Davis, Calif. - After two long weeks off due to COVID-19-related game cancelations, the Aggies will return to action on Saturday against CSU Bakersfield at University Credit Union Center. 

WHAT: UC Davis (10-7, 3-3) vs. CSU Bakersfield (6-14, 1-9)
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022
TIME: 5 p.m. PT
WHERE: Davis, Calif.
ARENA: University Credit Union Center (6,001)
WATCH: ESPN+ 
LISTEN: Sports 1140 KHTK or on The Varsity App (Available only in the Apple App Store)
STATS
GAME NOTES

OPENING TIP
After having three more games canceled due to COVID-19, UC Davis return to action on Feb. 19 against CSU Bakersfield. 

Scott Marsh and Bob Williams will have the call for ESPN+ while Greg Wong and the Davis Enterprise's Bob Dunning will have the radio call on Sports 1140 KHTK. 

Saturday's game will also feature a pre-game ceremony recognizing head coach Jim Les' 300th career win as a Division I head coach. Les' 300th win came on Nov. 12, 2021 against Eastern Washington. 

The Aggies' season has been defined by the COVID-19 pandemic for a second straight season as UC Davis now seen eight games canceled, all part of its Big West slate. Seven of those games would have counted in the standings as one contest would have come against UC San Diego. 

Nonetheless, the Aggies will enter Saturday's game on a two-game win streak with three straight home games against three of the bottom four teams in the Big West ahead of them. 

While the Aggies have had the misfortune of being the unluckiest team in the conference with the fewest games played so far, their upcoming homestand has the potential to transform their place in the Big West. 

This year's standings will be determined by win percentage and while Long Beach State sits alone at 9-1, UC Davis is one of four teams with three losses. 

Series Record vs. CSU Bakersfield

• UC Davis trails 11-29
• Last CSUB win: 12/6/08 - H, 87-86
• Last UC Davis win: 3/11/21 - N, 58-56
• Series Streak: UC Davis +3

QUOTABLE - HEAD COACH JIM LES
• On playing in front of the biggest home crowd of the season on Saturday (1,102): I thought it was awesome. The students, it was great to have them back. They've gone through a lot of issues with being at campus, remote classes, it really hasn't been fair to them. For us to get them to come out and for them to give us the lift, they lit this place up when we made our run and I think we were running on fumes a little bit but their energy provided some great lift and enthusiasm for our guys. 

• On defending Hawai'i's final shot attempt which ended in a block by Ade Adebayo at the three-point line: We had a call to prevent the three, we didn't quite execute it as well as I'd like but that's okay. That's one for the drawing board that we'll continue to work on in those situations. 

• On Elijah Pepper's shooting: I just look in my pocket and look at all the sets we have to - and I don't necessarily say shots - to get him touches where he can have some space. And he's a good decision maker so let him make a decision - drive it, shoot it, step back. But he's got a lot of confidence and we've got a lot of confidence in him. If anything, his teammates are walking over going "Get him the damn ball."

KEYS TO SUCCESS
• The Aggies got back to one of their areas of strength against Hawai'i, turning the ball over just six times with only two of those being off Hawai'i steals. 

UC Davis has the 10th fewest turnovers in the nation at 210 total and just over 12 per game. 

• Saturday's win was the first time the Aggies have come from behind to win when trailing with 10 minutes to go. The closest UC Davis came previously was on opening night against Utah State on Nov. 9 when it trailed 52-54 with 9:50 to go. 

• Over their last two games, the Aggies have shown a proclivity for timely runs but also for holding leads down the stretch. 

Over their last two games, the Aggies are holding opponents to 4-11 shooting with three steals and a block in the final two minutes of regulation. 

PEPPER FROM DEEP
Elijah Pepper is averaging a Big West-conference-leading 2.4 threes per game and is approaching a spot on the UC Davis all-time list for made threes in a season. 

He had two during UC Davis' game-changing 15-2 run against Hawai'i on Feb. 5 and was responsible for 10 of those points during the run.

At a career-high 41 thus far, he needs 16 more to reach 10th on the all-time list - an average of two per game over the Aggies' final eight games. 

ANIGWE ON THE BOARDS
Christian Anigwe had career highs in points and rebounds against Cal Poly on Jan. 15 but it was his effort on the boards that set him apart. 

Single-game offensive rebounds aren't a historically tracked stat, but since they began to be statted in the Division 1 era beginning in 2007, none had more than Anigwe's nine offensive rebounds at Cal Poly. 
One possible candidate that could have surpassed nine offensive rebounds would be Dominic Callori's school record 24 rebounds at Sonoma State on Feb. 16, 2001. 

At his current pace, Anigwe could end up with one of the highest offensive rebounding totals in recent program history. 

With six offensive boards against CSUN on Jan. 20 and eight more against Cal State Fullerton, Anigwe had 23 over a three games stretch. 

On the season, 50 of Anigwe's 109 rebounds are offensive and he ranks 52nd in Division 1 with 2.94 offensive rebounds per game. 

AWARDS SEASON
Manjon has spent the 2021-22 adding to his trophy case.

The electric sophomore led UC Davis to wins 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 and Big West Player of the Week honors later in the day. 

On Feb. 7, Manjon won his second Big West Player of the Week award by scoring 19 and 20 points in wins over UC Riverside and Hawai'i respectively. 

It was his fifth career Player of the Week award and he became the fourth Big West player to win the award multiple times 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 (15.4), Elijah Pepper (15.2), Caleb Fuller (11.3) and Christian Anigwe (10.7).

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 929 points, Manjon needs 71 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. 

Manjon would need to average 14.2 points points per game over the Aggies final 5 regular season games to accomplish that feat this season. 

Pepper is the next closest Aggie at 800 career points. His career-high of 278 also came in 2019-20, though Pepper will eclipse that 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.

CSU BAKERSFIELD
The Roadrunners enter Saturday on an eight-game losing streak and are 1-9 in the Big West. 

They're led by combo guard Justin McCal at 11.2 points per game but do not feature a player ranked inside the top-25 in scoring in the conference.