DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis begins its final week of the regular season when the Aggies embark on a two-game road trip with stops against UC San Diego and Long Beach State.

Holding their own destiny, the Aggies have clinched at least the three-seed in the Big West Championships and can clinch a top-two seed with one win this week.

UC Davis is fresh off a 75-63 win on Senior Day over Hawai'i and will look to get the better half of the Tritons and the Beach after dropping both early season matchups against the two programs.

Mar. 7 at UC San Diego | 7 p.m. Tip-off (San Diego, Calif.) | ESPN+
Mar. 9 at Long Beach State | 6 p.m. Tip-off (Long Beach, Calif.) | ESPN+

LAST TIME
In their last home game of the season, the Aggies delivered a dominant performance against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, winning 75-63 last Thursday night. The duo of Elijah Pepper and Ty Johnson combined for 60 points, leading UC Davis to their 12th conference victory.

Pepper finished the night going 9-17 from the field, including two clutch three pointers, and made 10-11 free throws. Johnson was unstoppable from the mid-range, shooting 11-16 from the field and 7-7 from the line. He also contributed three rebounds and two steals.

The Aggies never trailed in the game, starting with an 8-0 run and maintaining their lead throughout. Their backcourt was not the only factor in their success, as their frontcourt also helped them win the rebounding battle 26-23, with Ade Adebayo grabbing four rebounds. UC Davis improved to 13-1 in games where they outrebound their opponents.

The Aggies also played solid defense, forcing 16 turnovers from Hawaii and scoring 22 points off them. They set the tone early, recording three-straight steals to open the game.

AGGIES IN THE RANKINGS

• #20 in NCAA in Turnovers Forced Per Game.
• Pepper ranked #27 in NCAA in Points Per Game, #22 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
  • #2 in opponent field goal percentage
  • #2 in scoring defense
• 13-1 in games in which the Aggies lead the rebound battle.
• Elijah Pepper is averaging a conference leading 20.4 points per game. He is the lone player in conference averaging 20 or more points a contest. He was also announced as one of the 40 names to the 2023-24 Lou Henson mid-season Watch List.
• Ty Johnson is the fifth leading scorer in conference play with 18.8 points per game during Big West games while ranking as the sixth leading scorer in the conference overall. Johnson also ranks within the top-10 in the Big West in assists.
• Niko Rocak ranks first in the conference in blocks per game during conference play.
• Pepper and Johnson are the lone players in Big West action to be averaging two or more steals.
• 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 (38.2 PPG between the pair).
• Johnson and Pepper are the only players during Big West play averaging over two steals per game with Pepper's 2.2 leading the conference followed close by Johnson's 2.1 per game.

ELIJAH PEPPER RECORD WATCH

• Pepper is the all-time leading scorer in Aggie history with 2,193 points and counting.
• He sits at second all-time in the Big West's history of leading scorers and trails the Big West career scoring record by 120 points, a record held by Lucious Harris (LBSU, 122 games - 1989-93).
• Pepper is also now UC Davis' holder for the all-time career steals record sitting atop the list with 222 in his career. He achieved the feat when the Aggies faced UC Riverside on Jan. 4. He set a single-game career-high mark of his recently in the Aggies win over CSUN on Feb. 22, recording seven steals. This trails Johnson's Division I single-game record for most steals in a game by just one.

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 still leads the conference for most in a game this season.

Ty Johnson and Elijah Pepper sit atop the Big West ranks for most steals per game in conference, play. The pair are the only two players averaging more than two steals per game.

These efforts have helped fuel the Aggies defensive presence the entire season, with UC Davis ranking 20th in turnovers forced per game.

ABOUT THE OPPONENT
UC San Diego possesses one of the best offensives in the conference, led by dynamic scorer Bryce Pope. The Tritons are one of the best teams in the country within their home gym, holding a record of 13-1 inside the LionTree Arena. A prolific shooting team, the Tritons have the best scoring offense in Big West games and do so by knocking down triples at a high-clip. Not only do the Tritons make the most three-pointers per game in the conference, they also shoot the highest percentage from downtown. This was noticeable in the first matchup between UC Davis and UC San Diego when the Tritons came into Davis and knocked off the Aggies by a score of 92-59. UC San Diego enters Thursday's game winning their most recent game on the road at CSUN.

Long Beach State is one of the most physical teams in the conference, using this to their advantage on both sides of the ball. Led by the Traore's inside, Long Beach State has the two top rebounders in the conference which allows The Beach to dominate the glass each and every game and then offensively, they try to punish teams inside and create contact as seen evident by their 24 free throw attempts per game, which ranks 11th in the country. In the earlier matchup this season, the Beach were led by a 20 point double-double from Aboubacar Traore and 18 key points from guard Messiah Thompson to take the slight, 78-74 win over the Aggies. Long Beach State enters the week carrying a three-game losing streak.

UP NEXT
Following the week, UC Davis will be in Henderson, Nevada playing in the Big West Championships. With a top-three seed already locked up, the two games this week serve as pivotal momentum builders and have implications for seeding.

The Aggies are eyeing a top-two seed, which would give them a huge advantage in their quest for the title. A second seed would mean skipping the first two rounds and starting their campaign on Friday, March 15 at 8:30 p.m. (PT) at the Dollar Loan Center. If the Aggies end up as the third-seed, they will start tournament action on Tuesday, March 14 at 6:00 p.m. (PT) and face the winner of the clash between the sixth and seventh seeds.