team in scoring at 15.6 ppg and dished out a team-high 59 assists while shooting better than 42 percent from the floor.
Pepper, meanwhile, was the team's top sharpshooter, hitting on nearly 45 percent from beyond the arc and 44 percent from the field overall, averaging 14.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game a season ago.
Four of this year's opponents finished the 2020-21 campaign ranked among the top 100 in the NCAA NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) Rankings, with three of those in the top 50: No. 47 Utah State, No. 48 UC Santa Barbara, and No. 50 Oregon State. Outside of No. 94 Pepperdine, three more hovered near the century mark in No. 102 UC Irvine, No. 106 UC Riverside, and No. 109 Eastern Washington.
Three of the four contests against NCAA Tournament teams come during the non-conference portion of the campaign, as the Aggies officially open the year on Nov. 9 on the road at Utah State, which earned a No. 11 seed and fell to No. 6 Texas Tech in the opening round.
UC Davis' home opener has Eastern Washington paying a visit to the newly renamed University Credit Union Center on Nov. 12, as the Eagles were a No. 14 seed in last year's tournament, pushing third-seeded Kansas to the brink before falling.
Following a road contest at College Basketball Invitational champion Pepperdine on Nov. 17, the Aggies take on Sacramento State in a doubleheader with the UC Davis women's team at the Golden1 Center in Sacramento on Nov. 23 as part of a run of four-straight home contests. The Aggies follow that up by hosting Academy of Art on Nov. 28, the opening leg of a home-and-home series against Pacific on Dec. 1, and UC Merced on Dec. 4, at the UCU Center prior to final fall quarter final exams.
Returning to the road, UC Davis faces its third NCAA qualifier in Oregon State on Dec. 14 in Corvallis, taking on a Beavers squad that was a No. 12 seed and ran all the way to the "Elite Eight" with wins over No. 5 Tennessee, No. 4 Oklahoma State, and No. 8 Loyola Chicago, before losing to second-seeded Houston.
The Aggies wrap up their series with Pacific on Dec. 17 and host another West Coast Conference squad in Portland five days later on Dec. 22 to close out non-conference play.
This year's race for the Big West Conference title begins at home on Dec. 28 as UC Davis hosts UC Riverside to open the 20-game league slate, which includes two games against defending champion UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 22 at The Thunderdome and Feb. 24 at the UCU Center. The Gauchos were a No. 12 seed in last year's NCAA Tournament, falling to No. 5 Creighton by a single point in the first round.
Along with the dates against the Highlanders and UCSB, home league contests include UC Irvine (Jan. 6), UC San Diego (Jan. 8), Cal State Fullerton (Jan. 27), Long Beach State (Jan. 29), Hawai'i (Feb. 5), Cal Poly (Feb. 17), CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 19), and CSUN (Feb. 26).
The 2022 Big West Tournament runs from March 8-12 at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev., before the start of NCAA Tournament play with the "First Four" on March 15-16 in Dayton, Ohio.
2021-22 UC DAVIS MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
11/9 at Utah State
11/12 vs. EASTERN WASHINGTON
11/17 at Pepperdine
11/23 vs. SACRAMENTO STATE (at Golden1 Center, Sacramento, Calif.)
11/28 vs. ACADEMY OF ART
12/1 vs. PACIFIC
12/4 vs. UC MERCED
12/14 at Oregon State
12/17 at Pacific
12/22 vs. PORTLAND
12/28 vs. UC RIVERSIDE*
12/30 at Hawai'i*
1/6 vs. UC IRVINE*
1/8 vs. UC SAN DIEGO*
1/13 at CSU Bakersfield*
1/15 at Cal Poly*
1/20 at CSUN*
1/22 at UC Santa Barbara*
1/27 vs. CAL STATE FULLERTON*
1/29 vs. LONG BEACH STATE*
2/1 at UC Riverside*
2/5 vs. HAWAI'I*
2/10 at UC San Diego*
2/12 at UC Irvine*
2/17 vs. CAL POLY*
2/19 vs. CSU BAKERSFIELD*
2/24 vs. UC SANTA BARBARA*
2/26 vs. CSUN*
3/3 at Long Beach State*
3/5 at Cal State Fullerton*
3/8-12 at Big West Tournament (Dollar Loan Center; Henderson, Nev.)
3/15-16 at "First Four" (Dayton, Ohio)
3/17-20 at NCAA Tournament 1st & 2nd Rounds
3/24-27 at NCAA Regionals
4/2 at NCAA "Final Four" (Caesars Superdome; New Orleans, La.)
4/4 at NCAA Championship Game (Caesars Superdome; New Orleans, La.)
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Centrally located between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, over 700 student-athletes across 25 teams enjoy an unrivaled undergraduate experience at the fifth-ranked public school in the country.
Ranked annually in the nation's top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility, UC Davis and its innovative Aggie EVO System helps student-athletes develop passions, connect with a comprehensive network of alums and industry leaders, gain real-world experience and thrive as a young professional following a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school.
