Teams: UC Davis vs. UC Irvine
Records: Aggies (9-13, 5-5); Anteaters (10-14, 3-7)
Where: The Bren Center – Irvine, Calif.
When: Saturday at 7:05 p.m.
Who to watch: If Dominic Calegari can replicate anything close to his previous performance against UC Irvine this season, UC Davis will be in good shape.
The Berkeley, Calif. native shot a perfect 10-for-10 from the field and six-for-eight from the charity stripe, finishing with 28 points.
The scoring explosion was good enough to move Calegari over the 1,000-point mark, only the 16th Aggie to ever do so.
Did you know? UC Irvine leads the Big West Conference in free throw percentage at 71 percent.
Preview: In their last game against the Anteaters, the Aggies held on for a 79-77 win.
The first half featured 13 lead changes and at one point UC Irvine held a four-point lead.
Coach Gary Stewart, however, would like to get out to a better start more often.
“You can ill-afford to start the race in lane nine all the time,” Stewart said.
The Aggies have been outscored 737-705 in first halves this season. They tend to score more in the second half of games, as they are tied 834-834 with opponents.
UC Davis currently leads the Big West in shooting percentage at 46 percent, slightly ahead of first place Pacific.
The Aggies also have recent history on their side as they have defeated the Anteaters four straight times, including three wins last season.
Eric Wise and Michael Hunter, who average 16 and 13.8 points per game, respectively, lead the Anteaters. Darren Moore, the third-leading scorer with 9.6 points per game, joins Wise and Hunter as the only three Anteaters to start every single game for UC Irvine this season.
– Richard Procter
