2014-15 Men's Basketball Release No. 15
Long Beach State attempts to narrow the gap on league-leading UC Davis, while the Aggies seek their first 20-win season as a Division I program. The two teams square off Thursday at the Walter Pyramid on ESPN3.
BIG WEST AT A GLANCE
This Week In The Big West
• UC Davis travels to Long Beach State for a Thursday night showdown on ESPN3 as the first place Aggies attempt to stretch their lead on the third place 49ers. At 19-4 overall and 9-1 in the Big West, UC Davis is on the verge of some big accomplishments in 2014-15, including:
- Becoming just the third team in Big West history to transition from single-digit wins one season to 20 the next. The other two teams to accomplish that feat – Utah State went 4-23 in 1981-82 and 20-9 in 1982-83, while Fresno State was 7-20 in 1976-77 and 21-6 in 1977-78.
- Going from nine wins last season to 19, UC Davis is one of just 16 clubs in Big West history to make a +10 improvement in the win column. The all-time conference record for greatest win differential over a two-year period is +16.
- With a two-game lead in the standings on second place UC Irvine, the Aggies are in position to become the third team in league history to go from last to first, but the FIRST to do so OUTRIGHT in a single-division setup.Poly halted a three-game losing streak with a pair of home victories against CSUN and Long Beach State, improving to 7-2 at the Mott Athletics Center. The Mustangs look to win three straight for the second time this season when they travel to Cal State Fullerton on Thursday.
CAL POLY
Roaring Back: Cal Poly halted a three-game losing streak with a pair of home victories against CSUN and Long Beach State, improving to 7-2 at the Mott Athletics Center. The Mustangs look to win three straight for the second time this season when they travel to Cal State Fullerton on Thursday.
Awich Taking Off: Junior forward Joel Awich notched a career-high 19 points and hit a collegiate-best four three-pointers in Saturday’s win against LBSU. Awich has scored in double figures in 10 straight games after doing so just twice through the first 13. During that 10 game span, Awich is averaging 13.3 points.
Super Sub: Junior Reese Morgan has developed into one of the Big West’s top reserves. He has been the team’s leading or second-leading scorer in each of the last five contests, averaging 16.2 points during that span. He turned in a season-high 18 points against LBSU.
Bench Strong: Cal Poly’s bench has outscored the opposing team’s bench in eight of 10 conference games.
CAL STATE FULLERTON
Tourney Bid In Reach: It is shaping up to be a two-team race for the final Big West Tournament bid. The Titans (1-9) have played two less conference games than CSUN (2-10), and have an opportunity to gain ground when they host Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara this week.
Free Throws Are Fantastic: The Titans posted a season-high 85.0 percent (17-for-20) showing at the free throw line on Saturday night at Hawai‘i.
McBoarder: The Big West’s leading rebounder at 8.6 per game, senior Steve McClellan bested that average with 10 against Hawai‘i, giving him 10 or more in nine of the last 14 contests. He ranks third in the conference with 10 double-digit rebounding games, despite the fact that he had none of that variety through the first eight.
Back Into Gear: After playing limited minutes off the bench last week, junior Lanerryl Johnson returned to the starting lineup against UH and responded with 23 points, his sixth 20-point game this season.
CSUN
They’re All Big Now: CSUN’s losing streak reached eight straight after setbacks to Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara last week. The eight straight losses represents the longest slide for the Matadors as a Big West member and the most since dropping 10 straight to open the 1991-92 campaign.
Hicks Sniffs Scoring Top 10: Senior Stephan Hicks is on the verge of entering the Big West top 10 career scoring list. With 1,873 career points, Hicks is within range of the No. 10 spot inhabited by Cal Poly’s Mike Wozniak (1996-00), who is at 1,903.
At The Top...Again: CSUN is shooting a conference-best 76.2 percent (435-of-571) at the free throw line this season, more than three percent better than the next best team. At that pace, the Matadors look to lead the Big West in foul shooting for the third time in the last four seasons.
More On Hicks: Hicks, who is the Big West’s all-time free throw king with 571 makes, has connected on 18 straight going into Tuesday’s game against Bethesda University.
LONG BEACH STATE
Seeking A Salve: For the first time in a long time, Long Beach State has dropped three consecutive Big West games. It is the longest conference skid for the 49ers since year one of the Dan Monson era, when they finished out the 2007-08 league slate with five consecutive losses.
Treys For McKay: Of the 52 made field goals by senior guard McKay LaSalle, 45 of those have come via the three-pointer. LaSalle has experiened an uptick in his three-point shooting of late, having made 13 over the last five games and shooting 56.5 percent (13-of-23) during that span. LaSalle had a career-best 18 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting against UC Santa Barbara on Thursday.
Big Game On Tap: Long Beach State hosts UC Davis on Thursday on ESPN3 with the 49ers looking to knock off the Big West’s first place squad. The 49ers have had success against the Aggies inside the Walter Pyramid, posting a 9-1 record there since 2005.
