Aggie men absorb another defeat
RIVERSIDE — In what has become almost a nightly affair, the UC Davis men’s basketball team played well for most of the game on Saturday, only to see its opponent — host UC Riverside — steal a victory late in the game.
The Highlanders used a late-game surge to offset Aggie Josh Ritchart’s 21 points and career-high tying five 3-pointers to take a 59-54 Big West Conference win.
Riverside (11-12, 5-5), which edged UCD 60-58 in the teams’ matchup at The Pavilion on Jan. 5, was led by B.J. Shearry’s double-double effort of 17 points and 10 rebounds. Kevin Bradshaw added 12 and guard Robert Smith had 11 as the Highlanders won despite playing without leading scorer Phil Martin (personal reasons)
Ritchart, who has hit five treys four times this season and seven times in his career, could prevent the Aggies’ 18th straight loss, as the locals fell to 1-21 overall and 0-10 in the Big West. It was another single-digit conference loss for UCD, which has dropped six of its Big West games by an average of less than four points per game.
Saturday was another nailbiter for the Aggies, who tried to overcome a 14-0 UC Riverside run in the first half, and then a six-minute stretch without a bucket from the floor.
Shearry scored six consecutive points for UC Riverside near the midway point in the second half and Smith scored in the paint for another bucket as the Highlanders took a 43-38 lead with 8:05 left in the contest.
Later, Ritchart’s fifth 3-pointer cut the deficit to 47-46 with five minutes to go, but Kevin Bradshaw’s 3-point play started six straight points for UCR in the final minutes, and UCD wasn’t able to get closer than five points the rest of the way.
Ritchart was 6-of-11 from the field overall and 5-of-8 from long range, while twice drawing fouls outside the arc that resulted in six free throws. He made four of them and added a team-high eight rebounds.
“I think Josh did play well,” said Aggie coach Jim Les. “I thought he was the one guy that was aggressive, looking to score. They ended up pulling a smaller guy on him and he did some good things. I thought he sought opportunities, was way more active, and therefore (became) tougher to guard.”
The Aggies were victimized by 20 turnovers, their highest total in their last 10 games, while the Highlanders owned a 34-12 advantage in the paint.
UCD took a 28-26 halftime lead, but endured nearly six minutes without a point and almost eight without a field goal after going up 18-9 behind four early 3-pointers. The teams were tied 7-7 in the opening minutes but a layup from Alex Tiffin and a trey from Tyler Les put the Aggies in front, 12-7.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Les and Ritchart staked the Aggies to that 18-9 lead at the 11:56 mark, but UC Riverside climbed back and took the lead with 14 straight points over the next six minutes to go up 21-18. Elliott Berry had six points in run, including the final four, while Smith had a pair of buckets.
A pair of free throws from guard Tyrell Corbin and three by Ritchart ended the UCD scoring drought, then a baseline jumper from Harrison DuPont tied the game at 25-25 with 3:13 remaining.
Ritchart’s third 3-pointer of the half put gave the Aggies their halftime lead, as they shot 50 percent (6-of-12) from beyond the arc in the first half.
Ritchart hit another trey to start the second half, eventually scoring five of UCD’s first seven points to help his team gain a 37-32 lead nearly five minutes in. But DuPont’s jumper was the last Aggie field goal for more than seven minutes, while the Highlanders scored 11 of 12 points to take their 43-38 advantage.
DuPont added seven rebounds and Les had six as UCD outrebounded its second straight opponent. The Aggies had 38 on Saturday, nearly nine more than their average and one more than UC Riverside.
DuPont also scored nine points and Les had eight for the Aggies, who shot 36 percent from the field and held the Highlanders to 37.7 percent. UCD had nine 3-pointers in the game.
The Aggies will return home for two games next week, hosting Cal State Northridge on Thursday and Long Beach State on Saturday. Thursday’s game, which will be televised by Comcast Sportsnet California, tips at 8 p.m. — following a UCD women’s game — while Saturday’s matchup starts at 4 p.m. and also part of a doubleheader with the women.
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Posted by Enterprise staff
on Feb 4 2012.
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