Following yet another false start this week during an unpredictable 2021-22 season, the Aggies will finally play their first Big West Conference game of the season on Saturday at Cal Poly. 

WHO: Cal Poly Mustangs
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15
WHERE: Mott Athletics Center, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
HOW TO WATCH: ESPN+ 
HOW TO LISTEN: The Varsity App or Sports 1140 KHTK
HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats and @ ucdavismbb on Twitter. 

PREVIEW
The stop-and-start nature of the Aggies' season continues but if their most recent outing is any indication, this 2021-22 group is well-equipped to handle it. 

When UC Davis tips off at Cal Poly on Saturday evening, it will be just its second game since Dec. 22 as the Aggies are up to four games now cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within various programs. 

That first game back on Jan. 8 against UC San Diego may have provided a telling glimpse into how the Aggies can persevere through those layoffs though. 

With just seven players available against the Tritons, the Aggies played one of their cleanest games of the season in committing just two turnovers and outscored UC San Diego 41-32 in the second half. UC San Diego came into the game with its full roster available. 

The Aggies were led by their "Big Four" of Elijah Pepper, Caleb Fuller, Christian Anigwe and Ezra Manjon with Pepper scoring a game-high 23 and Fuller a season-high 22, but the most valuable line on the stat sheet arguably belonged to forward Aaron Murphy. 

With a short bench, Murphy contributed a career-high eight points on 3-3 shooting, went 2-2 at the line. Both of his offensive rebounds led to his own second chance points. 

Though the Aggies weren't given a chance to build on that momentum with Jan. 13's game at CSU Bakersfield cancelled due to COVID-19 in that program, the Aggies are expected to be at full strength against Cal Poly on Saturday evening. 

The Aggies will be playing their first conference game of the season and are the only Big West team remaining who have been unable to thus far. 

SERIES RECORD VS. CAL POLY

• UC Davis trails 29-35
• Last Cal Poly win: 2/2/17, A - W, 74-70
• Last UC Davis win: 2/27/21, A - W, 68-66 OT
• Series Streak: UC Davis +9

CAL POLY AT A GLANCE
The Mustangs enter Saturday evening at 3-10 and 0-2 in the Big West. They currently ride a four-game losing streak with their last win coming on Dec. 11, 2021 at Portland State. 

Cal Poly is ranked at the bottom of the conference in scoring, averaging 60.69 points per game but also feature the fourth-best scoring defense, allowing 65.85 points per game. 

Though the separation isn't statistically vast at the top of the list, it's noteable that Cal Poly rank second in the conference with 10.92 offensive rebounds per game to the Aggies' 7.82. 

Individually, Cal Poly is led by Alimamy Koroma's 12.31 points per game, the only Mustang ranked in the top-20 individual scoring list. 

KEYS TO SUCCESS
Even with Dec. 22's loss to Portland, the Aggies orchestrated a complete reversal in a number of areas from the first five games of the season over their next five prior to Jan. 8 against UC San Diego. 

The Aggies improved to 49.8 percent from the field compared to 41 percent over their first five games. While sound defensively throughout the season, the Aggies did improve to hold opponents to 39.8 percent shooting over their last five games compared to 41 percent to start 2021-22. 

After being outscored in first halves 161-183 to start the season, the Aggies outscored opponents 181-123 in the first half over thei next five games. 

One of the most dramatic improvements came from the three-point line. UC Davis shot 46 percent over those five games contrasted with 27.2 percent to start the season's first five games. 

Turnovers are down from almost 16 per game to start the season to just over 12 per game during that 4-1 stretch. UC Davis 2-2 when turning the ball over more than its opponent but 5-2 when winning the turnover battle.  

Another problem area for the Aggies at the start of the season was rebounding and UC Davis has gone from a -7.6 margin through five games to +4.6 over the last five games.  UC Davis is 4-0 when leading or tying in the rebounding battle. 

AWARDS SEASON
Manjon had himself a week to remember against Oregon State and Pacific. 

The electric sophomore led UC Davis to wins over both with a career-high 27 against Oregon State and put in 20 against Pacific. 

That netted him the Lou Henson National Player of the Week award from College Insider on Monday and Big West Player of the Week honors later in the day. 

Manjon and Elijah Pepper are the only teammates to win Big West Player of the Week this season. 

TEAM EFFORT 
UC Davis is knocking on the door of replicating a rare feat they accomplished last season. 

The 2020-21 season marked the first time since 2008-09 that the Aggies had four players average double figures scoring. The 2021-22 Aggies currently have four themselves between Ezra Manjon (14.5), Elijah Pepper (14.4), Christian Anigwe (10.6) and Caleb Fuller (10.6). 

The 2008-09 Aggies were led by Vince Oliver, the brother of current Director of Basketball Operations Ryan Oliver, with 15.6 points per game. 

CAREER WATCH LISTS
Manjon is also within striking distance of a career milestone in his third NCAA season. 

At 823 points, Manjon needs 177 more to reach 1,000 career points. Manjon's career-high point total for a single season came in 2019-20 when he scored 388 points behind Aggie great Joe Mooney's 419. 

Pepper is the next closest Aggie at 709 career points. His career-high of 278 also came in 2019-20, though Pepper is already over halfway to that total this season.

23 Aggies have reached the 1,000 point milestone with the last being Siler Scheider scoring 1,440 from 2015-19. Should Manjon reach that mark this season, he would be one of just five Aggies to score 1,000 points or more in their first three seasons. 

DYNAMIC DUO
Pepper and Manjon are the two highest ranking teammates on the Big West scoring list with Pepper coming in at 4th with 15.2 points per game and Manjon 8th at 14.1.

No other team in the Big West Conference has two players higher than both in the top nine in scoring. 

They're also one of just two pairs of teammates in the Big West with three or more 20-point games. 

THE LAST TIME IT HAPPENED
You'd have to go back to 2017 for the last time UC Davis defeated a PAC-12 team prior to Dec. 4 at Oregon State. 

The Aggies took down Washington State 81-67 in Pullman on Dec. 2, 2017. TJ Shorts II scored 20 points as the Aggies jumped out to a 42-25 first half lead on the Cougars. 

IMPROVEMENT ON THE GLASS
Dec. 1's win marked the first time this season UC Davis has won the rebounding battle, outworking Pacific on the glass 34-24. More importantly, the Aggies pulled down eight offensive rebounds that led to seven second chance points compared to four offensive boards and two second chance points for Pacific. 

UC Davis went on to outrebound UC Merced 37-21 on Dec. 4. Despite giving up a significant size advantage to Oregon State, the Aggies were only outrebounded 32-33 against the Beavers with guards accounting for 24 of those rebounds. 

The Aggies have kept that trend going and are +2.6 over their last five games on the boards. 

PEPPER HEATS UP
Elijah Pepper became one of just six Big West players to score 30 points or more on Dec. 1. Following that night's games, he was fourth in the conference in scoring at 16.2 per game. His six made threes against Pacific are tied for the most in a single game in the Big West this season.

CONFERENCE LEADERS
Pepper continues to rank highly in the conference in steals at 1.5 per game for third with Manjon close behind in fifth at 1.4 per game. As a team, UC Davis is fifth in the Big West at just under t seven steals per game.  

Pepper is also second in the conference in three pointers per game with 2.4.