Nice Ratio: Over the last two games, sophomore Branford Jones has dished out nine assists against just one turnover.
UC DAVIS
On Verge Of History: The Aggies have won 10 of their last 11 games and are now 19-4 overall and 8-1 in the Big West. The Aggies are closing in on becoming just the third Big West program to go from single-digit wins one season to 20 the next. Utah State was the last to do so – 4-23 in 1981-82 to 20-9 in 1982-83. The Aggies were 9-22 last season.
Win Differential: The Aggies have experienced a plus-10 win differential from last season to this season, one of the best in Big West history. UC Davis is one of just 16 teams to have made at least a 10-win improvement. The all-time biggest improvement is 16 wins.
More History Possible: With a two-game lead in the standings, UC Davis is on the verge of becoming just the third team in conference history to jump from last place to first place in a span of two seasons.
Free Throw Stat: UC Davis set season-highs in free throws made (28) and attempted (39) in its last outing versus Cal State Fullerton.
UC IRVINE
Back At The Bren: Coming off of a loss to UC Riverside last week, UC Irvine returns home to the Bren Events Center, where the ‘Eaters have won 33 of their last 41 games. UCI hosts Hawai‘i Thursday on Prime Ticket.
Bench Talk: UC Irvine’s bench, led by a team-high 15 points from Jaron Martin, outscored the starters 32-31 in Saturday’s loss to UC Riverside.
Davis II Reaches Career Milestone: Senior Will Davis II swatted three shots against UCR to reach a career milestone, becoming just the third player in Big West history to amass 200 blocked shots. He enters this week with 202, just six behind UC Santa Barbara’s Alan Williams at 208.
Displaying The Range: In Big West games only, UCI ranks No. 2 in three-point field goal percentage (.442), hitting 73-of-165. The Anteaters have shot at least 40 percent from distance in seven of 10 league contets.
Still Pretty Impressive: Despite the loss at UCR, the ‘Eaters are tied with UC Davis for best conference road record (4-1).
UC RIVERSIDE
SRC Dominance: UC Riverside improved to 10-2 at the SRC Arena with Saturday’s 70-63 win over UC Irvine. It is the program’s highest home court win total since going 11-2 during the 2008-09 season.
Continued Success: In defeating the Anteaters, UC Riverside won for the fifth time in the last six meetings between the two schools at SRC Arena. In the process, the Highlanders ended a five-game overall losing streak to UCI.
Johns Approaches 1,000 Point Club: Junior forward Taylor Johns is just 49 points shy from becoming the 14th member – and just the fifth in the Division I era – of the career 1,000 point club at UCR. He could conceivably accomplish the feat with a big week against UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly.
More On Johns: Johns recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds against UCI. He ranks third in the league in double-doubles. In addition, he secured his eighth 20-point game, which is tied for the fourth-most among conference players. And, with 145 career blocks, he is one more away from the Big West top 10.
UC SANTA BARBARA
Impressive: UC Santa Barbara is 5-2 without reigning Big West Player of the Year Alan Williams, who has missed the last seven contests with a shoulder injury. The Gauchos held Long Beach State and CSUN to a combined 41 percent shooting in last week’s victories.
The Key To Victory: Averaging 18.9 points during the seven-game absence of Williams, junior Michael Bryson has energized the Gauchos. His season-high 26 points against CSUN was his third consecutive 20-point effort and fourth in the last six games.
Freebie Fare: In the LBSU victory, UCSB established single-game highs this season from the free throw line in terms of both makes (21) and attempts (26).
Three-Point Barometer: During its current three-game winning streak, UCSB has shot 40 percent or better from the three-point line. In fact, the Gauchos are a combined 26-for-60 (43.3%) from distance during that span. They are 7-3 this season when shooting at least 40 percent from beyond the arc.
HAWAI‘I
Unstoppable: Perseverance would be an apt term for the Rainbow Warriors in their 81-61 victory over Cal State Fullerton in their last outing on Saturday. Already without the services of leading scorer Aaron Valdes, UH lost two more players in Isaac Fleming and Mike Thomas to ankle injuries during the game, another to five fouls and a fifth player to ejection.
Quirky Stat: UH is 6-0 this season when committing fewer than 10 turnovers. The Rainbow Warriors tied a season low with just seven miscues against the Titans.
Top Five And Climbing: Junior Roderick Bobbitt, the NCAA leader in steals with at least one in 24 straight games, broke into the Big West single-season top five following Saturday’s outing against CSF. His three steals gave him 88 for the year, placing at No. 5 in Big West annals. He is now three shy of New Mexico State’s Randy Brown (91, 1989-90) for the No. 4 spot.
For Three: The Rainbow Warriors tied a season high with 10 three-pointers versus CSF.