Game #32
#6 Seed ART U Urban Knights (20-11) vs. #3 Seed/No. 15 Chico State Wildcats (19-4)
Friday, Mar. 11, 2022 at Noon
San Bernardino, Calif. – Coussoulis Arena (Tickets available online here)
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio

Game #33 (If necessary)
#6 Seed ART U Urban Knights (20-11) vs. #2 Seed No. 8 CSUSB Yotes/#7 Seed CPP Broncos
Saturday, Mar. 12, 2022 at 5 p.m.
San Bernardino, Calif. – Coussoulis Arena (Tickets available online here)
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #34 (If necessary)
#6 Seed ART U Urban Knights (20-11) vs. TBD
Monday, Mar. 14, 2022 at 7 p.m.
San Bernardino, Calif. – Coussoulis Arena (Tickets available online here)
Live Stats | Live Video

I WANNA DANCE (WITH SOMEBODY)
The magical season for Academy of Art men's basketball continues to roll on as the Urban Knights quickly celebrated the program's first Pacific West Conference Championship, but have to refocus their effort for the program's first ever appearance in the NCAA DII Championship Tournament, starting with the West Regional beginning this Friday against #3 seed and nationally-ranked No. 15 Chico State. ART U looks to continue extending its new program record for victories having hit the 20-win mark, and an opening round victory over the Wildcats would be the sixth straight for ART U, tying the program record they set earlier this season. The Knights are peaking at the right time, as they have won 11 of their past 12 contests overall and have lost just one game since the beginning of February. 

TIP-OFF
The Urban Knights battle against the Wildcats will be the opening contest of the West Regional Quarterfinals, as tip-off is set for Friday at noon. If victorious, the West Regional Semifinal will await with that contest beginning at 5 p.m., while the West Regional Final will commence on Monday evening at 7 p.m. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights via the athletics app (Apple App Store, Google Play Store) and on Twitter & Instagram, as well as "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
With the NCAA DII Championship Tournament returning to a 64-team field after having a smaller field last season due to COVID-19 restrictions, the West Regional will feature eight total teams, the three conference winners from each of the PacWest, CCAA (California Collegiate Athletic Association) and GNAC (Great Northeast Athletic Conference), as well as five at-large bids. This year's regional will be hosted by #2 seed Cal State San Bernardino. For all the latest NCAA Championships news and updates, including schedules, tickets (only available online) and links to post-game press conferences, visit the tournament central here. All games will be streamed for free on NCAA.com, which you can find here. Live stats will be available here. For the official NCAA Championship Tournament program, follow this link. Please note that all fans will be required to adhere to CSUSB's mask wearing protocols, which requires all attendees to wear masks regarding of vaccination status. 

KNIGHT WATCH
​It has been an absolute banner season for ART U men's basketball, setting program records for points scored (2,388), scoring average (77.0 ppg), scoring margin (+3.4; only positive scoring margin in program history), field goal percentage defense (42.0 percent), total steals (325; third in NCAA DII) and steals per game (10.5; fourth in NCAA DII). Meanwhile, they also recorded the second-most rebounds (1,172) and assists (416) in school history. All of these categories were among the three best marks in the PacWest with the exception of scoring margin, and they were the only team in the PacWest to average double-digit steals. On the verge of yet more history, the Knights need only four more steals in the first round of the NCAA West Regional to break the PacWest single-season record. 

The season would also culminate in a barrage of awards from the PacWest, as junior guard Klay Brown was tabbed as the Defender of the Year after he was honored as the PacWest Defender of the Week in three consecutive weeks while now ranking fourth in NCAA DII in total steals (73) and 12th in steals per game (2.43), all of which are ART U records. The only all-conference selection was sophomore forward Latrell Williams, who was named to the All-PacWest Second Team after a season in which he poured in eight double-doubles (now up to 10 after the conference tournament) and was one of the top rebounders in the PacWest, pulling down an average of 7.6 per game (now at 7.8 rpg), a mark that was third best in both the PacWest and in ART U single-season history. Additionally, he has snatched a total of 242 rebounds, which most in the PacWest and is just three shy of the ART U record set by Josh Hill in 2019-20. Head Coach Scott Waterman was picked as the Coach of the Year after helping guide the team to the numerous records listed above as well as the program record for wins, and the program's first ever regular season victory over a NCAA DI opponent. It was the first time earning the respective honors for all three individuals. 

All three of the above would also be named to the PacWest All-Tournament team at the PacWest Championship, led by Asante bringing home the Tournament MVP award. In being named the MVP, Asante fell just shy of a double-double in each game though he did average that over all three contests with 13.0 points per game and 10.0 rebounds per game, going off for a high of 16 points in the final against APU. Brown hit the clutch three-ball that capped off a thrilling overtime victory against Point Loma to put the Knights in the title game, while Williams added two more double-doubles to his total and averaged 13.3 ppg and 9.3 rpg.

