Score: UC Davis 65, Stanford 79
Location: Stanford, Calif.
Records: UC Davis 2-2 (0-0), Stanford 4-0 (0-0)
The short story: It was a tale of two halves Sunday afternoon at Maples Pavilion, as the Aggies fell 79-65 to the host Cardinal despite a furious second-half comeback in which UC Davis outscored Stanford 42-38.
TY Johnson and
Pablo Tamba combined for 39 points, leading the charge, but it wasn't enough to overcome Stanford's early lead.
COURT SIDE
- Johnson led the Aggies with 26 points and four steals
- Pablo Tamba contributed 13 points, scoring 12 of those in the second half
- Leo DeBruhl added 11 points and six assists, leading the Aggies in assists for the third time this season
- UC Davis' defense held Stanford to 37.3 percent shooting from the field, including 28.6 percent from beyond the arc
- UC Davis excelled in the paint, recording 24 of its 42 points inside
- Niko Rocak led the team with seven rebounds
- For the Cardinal, Maxime Raynaud was the difference-maker, scoring a career-high 33 points and grabbing 14 rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED
- UC Davis made it tough on the Cardinal early, limiting them to just 35.5 percent from the field through the first 20 minutes
- Despite UC Davis' defensive efforts, the Cardinal also made it difficult on offense, leaving the Aggies trailing 41-23 at halftime
- The game's momentum shifted after intermission, with Johnson scoring 21 points and Tamba adding 12 in the second half
- UC Davis' best stretch was an 8-0 run that cut the deficit, part of a larger 19-6 run that brought the score to 50-44 with nine minutes remaining
- Stanford responded to the Aggie flurry after the timeout and would go on to outscore UC Davis for rest of the game, leading to a final score of 79-65
WHAT HEAD COACH JIM LES HAD TO SAY
"We are playing some really good teams, so we are challenging our guys, and we want to keep that in perspective. But we want to get to where we are playing Aggie Basketball consistently, and that first half was anything but Aggie Basketball ... You can't play good teams on the road without having that disciplined mindset.
"We talked about it at the half, and I thought we responded and played Aggie Basketball in the second half. We were solid, disciplined defensively; we forced some tough shots ... we also just executed better offensively. We'd like to have some of those rim attacks back that were point blank, but that happens, and I thought we just had a better mindset in the second half."
UP NEXT: UC Davis will stay on the road, heading to Phoenix to take on Grand Canyon on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 6 p.m. PT.
