Davis, Calif. - The final week of the regular season brings with it plenty of intrigue surrounding the 2021-22 Aggies.
Ezra Manjon is on the doorstep of history has he's now just 17 points away from reaching 1,000 in his career. The sophomore would become one of just five Aggies to reach the mark in their first five seasons.
In addition, the Aggies sit in seventh in the Big West standings. If the current standings hold, UC Davis would open the tournament with a first round game on Tues, Mar. 8 against No. 10 Cal Poly.
Two wins by the Aggies along with two losses or a split week by No. 6 UC Santa Barbara and No. 5 UC Riverside could see UC Davis move up as high as 5th. A six-seed or better would mean the Aggies advance directly to the quarterfinal round on Thursday, Mar. 10.
GAME 21
WHAT: UC Davis (12-8, 5-4) at Long Beach State (16-11, 10-3)
WHEN: Thursday, Mar. 3, 2022
TIME: 7 p.m. PT
WHERE: Long Beach, Calif.
ARENA: Walter Pyramid
WATCH: ESPN+
LISTEN: KSAC 105.5
STATS
GAME NOTES
GAME 22
WHAT: UC Davis (12-8, 5-4) at Cal State Fullerton (17-9, 10-3)
WHEN: Saturday, Mar. 5, 2022
TIME: 6 p.m. PT
WHERE: Fullerton, Calif.
ARENA: Titan Gym
WATCH: ESPN+
LISTEN: Sports 1140 KHTK
STATS
QUOTABLE - HEAD COACH JIM LES - 2/26
• On senior day: "This is always a tough time of year. You build these relationships and you see these young men practically every day. They become a part of your family. And then all of a sudden it changes in an instant and you constantly have that cycle of guys graduating. You love it because this is an unbelievable place to springboard from and our guys are all graduating and doing great things. But a part of you is sad because you're going to miss them. I can't say enough about how these guys represent our university, our community. I told them when we were hugging at half court, for life you're an Aggie. For life, you have a relationship with me and our staff. If there's ever anything you need, we're here for you."
KEYS TO SUCCESS
• The Aggies held an opponent under 31 percent from the three-point line for the fifth straight game against CSUN.
• After committing 23 personal fouls that allowed UCSB to go 19-27 from the line on Feb. 24, the Aggies committed 16 against CSUN and went 21-25 to the Matadors' 7-14.
• UC Davis continues to be one of the most careful teams in the country when it comes to taking care of the basketball. The Aggies are now 1st in the nation in total turnovers with 246 this season.
CAREER WATCH LISTS
Manjon is also within striking distance of a career milestone in his third NCAA season.
At 983 points, Manjon needs just 17 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 866 career points. He's already eclipsed his career high for points in a season with 318 so far and is averaging a career-high 15.9 per game.
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.
LBSU AT A GLANCE
Long Beach State enter at 16-11 and 10-3 in the Big West having sat at or near the top of the standings for the entirety of the season.
Heading into the 2021-22 season, UC Davis had won eight of the last nine meetings between the teams.
Last time out, the Aggies built an early first-half lead against the then-first place Beach before eventually falling 70-63.
After losing their conference opener to Hawai'i, the Beach rattled off 10 straight wins and are 1-2 over their last three.
They lead the Big West in offense at 74.6 points per game but allow a league-high 73.4.