Academy of Art finished the season with a hot shooting hand, hitting over 40 percent of their attempts from the field in 12 of their past 13 games while twice going above 50 percent, including their regular-season finale against Fresno Pacific (51.6 percent). A whopping 19 occasions this season ART U would score 75 points or above, hitting the century mark once this season for the third time in school history, posting a 16-3 record and averaging 83.6 ppg  in those contests. Active defense was part of the identity for ART U this season, reaching double-digit steals a total of 18 times with a season best of 20 against HPU on Jan. 15. Their 532 forced turnovers are also a conference best while slotting sixth in the nation, forcing opponents to turn the ball over an average of 17.16 times per game which is 12th in NCAA DII. 

A record of six Urban Knights averaged double-digit scoring this season led by graduate student guard Deang Deang with 11.5 ppg on the strength of 49.2 percent shooting. Providing value with both his scoring and his work on the glass, Williams is averaging 11.2 ppg to pair with 7.8 rebounds per game, with a total of 10 double-doubles on the season. Just behind Williams' scoring output at 10.8 ppg is the duo of Brown and junior forward Mike Asante, while trailing just behind is graduate student guard Joshua Bagley with 10.5 ppg and 2.9 assists per game. Rounding out the group is graduate student guard Denny Slay with an average of 10.2 ppg. 

KNIGHTS' QUEST
A rollercoaster of a year has led to the best ART U season in history, capping the year off with a program record of wins after sitting below .500 at 2-3 in the early portion of the campaign. A key win over Saint Martin's would precede a convincing victory over NCAA DI UC Davis for ART U's first win over a ranked opponent in the regular season, kicking off what would become a six-game winning streak. That span would also include four consecutive PacWest wins, with both stretches being program bests. 

After slowing down through the midseason, Academy of Art found its groove again down the stretch by posting its second five-game winning streak of the campaign, also a program record. The Knights would close the season as victors in seven of their past eight overall, including finishing the campaign with a thrilling 85-82 overtime win against their upcoming tournament opponent FPU. All would end in the first .500 or above overall record in ART U history. 

History continued while at the PacWest Championship Tournament, as though the Knights were 0-for-2 in their previous two PacWest Tournament appearances, ART U won three games in four days to become the first Northern California team to capture the title. To earn their NCAA Championships berth, the Knights had to take down both of the top two seeds, starting with a narrow three-point overtime defeat of #1 seed Point Loma before dropping the #2 seed Azusa Pacific in another nail-biting affair that was decided by just one possession. It was the first ART U victory against the Cougars in nearly a decade, snapping a previous 14-game skid that began back in 2014, while the win over PLNU in the trilogy was the first time Academy of Art took the series with the Sea Lions when playing more than once in a season.

TAMING THE WILDCATS
After dominating the CCAA for the majority of the season with a brief lull through the middle part of the campaign, Chico State closed the regular season strong by winning their past six games leading into the CCAA tournament. However, the Wildcats would not make it past the semifinal round, falling to eventual champion and #1 seed in the West Region Cal State San Marcos, 80-66. Averaging 73.4 points per game with a scoring margin of +9.4, Chico State is a strong shooting team after knocking down an average of 45.2 percent of their shots this season thanks to a trio of Wilcats averaging double figures offensively. The tops among that group is Malik Duffy with 16.0 ppg, who is also the second-most rebounder on the squad by snatching an average of 7.5 boards per contest. Trailing behind Duffy in scoring is Kevin Warren at 12.9 ppg while Isaiah Brooks chips in 11.6 ppg, with Kelvin Wright Jr. entering as the teams leading rebounder with an average of 7.9 per game. The Wildcats and the Urban Knights met earlier in the season for what was the third game of the campaign for ART U, with Chico State barely outlasting the Knights for a 71-61 victory, though Academy of Art did not have a full lineup at the time. ART U will be looking to defeat Chico State for the first time in program history, as the Wildcats have won all six previous meetings date back to their first clash in 2009. 

POTENTIAL OPPONENTS
Should the Urban Knights capture a victory in their first NCAA Championships appearance, ART U will face the winner of #2 seed No. 8 Cal State San Bernardino and #7 seed Cal Poly Pomona. While the Knights have never faced Cal Poly Pomona in their history, Academy of Art did face off against CSUSB earlier this season on the heels of their loss to Chico State. It was the same result in the fourth ART U game of the year, as the Knights would be defeated by the Yotes 96-64 in their largest margin of defeat against a DII opponent this season.

ART U NETS FIRST PACWEST CHAMPIONSHIP WITH 73-70 VICTORY
In what has undoubtedly been a history-making season, PacWest Tournament #4 seed Academy of Art men's basketball punctuated the 2021-22 campaign in a big way by playing strong team basketball to defeat #2 seed Azusa Pacific for the first time since 2013 by a final of 73-70 on Saturday and hoist the program's first Pacific West Conference Championship trophy.

LOOKING AHEAD
Should Academy of Art advance through the NCAA DII West Regional, the Urban Knights will continue on through the NCAA DII Championship Tournament and will earn a berth in the NCAA Championship Quarterfinal in Evansville, Ind. beginning on Mar. 23.