Davis, Calif. — Playing their third game in a span of just six days, the UC Davis Men's Basketball Team gutted out a win against the UC San Diego Tritons with a final score of 76-66.
Using an early 9-3 lead which prompted one of the quickest timeouts we've seen throughout the year from UC San Diego's Head Coach Eric Olen, UC Davis would seemingly control the game for the entire 40 minutes.
Allowing the Tritons to only possess the lead for 49 seconds, UC Davis relied on their blend of experience and balance in today's game.
Entering today, Coach Les had been a little frustrated with the Aggies shot selection to start games, and he made sure to challenge his guys in regards to how they begin games with the Big West Championships quickly approaching. Taking this advice, Christian Anigwe (10 first half PTS) and Leo Debruhl (9 first half PTS) would leave the first half with two three pointers a piece on quality looks, along with the team recording six assists, eclipsing their total from the entire game against UC Irvine.
A "packed paint" was also another challenge that UC Davis had to overcome as UC San Diego runs a zone-heavy scheme. Limiting the Aggies to just six fast break points in the first half, and bringing the game to within two points as we entered halftime, a slew of UC Davis vets were able to get out in transition much more in the second half and put up 15 fast break points making it hard on the Tritons to get back into their set half-court defense.
The biggest beneficiary of the Aggies getting out in transition during the second half was Big West Player of the Year favorite, Elijah Pepper who after scoring just four points in the first half, raced out to 18 in the final 20 minutes as he would end the game with 22 points, right on pace with his season average.
Outscoring UC San Diego 43-35 in the second half, the Aggies were just disruptive enough on the defensive end to halt any chance of a Triton comeback. Finishing with nine steals, and three blocks as a team, the lone block man Christian Anigwe, and steal leader for the game Ty Johnson (3 STL), finished as the top two box +/- players.
Even with his disruptiveness standing out tonight, Johnson battled foul trouble and this was easily the most apparent thing he dealt with the entire night. In response, UC Davis saw Leo DeBruhl and Kane Milling step up to post some of their best games of the season. DeBruhl had a career night with a career-high 14 points on 4-8 shooting from the field. In the extended minutes Leo has been getting, he has seized the opportunity and is flashing his shooting prowess and ability to be a hard-nosed defender.
Milling on the other hand was displaying shot making that all Aggie fans know he is capable of. Sometimes streaky, Milling has proven that he at times can be the key to the Aggies success as he is as skilled as any player on the team, and in the conference. He was just one point shy of his career high and will look to continue building on this strong game next time out.
Adding even more insight to the Aggies had to play with today, they were without Sione Lose who took a hard fall against CSUN, and have been without Robby Beasley III for quite some time now. With the grind of the season in full swing, the Aggies are making it a concerted effort to not take any games or plays off, and limit self-inflicted wounds the rest of the year.
GAME NOTES
- Four Aggies were in double figures tonight with ( ) being the leading scorer.
- Christian Anigwe had a team-high box +/- of +16.
- UC Davis recorded nine steals as a team with Johnson leading the Aggies in that department with three.
- A gritty game in its entirety, UC Davis outshot the Tritons from he field (39.7 % vs. 39.3%).
- Using late game fouls to rack up the attempts, UC Davis recorded a whopping 34 free throws, making 64.7% of them.
- UC Davis grabbed 39 rebounds to UC San Diego's 38, improving the Aggies record to 14-2 when they outbound the opposition.
- Scoring 22 points tonight, Elijah Pepper is now just 10 points away from breaking the all-time Aggie scoring record for a single season.
UP NEXT
UC Davis will be back on the road Thursday, as they visit Cal State Fullerton for a match in the hostile confines of Titan Gym. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 6 P.M.
