Game #21
ART U Urban Knights (14-6, 10-3 PacWest) vs. Westmont Warriors (7-13, 3-9 PacWest)
Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Oakland, Calif. – Laney College Gym
Live Stats | Live Video
Game #22
ART U Urban Knights (14-6, 10-3 PacWest) vs. FPU Sunbirds (6-14, 4-8 PacWest)
Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024 at 3:30 p.m.
Oakland, Calif. – Laney College Gym
Live Stats | Live VideoÂ
Game #23
ART U Urban Knights (14-6) at UCSC Banana Slugs (10-13)
Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024 at 7 p.m.
Santa Cruz, Calif. – Kaiser Permanente Arena
Live Stats | Live Video
I JUST CAN'T WAIT TO BE HOME AGAIN, ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Headed back home after their Southern California trip are the Urban Knights, where they'll host Westmont for the first time in program history on Feb. 8 for the squad's Black History Month Game and will follow it up with a contest against Fresno Pacific on Feb. 10 for ALS Awareness Day. Academy of Art will then take a slight detour out of Pacific West Conference play as they'll head down to UC Santa Cruz on Feb. 13.
TIP-OFF
Thursday's battle between the Knights and the Warriors will tip off at 7:30 p.m., while Saturday's showdown against the Sunbirds will be an afternoon matinee beginning at 3:30 p.m. The contest against the Banana Slugs will kickoff 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.
Saturday's game will be ALS Awareness Day. ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks nerve cells and pathways in the brain and spinal cord. Patients in the later stages of the disease are totally paralyzed, yet in most cases, their minds remain sharp and alert. Every day, an average of 15 people are newly diagnosed with ALS and as many as 30,000 Americans may currently be affected by ALS. To help support research, advocacy, nationwide care services, and ALS-specific clinical care, please click here to donate.
KNIGHT WATCH
In their last outing, the Knights hit on 58.9 percent (33-for-56) of their looks from the floor, making up for their recent contest against Azusa Pacific where they made 42.6 percent (29-for-68) of their shots. ART U have gone back-and-forth with Point Loma trading the top spot in the PacWest standings, but with their 95-86 win against the Sea Lions last Saturday on Feb. 3, the Knights once again have sole ownership of first place.
Junior forward Isaiah Williams is coming off a week with a PacWest award, as he collected Defender of the Week honors with help from his 10 steals against APU and PLNU. Junior guard Allen Taylor has also seen recent success, as he stepped into a starting role against the Sea Lions, collecting 12 points after scoring 17 points against the Cougars on 6-for-10 shooting. Allen Taylor shared the team-high in points with senior forward Latrell Williams, a player who has already broken the ART U all-time record for career rebounds, double-doubles, and now closes in on the steals record with his current 143 career takeaways, eyeing down Klay Brown's record of 146. While junior forward Jamal Fuller was one of five Knights who tallied double-digit points against PLNU, junior guard Rodney Munson led the team in that contest in points (22), as he went 9-for-11 from the field.
Though Munson is currently having the greatest season as a guard in terms of shooting percentage in ART U history (.516), Fuller is chasing down the all-time scoring record for a single season. Fuller is currently tied for the best points per game average in the PacWest (18.6)Â with Latrell Williams holding the second spot in rebounds per game (8.7). Redshirt sophomore guard Eli Taylor ranks sixth overall in the conference in assists per game (2.9), and numerous Knights show up on the defensive end. Isaiah Williams is the only player in the PacWest Conference to currently be ranked top 10 in both steals (2.1, fourth place) and blocks (1.0, fifth place). Joining him in the steals leaders are Latrell Williams at tied-fourth (2.1 spg), Munson in eighth (1.7 spg), and junior guard Treylon Payne in ninth (1.6 spg). As a unit, ART U ranks 10th as a team in the NCAA Division II pool (10.8 spg).
WELCOME TO OUR HOME WARRIORS
Westmont enters the matchup at 7-13 overall and 3-9 in conference on the season fresh off of a victory over UC Santa Cruz 80-67, a positive response to their three-game losing stint just prior against Fresno Pacific, SAGU American Indian, and Hawaii Pacific. Despite their record, Westmont scores the second-most points a game in the PacWest as a team (77.0), only behind ART U (81.4). The team's overall defense shows what catches up to them, as the squad ranks towards the bottom of the rankings in the conference (10th place), giving up 75.3 points per contest. Anthony McIntyre not only leads the team in points per game (18.6) but is tied for the top spot in the conference as well with ART U's Fuller. Adrian McIntyre follows up with the Warriors' next-best points per night (12.7), while Amir Davis leads the starting lineup in rebounds (6.8). In the only meeting the pair of teams have previously faced off, ART U came away with the win earlier this season on Jan. 5 with a 79-69 score.
WHAT'S UP SUN-BIRDS
After a rough start to the season with their 6-14 overall record while being 4-8 in conference, Fresno Pacific found a spark just a few weeks ago as they enjoyed a four-game win streak against Point Loma, Azusa Pacific, Concordia, and Westmont in that order through the middle of January. More recently in their last three games, the team has gone 1-2 picking up two conference losses against Biola and Hawaii Pacific while taking home a non-conference win against UC Santa Cruz. Giving up the fewest points in the PacWest (67.0), FPU's defense ranks first among all in the conference. Just one Sunbird averages double-digit points in Isaac Peralta (12.7) as the squad's best rebounder in Harrison Pennisi brings in just 5.6 a game. ART U will look to gather their fifth straight win against FPU in their first game meeting up since Feb. 23, 2023, a contest the Knights finished victorious with a 103-69 score. FPU leads the all-time series 14-9.
SALT ON THE SLUGS
With a 10-13 record on the year, the Banana Slugs will host ART U in their last regular season contest of their campaign. Dropping their last three games with two being against previously mentioned Westmont and Fresno Pacific, UCSC will come into the game looking for a positive season sendoff. Zino Okah (12.7 ppg), Joseph Espy (10.2 ppg), and Ian McCloskey (10.0 ppg) all collectively lead the Slugs in points while Treyson Keating does what he can on the boards (6.8 rpg). The two teams met up nearly one year to the day last season on Feb. 14, 2023 where the Knights found a 94-60 victory at home, the only contest the pair had previously played.Â
MUNSON LEADS ALL-AROUND KNIGHTS WIN AGAINST SEA LIONS
Never trailing in their first battle with Point Loma of the season in Pacific West Conference action, Academy of Art men's basketball raced out to a double-digit lead within the first 10 minutes of the tip as ART U returned to both the win column and first place in the conference standings with a 95-86 defeat of PLNU on Feb. 3.
LOOKING AHEAD
The next slate on the schedule for ART U men's basketball will consist of more home games; this time against UH Hilo on Feb. 17 and Dominican on Feb. 22 before an away rematch against Fresno Pacific on Feb. 24.
