Game #24
ART U Urban Knights (15-8, 10-6 PacWest) vs. DU Penguins (12-13, 7-10 PacWest)
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023 at 3:30 p.m.
Belmont, Calif. – Walter Gleason Gym
Live Stats and Video
ART U Game Notes 2-11-23

Game #25
ART U Urban Knights (15-8, 10-6 PacWest) vs. UCSC Banana Slugs (8-14)
Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023 at 7 p.m. 
Oakland, Calif. – Tobin Gymnasium
Live Stats and Video

NEARLY THERE
Winners in five of their last seven after most recently completing a 2-1 schedule for last week, Academy of Art men's basketball has just five games remaining on its 2023 schedule as ART U begins the home stretch of its calendar by hosting a pair of contests, the first a Pacific West Conference clash with rival Dominican before facing off against NCAA Division III opponent UC Santa Cruz in non-conference action.

TIP-OFF
Sunday's showdown with the Penguins will commence at 3:30 p.m. from Walter Gleason Gym in Belmont, Calif., while Tuesday's tip time with the Banana Slugs is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Oakland, Calif. at Tobin Gymnasium. 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.

KNIGHTS' QUEST
Academy of Art once again posted a mark of 2-1 over its three games last week, sandwiching a loss to Azusa Pacific on Feb. 2 (despite being tied at halftime and making 51 percent of their attempts in the first 20 minutes) between a pair of wins, the first of which was a 83-75 victory over UH Hilo on Jan. 29 to sweep the season series. Last time out ART U was able to pick up its ninth double-digit win of the season in a 79-66 toppling of Biola on Feb. 4, taking care of the ball by posting a new season-low in turnovers while hitting over half of their attempts from the floor for the seventh time this year (also did so against Hilo). Senior guard Klay Brown reached double-digit scoring in all three games (16.0 ppg), while junior forward Latrell Williams showed provided two-way value with an average of 10.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, and senior forward. 

The day following the Hilo contest for his performance over the week before, Williams was selected as the PacWest Defender of the Week on Jan. 30 for the first time this season, the second such honor of his ART U career. Over the two previous games (including Hilo), Williams produced an average of 13.0 rebounds (10.0 defensive rebounds avg.) and 3.0 steals per game, which included his career day on the glass against Hawaii Pacific. He is the third Urban Knight to collect the honor in the 2022-23 campaign, joining senior forward Mike Asante (Jan. 4, Jan. 23) and Klay Brown (Nov. 21) with ART U's fourth overall award, putting them just over halfway to the five Urban Knights and seven total awards earned last season (both program records).

After winning the first four games of the season for the first time in program history (all opponents in the CCAA), ART U dropped three of their next four games including their first two PacWest contests against Point Loma and Concordia. This was the first time since 2018-19 that ART U was defeated in its first two PacWest games, with the losses occurring to the same two teams, however, that season culminated in ART U's first ever PacWest Tournament appearance. Academy of Art got back on track winning five of their next seven contests, which included tying the program-record with four straight PacWest victories (accomplished twice last season under Coach Waterman) and consecutive 90-point performances with their largest point total of the season (98) against Biola, while the losses came against preseason PacWest favorite Azusa Pacific and NCAA Division I opponent Saint Mary's.

Though Chaminade put a stop to that stretch and snapped the conference winning streak, the Knights have still won five of their last eight games which included a new program record of three straight times eclipsing 90 points (93.0 ppg avg.), starting in the loss to the Silverswords (only loss scoring 75 points or more). The streak continued with Hilo and CUI, which also happened to see the Knights set a program record with their third and fourth 20-point win of the year (previous record: three, 2021-22) after beating Hilo by 22 before topping Concordia by 31 in the rematch. The other loss in that span came to No. 20 Point Loma, sweeping the season series with ART U while also dropping the Knights to 1-1 against ranked opponents this season after an earlier win against then-No. 19 Saint Martin's.

KNIGHT WATCH
ART U has scored 75 or more points in 13 of their 23 contests this year (12-1, 86.2 ppg in those games), including reaching the fifth-most (98 at Biola), sixth-most (97 at HNU) and ninth-most (95 at CUH) points in program history. In all, they have hit the 90-point barrier five times which ties a program record (also 2021-22). All told, that leads to an overall season average of 77.1 ppg, which would be a new program record. In 15 of 23 games ART U has shot above 40.0 percent from the field, including 10 of the past 13 contests, while reaching above 50.0 percent in six of those 10 (including in consecutive games against Hilo and CUI) and seven instances overall with their season best against Biola (58.5 percent, 40-for-68). However, they have eight times fallen below 40 percent with a season-low mark of 33.3 percent (25-for-75) against PLNU on Dec. 1, 2022, leading to a season average of 44.6 percent (666-for-1494). The current scoring margin of +5.9 would be an ART U record, which is lifted by their new program best of four 20-point wins with their season-best 31-point victory against CUI their largest since defeating UH Hilo 81-48 on Feb. 13 of last season. Ball movement has been key, recording double-digit assists in each of their first six games (14.7 apg in those games) and 18 of 23 total contests (13.3 apg), with their season-best of 23 against BU ranking fifth-most in program history while their 22 against Hilo is tied for sixth-most. 

