RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Elijah Pepper turned in another spectacular night, scoring a game-high 31 points and grabbing eight rebounds, as he led UC Davis to a dominant 83-63 road victory over UC Riverside on Thursday.
The Aggies (8-6, 3-0) remained unbeaten in conference play, thanks in part to Pepper's stellar performance. Along with Pepper, the Aggies received great contributions from Leo DeBruhl and the rest of the Aggies. DeBruhl had 14 points on a perfect 100% night shooting from the field. He also finished the game with four assists, which was tied for a game-high on a night in which the Aggies set a season-high mark in the department. UC Davis recorded 19 assists on 27 made field goals en route to a 60% effort from the field.
A large contributor to this was UC Davis' offensive output from long range, as the Aggies made eight of 19 three-pointers. Pepper was responsible for five of those, finishing just one shy of his career-high for treys made in a game.
UC Davis continues to also play stifling defense, as the Aggies limited UC Riverside to just 27.3% shooting overall and 20.6% from deep.
UC Davis currently possesses the number one ranked scoring defense in the Big West and through three contests, have on average, only allowed 57.0 points per game. The Aggies also boast the best margin through the three conference games, sitting at +19.7 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The game was back and forth early on with UC Riverside holding a 14-13 lead midway through the first half. But the Aggies responded with a 13-0 run, sparked by a Pepper three-pointer and capped by a
Connor Sevilla layup, to take a 26-14 lead with 13:56 left in the half.
The Aggies continued to pull away, extending their lead to 41-22 by halftime, behind Pepper's 17 first-half points.
The second half was more of the same, as UC Davis never let UC Riverside get closer than 18 points. The Aggies opened the half with a 7-2 spurt, and then used a 6-0 run, punctuated by another Pepper three, to make it 54-28 with 14:03 remaining.
The Highlanders tried to chip away at the deficit, but the Aggies remained in control all night, ultimately coming out of this one with a 83-63 win.
GAME NOTES
» The Aggies shot well from three point range, knocking down eight of 19 long range attempts.
» The Aggies held the Highlanders to only 27.3% shooting from the field.
» UC Davis never trailed in the second half on its way to victory.
» The Aggies shared the ball well, recording an assist on 70% of made field goals, reaching a team-high mark this season of 19 assists in tonight's contest.
» UC Davis shot a blistering 60% from the field.
» UC Davis had a 36-33 edge on the boards in the win.
» Elijah Pepper led the Aggies with a game-high 31 points.
» UC Davis got a team-high eight rebounds from Elijah Pepper.
