The college basketball gods were not smiling on the UC Davis men and women Saturday afternoon
Aggie men and women both fall to their UC Irvine counterparts
Saturday afternoon was not kind to either of UC Davis' Big West Conference basketball teams.
The Aggie men dropped a 73-66 Big West decision at league-leading UC Irvine, while the Aggie women lost a 52-49 heartbreaker at home to Irvine, which shares the Big West lead with Hawaii.
The loss was especially difficult for the men, who were 0-2 on their weekend road trip after a last-second 60-58 loss Thursday night at UC Riverside.
The UCD men are now 6-5 in the Big West and 12-10 overall, while the powerful Anteaters are 10-1 and 20-3 and clearly in control of the conference race.
The UCD women, who downed UC Riverside at home Thursday night, are 7-4 and 13-8. Irvine is 9-2 and 15-6.
The Aggie men bolted to a 7-0 lead before 2,325 stunned fans at the Bren Events Center, but the Anteaters came roaring back to even things at 7-7
UCD again enjoyed a seven-point advantage at 34-27 with just 1:22 left in the first half, only to have UCI score the final six points before intermission.
Early in the second half, the Anteaters went on a 13-5 run for a 48-41 lead and never trailed the rest of the way.
The difference down the stretch was that Irvine converted 52 percent of its field goals in the second half to just 32.3 percent for the Aggies.
Brent Leuchten, a strong candidate for Big West Player of the Year, was a force on both ends of the court with 21 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and two blocks.
TY Johnson led the Aggies with 21 points, six boards and five assists, while Connor Sevilla had an 11-point afternoon.
The men returned home Saturday night to attend class next week, but will be on the road again Thursday at Long Beach State and Saturday at Cal State Fullerton.
The Aggie women, meanwhile, struggled to find the basket in the final quarter in a frustrating loss to Irvine.
"It's just very disappointing," said Aggie head coach Jen Gross.
"We had lots of chances, but we weren't very disciplined with our offense at the end."
The Aggies trailed 41-38 entering the fourth quarter, but cut the margin to 41-40 on a bucket by Megan Norris with 9:12 remaining.
That was the last Aggie score until Tova Sabel hit a layup at the 2:36 mark, a devastating drought that ultimately cost them the game.
Still, UCD had a chance to force overtime at the end, trailing 52-49 with the ball out of bounds in the forecourt and just seven-tenths of a second remaining.
Norris had a clean look at a 3-pointer at the top of the key, but had to rush the shot and it bounced off the backboard at the buzzer.
Irvine head coach Tamara Inoue, now in her ninth season, was thrilled to come out of the University Credit Union Center with a win.
"It seems like they always beat us here," said the Anteater coach.
"They are a great team and they are just so tough at home. This was a big win for us."
For her part, Gross is optimistic as she looks ahead to the final nine games of the regular season.
"I really believe in this team. When we're at our best, we're really tough to beat, but when you're trying to win a championship, you have to be at your best every game. Still, our goal is to be playing our best basketball in March, so we won't wallow in this loss and we'll get better."
Norris was the only Aggie in double figures with 16 points and nine rebounds.
Both teams suffered through dismal shooting nights, with the Anteaters hitting at a 27.0 percent clip and UC Davis at 27.8 percent.
The Aggie women resume Big West action at home Thursday at 6 p.m. against Long Beach State and Saturday at 2 p.m. against Cal State Fullerton.
Reach Bob Dunning at bobdunning@thewaryone.com
The women’s team played their nearts out, but they need to make the routine shots—routine. There were simply too many missed scoring opportunities this afternoon. The good news: the Aggies are getting contributions from just about everyone on the bench, and that experience will prove valuable in the tournament.