In comparison opponents are averaging 71.2 ppg against ART U this season, only eight times allowing an opponent to score 75 or more points (high of 98 at CUH).They allowed a season-low 52 points against FPU on Jan. 2, which was the fewest allowed since they gave up just 48 to UH Hilo last season Feb. 13, 2022, and is tied for the sixth-fewest points allowed in school history. Meanwhile, opponents are shooting 41.4 percent (572-for-1383) shooting from the field, 15 times allowing opponents to shoot above 40 percent for the game (high of 50.0 percent vs. SMC). On Jan. 2, FPU was held to just 28.8 percent shooting from the field, the second-lowest percentage ART U has held an opponent to in program history (first: 27.8 percent at HNU, Jan. 6, 2009). Ten times has ART U totaled double-digit steals with their season best of 16 against the Vulcans on Jan. 29 tying the third-most steals in a game in program history. That leads to a current season average of 9.48 per game (218 total), and they are currently on pace to finish with 265 by season's end (would be the second-most in ART U history). In the battle on the boards, ART U has snatched 908 rebounds (39.5 per game) to the 835 of their opponents (36.3 per game), 10 times grabbing 40 or more with their season-best of 53 coming recently against HPU which is tied for third-most in a game in program history. 

Brown is back in front for the team lead in points with 12.6 ppg, scoring double figures in four of his last five (15 times overall) while also posting the team high in blocks with a season best of three on three occasions (1.0 bpg; sixth in PacWest). Just behind him is graduate student guard Will Balata, who has reached double-digit scoring a total of 12 times overall with a season best of 25 points against Hilo. The third Urban Knight to hit double figures is Asante, who has reached the mark in six of his past seven games and now averages 11.8 ppg on the year. Many have cleaned up the glass for ART U, but Asante's 8.2 rpg leads the Knights and is fourth in the PacWest, and he just recently set a new career mark and tied the program record for rebounds in a game with 20 (also: Hunter Hayden vs. DSU, 1/17/11). Meanwhile, Williams now pulls down 6.8 rpg which places him behind Asante for sixth in the PacWest, recently grabbing 19 boards to also set his career high and rank third-most in program history. When moving the ball, Brown's 2.8 apg (64 total) leads the team and ranks 11th in the conference, while the trio of Asante, sophomore guard Rodney Munson and graduate student guard Deang Deang each add 2.0 apg. Defensively, Brown has notched multiple steals in 15 of 23 games (high of four on four occasions) for a team-best average of 2.1, leading the PacWest in steals average and total steals (48). Meanwhile, Deang trails shortly behind in fifth in the PacWest with 1.7 spg (37 total, seventh), while Munson sits ninth with 1.4 per game (32 total, 10th).

SWEATING PENGUINS
Only one game below .500 are the Dominican Penguins, as they currently occupy the sixth spot in the PacWest standings meaning that they would have the final spot in the PacWest Championships were the season to end today. Most recently Dominican is coming off an exciting buzzer-beating, half-court shot in overtime to take down UC Santa Cruz, ART U's opponent following the Penguins, but Dominican has still lost three of its last five contests. While Dominican takes care of the ball by committing the fourth-fewest turnovers per game, they are in the bottom half of nearly all other PacWest statistical categories including scoring average (eighth, -2.7), scoring offense (ninth, 70.7 ppg), field goal percentage (seventh, 44.5 percent), and assists (11th, 9.36 apg). Four Penguins have averaged double-digits this season, with the 15.0 ppg from Marcus McCutchen leading the way and ranking 12th in the PacWest while PJ Volz trails behind him with an average of 13.1 per game. McCutchen has also been the primary rebounder for Dominican by snagging an average of 5.3 per game, while the duo of Justin Brown and Jaayden Bush are tied for the team lead in assists with 1.9 per game. This will be the first matchup this season between ART U and Dominican, but despite the Urban Knights sweeping the season series last year (third time in history), the Penguins still lead the all-time series 20-10. 

SALT FOR THE BANANA SLUGS
Members of NCAA Division III, UC Santa Cruz enters the matchup with the Urban Knights on a nine-game winless skid including losses Fresno Pacific, Cal Maritime, Mary Washington, and most recently Dominican. The Banana Slugs have struggled for offense, averaging just 69.0 ppg while posting an overall scoring margin of -6.9, only nine times eclipsing the 75-point barrier though two of those instances they reached over 90 points. They hit on just 41.1 percent (562-for-1366), and average only 6.5 triples per game on a season average of 30.1 percent (144-for-479) shooting from beyond the arc. However, UCSC averages 39.1 boards per game while also totaling 13.6 helpers per contest, as well as average 2.9 blocks per game. Individually, the 14.3 ppg from Tyler Kesinger are tops on the Banana Slugs, as he is also the primary ball mover by recording a team-high 2.7 apg. Two others also average double figures in Avri Finch (12.7) and Zino Okah (10.6), with Finch also dominating the boards to the tune of 8.2 per game. This will be the first ever meeting between ART U and UC Santa Cruz. 

EFFICIENT OFFENSE LEADS ART U TO 79-66 WIN OVER BIOLA
Academy of Art men's basketball controlled the majority of Saturday's contest against Biola while displaying a strong all-around game, shooting 51 percent from the floor while taking care of the ball with 14 assists and a season-low seven turnovers to produce a 79-66 win over BU in Pacific West Conference action.

LOOKING AHEAD
Following the conclusion of this short week, there will be a five-day break before ART U returns to the court as they host the Hawks of Holy Names on Sunday, Feb. 19 beginning at 3:30 p.m.