Coming off Josh Ritchart’s Most Excellent Adventure, UC Davis men’s basketball returns to The Pavilion on Tuesday as part of a doubleheader with the Aggie women.

Ritchart, a senior who scored 61 points and grabbed 29 rebounds during UCD’s 2-1 showing in the Portland State Tournament, was named Big West Conference Player of the Week on Monday. He leads his team against Sacramento State at 7 p.m.

At 4:45 p.m., the Aggie women (0-3) meet San Jose State (4-2).

The nightcap marks the 112th meeting between UCD and Sac State (the Hornets lead the series 64-47).

The visitors are 1-2 coming in, while the Aggies — thanks to their successful Oregon trip — have evened their record at 3-3.

“It’s nice to return home, especially to host our rivalry game against Sacramento State,” said UCD coach Jim Les. “We are all excited for Tuesday’s game and will be ready to play.”

The Aggie men lost 79-63 to Portland State in Sunday’s tourney finale but, throughout the event, Les was pleased with his team’s improved defense and the inside play of Ritchart, who scored a career-high 35 points in the Friday win over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

In that Sunday matchup, junior Corey Hawkins paced UCD with 23 points, Ritchart added 17 points and seven rebounds and Avery Johnson grabbed a career-high-tying eight boards to lead all players.

Sixteen of Hawkins’ points came in the second half as the Aggies cut the deficit down to seven before the Vikings pulled away late.

For the UCD women, their 0-3 record comes from losses to USC, Pacific and Stanford that featured competitive Aggie efforts each time.

Paced by junior Sydnee Fipps (15.7 ppg), the locals have seen a large supporting cast — Kelsey Harris, Brianna Salvatore and Aly Doherty, among others — emerge.

The Spartans split games last weekend, beating San Francisco (98-79) and losing to San Diego (88-60). UCD hasn’t played since dropping a 66-48 decision at Stanford on Nov. 17.

Tuesday’s doubleheader also features the annual Yolo Food Bank canned food drive. Any fans who bring a donation of nonperishable food will be able to purchase a general admission ticket for $5.

Incidentally, thanks to Saturday’s 34-7 Aggie football win over the Hornets, the school-year-long ScholarShare Causeway Cup points stand solidly in favor of UCD, 37.5-2.5.

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