Score: UC Davis 57, UC San Diego 68
Location: Davis, Calif.
Records: UC Davis 15-16 (9-11), UC San Diego 28-4 (18-2)
 
The short story: In front of a spirited crowd of 4,281 fans at the University Credit Union Center, the UC Davis Aggies celebrated Senior Day by honoring their graduating class—TY Johnson, Leo DeBruhl, Pablo Tamba, Francesco Borra, and Lukas Prongos—before falling to the UC San Diego Tritons 68-57 in a nationally televised game on ESPN2.
 
COURT SIDE

• DeBruhl delivered arguably the best performance of his Aggie career, scoring a career-high 19 points on an efficient 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc
• Feeding off the energy of the home crowd, the senior guard also dished out six assists, grabbed two rebounds, and recorded two steals
• Nils Cooper turned in his strongest outing as an Aggie, pulling down a game- and career-high 13 rebounds while adding nine points and two steals
• Pablo Tamba joined DeBruhl in double figures, narrowly missing a double-double with 13 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks
• Defensively, UC Davis held UC San Diego to just 68 points, marking only the second time this season the Tritons were held below 70 points in conference play
• For UC San Diego, Tyler McGhie led the way with 18 points, one of three Tritons to score in double figures

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Tritons came out strong, opening the game with an 8-0 run before UC Davis settled in
• A three-pointer from Caleb Daughtery Jr. cut the deficit to 11-8 at the 13:04 mark
• The Aggies continued to chip away, with a putback dunk by Cooper bringing them within two, 17-15, at the 8:16 mark
• However, UC San Diego responded with a surge, stretching its lead to 25-16 by the 3:20 mark and taking a 34-22 advantage into halftime
• The second half began with the Tritons scoring eight of the first 10 points, extending their lead to 18 at 42-24 with 15:49 remaining
• A 7-0 run later in the half pushed the margin past 20 points, as UC San Diego built a 64-44 advantage
• UC Davis mounted a late rally, sparked by a 6-0 run capped by a three-pointer from Connor Sevilla, trimming the deficit to 64-50 with 2:50 left
• Despite the Aggies' efforts to close the gap late, UC San Diego held on to secure the 68-57 victory

 
UP NEXT: UC Davis now shifts its focus to the Big West Tournament in Henderson, Nevada. The sixth-seeded Aggies are set to face seventh-seeded Cal Poly in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 13, at 8:30 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
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