Davis, Calif. — The UC Davis Men's Basketball Team fell to the UC Riverside Highlanders Thursday night at the SRC Arena. The Aggies were paced by Elijah Pepper who tied his career-high with 32 points. The Highlanders of UC Riverside were able to counter the high-profile bucket getter by having five of their players reach double figures.
Shooting just 30% from the field in the first half, it was a story of two different halves for the Aggies who came out and torched the nets for a 59.1% showing during the final 20 minutes. Never holding a lead for any point during the game, the slow start was too much to overcome for the Aggies.
Another issue for UC Davis was rebounding tonight. Known to be one of the best teams in the country and usually on the winning end of the rebound margin, the Aggies were out rebounded 41-31. Of those 41 rebounds for UC Riverside, 16 were offensive.
The Aggies had three double figure scorers during the contest with some solid showings from Christian Anigwe who scored 10 points, while Leo DeBruhl had a career-high 12 points. It breaks his past career-high of 11 points he had in a game against UC Merced back in 2021.
UC Davis moves to 14-10 overall, and 7-5 in Big West play. Playing a whopping 38 minutes for the second straight contest and recording his fourth straight game with 28+ points, Pepper raises his season average to 20.9 points per game.
Elijah also pulled down nine rebounds, just nearly missing out on a double-double. He also added a team-high three assists, and nabbed two steals.
UC Riverside was led by Big West Player of the Year candidate Zyon Pullin who led the Highlanders with 16 points and five assists. One of the deepest rosters in the Big West, Mike Magpayo's squad also had contributions from Cameron Flynn (12 PTS), Wil Tattersall (11 PTS), Jamal Hartwell (11 PTS) and Luke Turner (10 PTS, 10 REB).
GAME NOTES
- UC Davis finished 22-52 from the field (42.3%).
- The Ags were 5-14 from behind the arc (35.7%).
- Earning 16 points from the charity stripe, the Aggies shot 84.2% from the line.
- Never taking a lead during the game, the Aggies and Highlanders were tied at two points during the game.
- UC Davis had nine assists and 16 turnovers.
- Playing with pace like they have all year, UC Davis has 19 fast break points.
UP NEXT
The Aggies have a quick turnaround and will travel to UC Santa Barbara for another game on Saturday with tip-off set for 7 P.M. at The Thunderdome.
