DAVIS, Calif. — The UC Davis men's basketball team staged a thrilling comeback against the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners on Saturday, winning 78-71 in overtime to secure their sixth win in the last seven games thus improving to 5-1 in conference play.
The game was a nail-biter from start to finish, with both teams trading leads throughout the night. But it was Elijah Pepper who injected life into the crowd at the University Credit Union Center with his clutch shooting, hitting the game-tying three-pointer in regulation and the game-sealing three-pointer in overtime.
With Pepper's heroics on full display, his running mate
Ty Johnson turned in an equally impressive showing, adding a game-high 22 points to lead the Aggies (10-7, 5-1).
Johnson finished a perfect 14-14 from the line with 12 of those makes coming in the second half and overtime. He became the first Aggie since Pepper back on February 19, 2022 to go perfect from the free-throw line on more than 10 attempts and just the 13th Aggie ever to achieve such a feat.
Johnson stuffed the stat sheet everywhere else as well, hauling in seven rebounds, dishing out five assists, and coming away with two steals. His 22-point effort also gives him seven games this year scoring 20 or more points, and 15 for his career.
In addition to his late-game shotmaking, Pepper helped out with 18 points, a game-high nine rebounds and two steals.
Ade Adebayo was another key contributor for the Aggies, scoring nine points and grabbing eight rebounds. He had a team-high plus/minus of +15, showing his impact on both ends of the floor.
The Aggies dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Roadrunners 48-45, led by Pepper's nine rebounds. They also crashed the offensive glass hard, grabbing 19 rebounds and scoring 29 second-chance points. The Aggies improved to 8-1 in games where they won the rebounding battle.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Falling behind 22-13 early, UC Davis went on an 11-0 run with 9:05 left in the first half, capped off an acrobatic reverse layup from Pepper, to take a 24-22 lead. The Aggies then added six points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 34-26 advantage. The Aggies made five three-pointers in the first half, highlighted by a pair of early triples from
Kane Milling.
Cal State Bakersfield responded back in the second half by finding success in the paint as they took a 43-42 lead before UC Davis went on a 5-0 run to seize a 47-43 lead with 12:05 to go in the contest. From this point forward, each team continued to trade baskets and points from the free-throw line. Before it was all said and done, the game in total had 13 different lead changes.
With the late possessions going back in forth in this battle, it was
Elijah Pepper who made the Roadrunners pay. After the Roadrunners surged late with a 5-0 run to bring their lead to 65-62, it was Pepper who tied it up from downtown after a successful under the basket entry set up by
Leo DeBruhl and Johnson. The score would hold at 65-65 after a Davis stop on the other end to bring the game into overtime.
In overtime, it was all UC Davis, as the Aggies responded by going on an 8-0 highlighted by Pepper's exclamation three to put a dagger into the Roadrunners hopes. This run would end with a pair of free-throws from Johnson to extend the the finish to 78-71 in favor of UC Davis.
GAME NOTES
» UC Davis found success from three point land, knocking down eight treys in the game.
» The Aggies held the Roadrunners to only 37.8 percent shooting from the field.
» UC Davis had a 48-45 edge on the boards in the win.
» The Aggies tallied six blocks as a team, with
Pablo Tamba leading the way with three.
» UC Davis cleaned up on the offensive glass, collecting 19 offensive boards in the game.
»
Ty Johnson led the Aggies with a game-high 22 points.
» UC Davis got a team-high nine rebounds from
Elijah Pepper.
