Honolulu, HI — The UC Davis Men's Basketball team (7-6, 0-1 Big West) returned from the short holiday break and opened up Big West Play on the road in the confines of SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. The Aggies came into this matchup winning the past two meetings against Hawai'i, but tonight the Rainbow Warriors got their revenge. Ultimately the Aggies fell by a score of 74-66 with JoVon McClanahan leading the way for the Bows.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Aggies were paced all night by Christian Anigwe who was one point shy of his career-high scoring output after recording 21 points. Anigwe also led the Aggies in rebounds with eight, and had three steals. He was a 7-10 from the field and was perfect from behind the arc, drilling both of his attempts.

Jumping out to a quick 7-0 start, the Aggies capitalized on some Rainbow Warrior miscues that saw Hawai'i turn the ball over on four consecutive possessions. UC Davis would go on to force Hawai'i to turn it over a whopping 13 times in the first half but after 20 minutes of action, the Aggies; unable to cash in on the extra possessions; still saw themselves trailing 25-23.

Hawai'i came into this contest ranking out as one of the best defensive teams in the country and they relied on their half-court pressure to claw their way back into the game. Limiting UC Davis to just 38.5% from the field in the first half, the Aggies had fits all night to upstart their high-octane offense. Entering the contest as the best scoring offense in the Big West, the Aggies uncharacteristically were stymied on the break, after just scoring four fast break points for the entire game.

The game was a battle back and forth with nine lead changes taking place, and the score being knotted up seven different times. The Aggies captured a lead at the 9:59 mark of the second half, going up 42-41 but the second half saw JoVon McClanahan erupt for 23 second half points giving way to a Hawai'i 49-43 point advantage in the second half. 

On the night, UC Davis had three members reach double figures with Elijah Pepper scoring 16 points, and Robby Beasley III adding 13 of his own. Ty Johnson was just short of this feat and had 9 points on the game. This signaled just the second time this season he has been held below double figures.

UP NEXT

UC Davis will look to bounce back and get their first Big West victory on Thursday, Jan. 5 when UC Irvine visits town. Tip off is scheduled for 6 P.M. PT at the University Credit Union Center. Tickets can be purchased here. The game will also be aired on ESPN+. Live Stats will be provided by ucdavisaggies.com through StatBroadcast and can also be listened to on The Varsity Network.