Daughtery, Wilson, Sevilla lead dramatic win as UC Davis advances in Big West men's basketball tournament
Aggies pull away down the stretch to defeat UC Santa Barbara, 79-73, look ahead to Fullerton
HENDERSON, Nevada - Carl Daughtery picked a fine time to have the game of his life.
The native of rural Maumelle, Arkansas, erupted for a career-high 24 points to propel No. 6 UC Davis to an impressive 79-73 win over No. 7 UC Santa Barbara in the first round of the Big West men’s basketball tournament Wednesday night before a crowd of 1,035 in Lee’s Family Forum.
The win moves the Aggies into the quarterfinal round where they will take on No. 3 Cal State Fullerton Thursday at 8:30 p.m. It will be the opening tournament game for Fullerton, which had a first-round bye. The two split their regular-season games, with the Aggies winning, 74-69, in Davis, and Fullerton taking a 93-92 win in Fullerton.
In Wednesday’s other first-round game, No. 5 UC San Diego overcame a nine-point halftime deficit to defeat No. 8 Cal Poly, 72-69. San Diego advances to take on No. 4 Cal State Northridge Thursday at 6 p.m.
No. 1 seed UC Irvine and No. 2 Hawaii both earned a double bye and will not begin tournament play until Friday night.
The Big West champion will earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
“It feels amazing,” said Daughtery, who scored the Aggies’ first 10 points of the game as UCD roared away to a 27-16 lead before UCSB rallied to cut the margin to 34-31 at the half.
The Gauchos came out strong after intermission to take a 39-37 lead and appeared ready to take control before Daughtery again responded with a 3-point bomb as UCD reclaimed the lead and never trailed again.
“It was my teammates and our mindset to just advance,” Daughtery added. “It’s a great support system we have for each other.”
When the Gauchos began to pay strict attention to Daughtery, Marcus Wilson took over with five quick buckets to give the Aggies a 57-47 lead.
“They took turns making big play after big play,” said Aggie coach Jim Les of Daughtery and Wilson.
“I am so happy and proud of our group. Every time there was a rebound or a 50-50 ball, we made all the hustle plays and all the toughness plays. And when you do great things on defense, you’ll be rewarded on the other end of the court. Every time we needed a play, someone got it done.”
In the final 55 seconds, that someone was Connor Sevilla, who sank eight straight free throws to thwart a spirited Santa Barbara rally.
Sevilla hit those free throws in pairs at 0:55, 0:47, 0:19 and 0:10 to finally seal the deal.
Wilson finished with 17 points, while Omer Suljanovic had 12, Brayden Fagbemi 11 and Sevilla 10.
Isaiah Chappell led everyone on the floor with nine rebounds, while Daughtery had eight boards and a pair of steals to add to his night’s work.
Santa Barbara coach Joe Pasternack, who has now lost seven in a row to Les and the Aggies, was gracious in defeat.
“Credit UC Davis,” he said. “I thought they played very well and hit some really tough shots. Defensively we just had too many mistakes to have a chance to win this game.”
The No. 3 Aggie women, meanwhile, had a first-round bye and will open tournament play Thursday at 2:30 p.m. against No. 7 UC Riverside. The Highlanders upset No. 6 Santa Barbara, 58-53.
UCD beat Riverside twice in the regular season, 81-68 in Riverside and 65-56 at home.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com