The UC Davis basketball team used a 1-2 combination to floor Hawaii 75-63 in the University Credit Union Center in Davis, Calif.
Before a senior night crowd of 2,398, guards Elijah Pepper and Ty Johnson each scored 30 to account for 80% of the Aggies’ points.
“Two of their elite scorers had elite performances,” UH coach Eran Ganot said.
By improving to 17-12 overall and 12-6 in the Big West, UCD strengthened its chance of earning the second seed in the league’s postseason tournament in two weeks. The top two seeds have two byes in the eight-team, single-elimination tournament. The Rainbow Warriors fell to 16-13 and 8-9, and are out of contention for a top-two seed.
“Disappointing,” said Ganot, whose team travels to Southern California ahead of Saturday’s road game against UC Riverside.
The ’Bows were undone by two scoring runs. In an ominous start, the ’Bows mishandled the opening tip out of bounds. The Aggies parlayed three UH turnovers into an 8-0 lead, with the ’Bows not attempting a shot.
“What a brutal way to start the game,” Ganot said. “Disappointed in that, certainly. We got them going.”
The Aggies increased their advantage to 27-15 and then 34-20.
With Noel Coleman attacking the lane and center Bernardo da Silva hitting hooks and jumpers from within 5 feet, the ’Bows cut the deficit to 38-32 at the intermission.
After the margin expanded in the second half, the ’Bows sliced a double-digit deficit to 56-52 on JoVon McClanahan’s jumper with 6:18 to play.
Then Pepper , who averaged 7 points the previous three games, scored the Aggies’ next nine points.
Off a curl pattern, Pepper swished a jumper to extend the Aggies’ lead to 58-52. On the Aggies’ next possession, Pepper slipped off a screen and buried a 3 from the corner while being fouled by da Silva. Pepper’s ensuing free throw completed a rare 4-point play to make it 62-52.
After UH was called for a 10-second violation, Pepper hit a 3.
Johnson, who began his career at Loyola Chicago, took the scoring baton from Pepper, scoring the next eight UCD points to move the Aggies out of reach.
The Aggies made eight steals and forced 16 turnovers to create more opportunities. The Aggies built a 22-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
“With the differential in the second chances and the turnovers, they just had more possessions than we did,” Ganot said. “And the free-throw line was a big part of it. We missed a lot of front end here and there, and they converted.”
The Aggies were 19-for-22 from the line. The ’Bows were 11-for-16. Pepper was 10-for-11 and Johnson 7-for-7 on free throws.
Johnson used his quickness and crossover drives to weave past UH’s layered wall of defenders. Pepper launched shots off screens and curls. He also frustrated defenders with a step-back move. After draining the shot clock to two ticks in the second half, Pepper swished a step-back jumper.
Da Silva led the ’Bows with 20 points.
Ganot said the ’Bows will have limited time to prepare for Saturday’s game. UC Riverside had a bye on Thursday.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to continue to play in games that mean a lot,” Ganot said. “Three games to go is a lot. We have to get better. It’s a quick turnaround. We’ll go from there.”
BIG WEST MEN
Conference Overall
W L Pct. GB W L
UC Irvine 14 3 .824 — 21 8
UC San Diego 13 4 .765 1 19 10
UC Davis 12 6 .667 2½ 17 12
Long Beach St. 10 7 .588 4 18 11
CS Northridge 9 9 .500 5½ 18 12
UCSB 8 9 .471 6 15 12
Hawaii 8 9 .471 6 16 13
UC Riverside 8 9 . 471 6 13 16
CSU Bakersfield 7 11 .389 7½ 12 17
CS Fullerton 6 11 .352 8 13 16
Cal Poly 0 17 .000 14 4 25
Thursday
UC Davis 75, Hawaii 63
Cal State Bakersfield 70, UC San Diego
57
UC Irvine 89, Cal State Northridge 61
UC Santa Barbara 83, Cal Poly 75
Cal State Fullerton 76, Long Beach State
71
Saturday
Hawaii at UC Riverside, 3 p.m.
UC San Diego at CS Northridge
UC Santa Barbara at Cal State Fullerton
Cal State Bakersfield at Cal Poly
Long Beach State at UC Irvine
UC DAVIS 75, HAWAII 63
RAINBOW WARRIORS (16-13, 8-9)
MIN FG-A FT-A R A PF PTS
McKoy 35 2-5 4-4 9 3 2 9
Coleman 32 3-5 1-1 2 0 3 8
da Silva 33 9-16 2-6 5 2 4 20
Rapp 36 3-7 0-0 0 2 1 8
Munoz 14 2-3 0-0 0 0 3 6
Williams 6 0-1 0-0 0 0 1 0
Beattie 11 0-1 0-0 1 0 3 0
McClanahan 20 2-4 3-4 2 2 2 7
Cotton 0+ 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0
Svetozarevic 0+ 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Rouhliadeff 7 2-2 1-1 1 0 3 5
Jacobs 5 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
TEAM 3
TOTALS 200 23-45 11-16 23 10 22 63
AGGIES (17-12, 12-6)
MIN FG-A FT-A R A PF PTS
Milling 35 2-8 1-2 3 3 1 6
Johnson 3211-16 7-7 3 0 1 30
Rocak 23 1-1 1-2 4 2 3 3
Adebayo 25 1-1 0-0 4 0 3 2
Pepper 30 9-1710-11 0 0 3 30
Sevilla 0+ 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Tamba 15 0-1 0-0 2 2 3 0
Debruhl 16 1-2 0-0 4 0 1 2
Manu 0+ 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Lose 6 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2
Borra 15 0-1 0-0 3 1 0 0
TEAM 3 1T
TOTALS 200 26-49 19-22 26 8 16 75
Halftime — UC Davis 38, Hawaii 32
3-point goals — Hawaii 6-20 (Munoz 2-3,
Rapp 2-6, Coleman 1-3, McKoy 1-4, Beattie 0-1, Jacobs 0-1, McClanahan 0-1, Williams 0-1). UC Davis 4-12 (Pepper 2-5,
Johnson 1-3, Milling 1-3, Debruhl 0-1).
Steals — Hawaii 3 (da Silva, McClanahan,
McKoy). UC Davis 8 (Johnson 2, Rocak 2,
Tamba 2, Adebayo, Borra). Blocked shots
— Hawaii 1 (Rouhliadeff). UC Davis 1 (Adebayo). Turnovers — Hawaii 16 (Rouhliadeff
4, da Silva 3, Team 3, Coleman 2, Munoz 2,
McKoy, Rapp). UC Davis 9 (Johnson 4, Rocak 2, Adebayo, Pepper, Team). Technical
fouls — UC Davis 1 (Team). Officials —
Nate Harris, James Schipper, Jeremy
Dente. A — 2,398.
