DAVIS, Calif. — The UC Davis men's basketball team is back at the University Credit Union Center Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. (PT) as the Aggies play host to Cal State Fullerton. After the matchup against the Titans, UC Davis will travel to the Aloha State to take on the Rainbow Warriors in Hawai'i with tip-off scheduled for 9:00 p.m. (PT).

Feb. 8 vs. Cal State Fullerton | 6 p.m. Tip-off (Davis, Calif.) | ESPN+
Feb. 10 at Hawai'i | 9 p.m. Tip-off (Honolulu, Oahu) | ESPN+
LAST TIME
With a stellar defensive display, the UC Davis men's basketball team clinched a 59-52 victory over the Cal Poly Mustangs on Saturday, extending their road winning streak to three games, and in the process, securing their sixth win out of their last seven games. The Aggies, who lead the Big West in three-point defense, held the Mustangs to 34 percent shooting from the field and only allowed two triples in the second half, turning the tide in their favor.

On the other end of the floor, the Aggies showcased their balanced scoring, with three players reaching double digits. Elijah Pepper led the way with 16 points, eight rebounds and two steals, followed by Ty Johnson with 13 points and two steals in 23 minutes. Connor Sevilla came off the bench and provided a spark with 10 points on a flawless 4-4 shooting.

The Aggies also dominated the offensive glass, grabbing 13 rebounds that led to 13 second chance points. Niko Rocak was instrumental in the paint, grabbing five offensive boards.

The Thursday before, the Aggies made another statement with 79-69 victory over UC Santa Barbara on the road in an ESPNU showdown. Led by the stellar performance of Pepper and Johnson, who each poured in 24 points, the backcourt tandem also spearheaded the Aggies' suffocating defense, which forced 16 turnovers and limited the Gauchos to just a single three-pointer for the entire game.

AGGIES IN THE RANKINGS

• #26 in NCAA in Turnovers Forced Per Game.
• Pepper ranked #15 in NCAA in Points Per Game, #13 in Three-Pointers Per Game.
• Ty Johnson and Pepper entered the season as the top returning backcourt scoring duo in the country and both are top-10 in the Big West in scoring this season.
• In Conference Only statistics, the Aggies rank:
  • #1 in steals
  • #1 in opponent three-point defense
  • #2 in opponent field goal percentage
• Elijah Pepper is averaging a conference leading 21.0 points per game. He was also announced earlier in the year as one of the 40 names to the 2023-24 Lou Henson mid-season Watch List. Pepper was also recently announced as the Big West Player of the Week for his performance in the Aggies 2-0 week against UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly.
• Ty Johnson is top-10 in the conference in all assist categories.
• Niko Rocak ranks first in the conference in blocks per game during conference play and is the lone player averaging two or more in the Big West.
• Ty Johnson and Elijah Pepper entered this season as the top returning scoring backcourt in all of the NCAA and this season are ranked second in all of the country in points per game as a guard duo (37.6 PPG between the pair), only trailing Hofstra's backcourt.

ELIJAH PEPPER RECORD WATCH

• Pepper is the all-time leading scorer in Aggie history with 2,063 points and counting.
• He sits at fourth all-time in the Big West's history of leading scorers and trails the Big West career scoring record by just 250 points, a record held by Lucious Harris (LBSU, 122 games - 1989-93).
• He needs only 3 points to become the third-highest scorer in Big West history.
• Pepper is also now UC Davis' holder for the all-time career steals record sitting atop the list with 205 in his career. He achieved the feat when the Aggies faced UC Riverside on Jan. 4.

DYNAMIC DUO
Ty Johnson and Elijah Pepper entered this season as the top returning scoring backcourt in all of the NCAA and this season are ranked second in all of the country in points per game as a guard duo (37.6 PPG between the pair), only trailing Hofstra's backcourt of Tyler Thomas, and Darlinstone Dubar.

DEFENSIVE IMPACT
Niko Rocak has been one of the most impactful defenders in Big West play, as seen by him breaking a single game school-record with six blocks in the Aggies win against UC Irvine on Jan. 20. The six blocks leads the conference for most in a game this season. Rocak is the lone player in conference play to be averaging two or more blocks per game.

Ty Johnson is also establishing himself as one of the best point of attack defenders in the conference, leading the league with 2.1 steals per game in Big West games.

The Aggies as a team, rank first in the conference in opponent three-point percentage, and use their ability to generate turnovers to get out in transition.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
The Cal State Fullerton Titans, coached by former Aggie Dedrique Taylor, have a 11-11 overall record and a 4-6 conference record this season. The Titans, who reached the Big West Championship final last year, have a reputation for their stout defense. They also share the Aggies' knack for forcing turnovers and drawing fouls. Max Jones, who averages the eighth-highest points per game in the conference, leads the Titans. The Aggies defeated the Titans earlier in the season with a come-from-behind 67-65 victory down in Fullerton. The all-time series sits at 20-26 with the Titans holding the slight advantage.

Hawai'i is led by Eran Ganot and the Rainbow Warriors use discipline and three-point shooting to win games. Rating out as one of the best teams at not fouling opponents in the Big West, Hawai'i also makes the second most three-pointers per game. Setting the tempo for them is Jovon McClanahan who ranks fifth in the conference in both assists and assist/turnover ratio. This will be the first matchup between the two teams this season. The all-time series between the programs has UC Davis slightly behind at 9-13 with UC Davis winning the most recent matchup, on Feb. 2, 2023 by a score of 75-63.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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