Davis, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Basketball Team travels to UC Davis Saturday evening for a 5 pm PT tilt with the first place Aggies.
The Highlanders picked up their first Big West win of the season against UC Davis (15-9, 7-2) on January 12, knocking the Aggies from atop the conference standings with a 61-55 victory, while holding them to their lowest scoring output of the season (
box score/
recap). Since that time, UCD has won five of six games, and leads second place UC Irvine (14-12, 7-3) by a half game.
UC Riverside, meanwhile, finds itself in sixth place in the league following a, 78-71, home loss to Long Beach State on Thursday (
box score/
recap). At 5-5 in Big West play, the Highlanders are one game behind Hawai'i, CSUN and the 49ers, who are all tied for third with 6-4 conference marks.
Dikymbe Martin has led UCR in scoring in each of the team's last five games. The last member of the Highlanders to have a longer such streak was Kyle Austin who led the team in six straight contests from February 4-25, 2010. Martin has also scored in double figures in each of the team's last six games, which is the longest streak of the season on the squad. During that time, the Riverside, California native is averaging 16.0 points per game, while connecting on 57.8 percent of his shots from the field, and 47.8 percent from long distance.
Menno Dijkstra posted back-to-back 11-point scoring efforts in his last two games, and Brandon Rosser is averaging 13. 0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game during that same span. Secean Johnson (13 points) and Alex Larsson (12 points) also scored in double digits for the Highlanders in their loss to the 49ers, giving UC Riverside five double figure scorers for the first time this season.
UC Riverside has won three straight road games in conference play, tying the program record. A win over the Aggies would not only break that record, but would tie the team record for most Big West road wins in a season.
UC Davis' success this season has come primarily on the defensive end of the floor where they are holding league opponents to a Big West low 64.2 points per game. The opposition is also connecting on 39.8 percent of its shots from the field, which is the third lowest percentage in the league, and 29.2 percent from long distance, which is the second lowest percentage in the Big West.
Chima Moneke ranks third in the Big West averaging 15.6 points per game, while teammate Brynton Lemar is fifth at 14.9. Moneke also ranks first in the conference in rebounding (8.8 rpg) and second in field goal percentage (.564), and Lemar is fifth in the league in made three pointers per game (1.96).
The Highlanders are 32-32 all-time against the Aggies, and snapped a four-game losing streak to UC Davis with their January 12 victory.
