MBB: UC Santa Barbara (7-3) @ the Aggies (5-6) 6 pm Thursday 12/28 https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/ucd-men-head-into-big-west/article_352193d4-a44d-11ee-b7f7-977d9a1a7ddb.html
After UC Davis dismantled UC Merced, 80-57, four days before Christmas, Aggie men's basketball head coach Jim Les predicted his team is ready to make some noise in the Big West Conference race.
"We're playing well and we're ready" noted Les as he begins his 13th conference campaign leading Aggie fortunes.
The Aggies bring a 5-6 mark into Thursday's 6 p.m. Big West opener against powerhouse UC Santa Barbara at the University Credit Union Center. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
UCD continues conference play at home Saturday at 2 p.m. against Cal Poly SLO.
It will be a "first and worst" weekend, given that UCSB won the conference tournament and NCAA bid last year, while Cal Poly was dead last in the Big West with a woeful 1-18 mark.
“ UCSB may well be the class of the conference again after posting a school-record 27-8 campaign in 2022-2023 and taking a No. 14 seed into the NCAA tournament before falling to No. 3 Baylor, 74-56.
The Gauchos return Big West Player of the Year Ajay Mitchell, a 6-5 junior from Limburg, Belgium, who is off and running this year with 19.8 points a game.
Santa Barbara has five players averaging in double figures, including 6-11 Auburn transfer Yohan Traore, who is at 15.7 points per game while hitting 64.8 percent of his field goal attempts.
UCSB brings a 7-3 mark into Thursday night's game, including a 69-65 win over Fresno State.”