DAVIS, Calif. – Academy of Art basketball showed no fear of UC Davis on Sunday, seizing momentum early on in the game with their active hands on defense and putting it away with the hot-shooting hand, as ART U dominated the Aggies 79-60 for the program's historic first win over a NCAA Division I opponent during the regular season.
"Before the game, we talked with the team about opportunity, and how tonight was an opportunity for us to continue to grow the ART U basketball program," said Head Coach
Scott Waterman. "The guys have been continuing to buy in to what we have asked, and it showed tonight."
Taking a quick 5-0 lead with a 3-pointer and jumper was the Aggies (2-3), but the Urban Knights (4-3) were unfazed as they responded in a big way by reeling off 12 unanswered points. The Knights were ready to answer the fast pace of the Aggies, driving into the lane to rack up a total of 24 first-half points in the paint. Working the glass led to 18 first half rebounds for Academy of Art, two of which resulted in a pair of second-chance buckets from sophomore guard
Brian Rios and sophomore forward
Latrell Williams to help push the lead up to nine.
UC Davis answered with an 8-0 run to get back into the contest, trimming the lead to just two points until a critical steal from junior guard
Klay Brown led to him slamming home a dunk the other way on the fastbreak, temporarily halting the comeback. After the two teams traded buckets, the Knights would seize control again by posting a 13-0 run over the next four minutes, including a pair of three-balls from sophomore forward
Cheickna Sissoko, to give ART U a comfortable 12-point lead heading into the break. As has been their hallmark this season, ART U forced 11 turnovers by the Aggies in just the first half, ultimately leading to 18 points.
Over the course of the second half, the ART U lead would balloon to as many as 21 thanks to their shooting from downtown, going 5-for-6 (.833) in the second frame alone. By the game's end, the Knights were at a 61.5 percent (8-for-13) clip, their best percentage of the season.
One final comeback by the Aggies was attempted toward the end of regulation, but they came no closer than 12 points before ART U was able to ice the game with a pair of jumpers. The Urban Knights hit exactly half of their looks in both halves (31-for-62 overall), the second straight game shooting above 50 percent from the field. It was an all-around effort, according to Waterman.
"We were together on the court, we did a great job executing and sharing the ball, and had guys step up to make plays," Waterman said. "Defensively, we played hard and forced a good team into turnovers and dominated the boards, which we knew was going to be a key to winning."
Not only did Academy of Art lead the rebound battle at 41-30, but they also held the edge in steals (10-7) and turnovers (16-17) while tying in assists (13) and blocks (3).
While this goes down as the first official win for Academy of Art against UC Davis, the Knights also edged out the Aggies
in an exhibition contest over a decade ago on Nov. 6, 2010.
Five players would end scoring in double figures for the second time in as many contests, led by the 14 points from graduate student forward
Adrian Byrd-Jelinek, while Williams snagged his second consecutive double-double thanks to 13 points and 11 rebounds. Ending with 12 points on the strength of 4-for-4 shooting was Sissoko(including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc), while chipping in 11 points each was the duo of Brown and graduate student guard
Deang Deang, the latter of whom also topped ART U with five assists. Even with the impressive victory, Waterman stressed the importance of remaining focused.
"It is a great feeling to take this step for the program, but it is just one game, and we have a tough PacWest conference season ahead of us," Waterman said. "There will be no easy nights."
That PacWest season begins the next time the Knights take the floor, as they start by hosting Bay Area rival Dominican at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 4.
