Aggie men bounce back from slow start to dominate Cal Poly in Big West opener
Defense leads the way as UCD forces 33 turnovers in convincing 77-66 win
The UC Davis Aggies overcame a slow start during which they trailed by 11 points, but roared back in the second half to take a convincing 77-66 win over Cal Poly SLO in the Big West Conference men's basketball opener for both schools Thursday night at the University Credit Union Center.
The Aggies evened their overall record at 4-4, while Cal Poly is now 5-5.
Poly was 0-20 in Big West play last year and was picked once again to finish last in the preseason coaches poll, but first-year head coach Mike DeGeorge has other ideas for the Mustangs.
DeGeorge, highly successful over the last six years at Division II Colorado Mesa, bolstered his roster with transfers, several who came with him from Colorado Mesa, and Cal Poly played an uptempo style that dominated the early going.
Cal Poly hit three 3-pointers in the opening 75 seconds to take a quick 9-0 lead before the crowd of 1,274 had even taken their seats.
Connor Sevilla and Leo DeBruhl hit back-to-back treys to draw the Aggies within 9-6, then both teams went scoreless for over four minutes before the fast-breaking Mustangs raced away to a 22-11 lead with 7:35 left in the opening half.
UCD had a number of open looks, but missed 15 of its first 18 shots, staying in the game by forcing Poly into 20 turnovers in the first half.
Slowly, DeBruhl, Sevilla and Carl Daughtery brought the Aggies back to trail just 31-30 at intermission.
The second half, however, was all UC Davis.
Trailing 42-41, the Aggies went on a sizzling 19-0 run to take a 60-42 lead and never looked back. Cal Poly came no closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
Sevilla had two 3-pointers in a 21-second span during the streak, while the Aggies continued to force turnovers that led to open looks in transition.
Poly finished with 33 turnovers, negating a strong effort by a team trying to end a long conference losing streak.
"The difference tonight was our defense," said an obviously pleased UCD head coach Jim Les.
"When these guys are locked in and buy in and put in the hard work, good things happen. Our communication on defense was so good tonight. The way the guys shared the ball and moved the ball on offense was effective. For the most part, we just kept the game simple."
Sevilla led four Aggies into double figures with 17 points, while Pablo Tamba, TY Johnson and Daughtery had 14 each and DeBruhl added 13.
"I always say 'three' is more than 'two,' " noted Sevilla, a 6-foot sophomore from San Ramon.
"I'm finding more of a rhythm and feeling more comfortable out there."
In a tale of two halves, the Aggies shot just 26.7 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, but 60.6 percent after the break.
"If we're going to defend like that and create turnovers like that, then this team has a chance to be really, really good," added Les.
In a quick turnaround, the Aggies continue Big West play at home Saturday at 5 p.m. against UC Santa Barbara.
In other Big West games Thursday night, Long Beach State defeated Cal State Fullerton, 73-56, UC San Diego stopped Santa Barbara, 84-76, UC Irvine crushed Cal State Bakersfield, 82-66, and UC Riverside edged CSUN, 68-64.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com