Game #13
ART U Urban Knights (8-4, 4-0 PacWest) vs. PLNU Sea Lions (6-7, 2-3 PacWest)
Thursday, Jan. 6, 2021 at 3:30 p.m.
Oakland, Calif. – Tobin Gymnasium (no general admission)
Live Stats & Video
 
Game #14
ART U Urban Knights (8-4, 4-0 PacWest) vs. CUI Eagles (7-5, 4-2 PacWest)
Saturday, Jan. 8, 2021 at 3:30 p.m.
Oakland, Calif. – Tobin Gymnasium (no general admission)
Live Stats & Video

NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS
Academy of Art men's basketball looks to open 2022 on the right foot when the Urban Knights put their undefeated Pacific West Conference record on the line in rematches against Point Loma and Concordia on Jan. 6 and 8. 

TIP-OFF
Both contests this week are set for 3:30 p.m. tip times, beginning with the Sea Lions on Thursday and closing the week with the Eagles on Saturday. 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. 

KNIGHT WATCH
All good things must come to an end, something ART U learned in its only contest of last week against the University of San Francisco, as the NCAA Division I Dons were able to snap the program-best six-game winning streak of the Urban Knights with a 111-78 effort. Graduate student guard Deang Deang led all scorers with 21 points on 50 percent shooting (7-for-14) from the floor with a season-high four steals, while fellow graduate student guard Denny Slay chipped in 17 and totaled five assists for the second straight game. Though the overall winning streak has stopped, Academy of Art has still won each of its last five games against NCAA Division II opponents, while remaining atop the PacWest standings at 4-0 in conference action.

It was the first loss this season for the Knights when scoring above 75 points, but they are still 8-1 when doing so with an average 84.3 points per game in those contests (shooting above 40 percent in all nine games). However, ART U is 0-3 when scoring below that mark and average just 61.3 ppg (shooting below 40 percent in all three games). That split leads to an overall average of 78.6 ppg on the strength of 46.1 percent shooting from the field, respectively ranking them third and fourth in the PacWest in the two categories. Academy of Art has found its shooting stroke, knocking down over 50 percent of their looks in five of the last seven games. Defense has been a hallmark of ART U this season, slotting in as the PacWest leaders in total steals (122), steals per game (10.17) and turnovers forced (206). Other categories in which the Knights rank inside the top-5 in the PacWest: 3-point field goal percentage (4th; 34.6 percent), free throw percentage (3rd; 75.3 percent), and turnover margin (2nd; +2.58). When looking at stats from only conference contests, Academy of Art posts the second-best scoring margin at +12.6 (only team to post a positive double-digit margin along with Azusa Pacific) thanks to 85.8 ppg on 49.2 percent shooting, both of which lead the conference. 

Leading the four Urban Knights that are averaging double-digit scoring is Deang with 14.4 ppg on the strength of 55.2 percent shooting, with the field goal percentage ranking second in all of the PacWest (trailing the 55.6 percent by Donald McHenry of UH Hilo). Providing value with both his scoring and his work on the glass, sophomore forward Latrell Williams is nearly averaging a double-double this season with 11.8 ppg and 8.8 rebounds per game, having produced four on the season already. He not only leads ART U, but also the PacWest with his rebounding average and in total rebounds (106). Closing out the group is a pair of Urban Knights that are just reaching 10.0 ppg in Slay (10.9 ppg) and junior guard Klay Brown (10.5 ppg). Slay also appears eighth in the PacWest in assists per game with 3.0, while graduate student guard Joshua Bagley trails just behind in 10th at 2.8 apg.

Appearing among the defensive leaders in the PacWest is Brown, who is tied for the conference lead in steals per game at 2.0 along with redshirt junior guard Christian Popoola Jr., while Deang is tied for fourth at 1.8. Brown and Deang are both tied for first in total steals with 22, while Slay is tied for eighth with 18. Meanwhile, sophomore forward Cheickna Sissoko is tied for eighth in blocks per game at 0.7, swatting away a season-high five would-be shot takers during the win over Chaminade, the most in a single PacWest game this season. 

KNIGHTS' QUEST
Helping the Knights start 2-0 for the first time since the 2015-16 season was the duo of Popoola Jr. and Williams as the two were named to the SF State Tip-Off Classic All-Tournament Team. For Popoola Jr., he averaged 15.5 points per game and was clutch at the free throw line against the Gators, becoming the fifth Urban Knight to be perfect at the line with at least 10 attempts in a single game by going 10-for-10. Williams chipped in an average of 12.5 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds per game over the first two contests, including a double-double in his first game as a Knights where he dropped 19 points with 11 rebounds. Popoola Jr. also collected a Pacific West Conference Defender of the Week honor on Nov. 15, the first PacWest weekly award of his career, capping off a week where he averaged 3.5 steals per game as well as 7.0 defensive rebounds (eight total). 

Also key in the 2-0 start was Deang as he chipped in 13.5 ppg in the season-opening tournament and grabbed his own double-double during the win over the Seawolves with 20 points and 10 boards, going a perfect 9-for-9 from the field. He became only the second player in program history to post a perfect shooting percentage while making at least eight buckets, joining Aaron Aikman who did so on Nov. 9, 2013.

After a three-game slide that included losses to a pair of squads that now enjoy a national ranking in No. 4 Chico State and No. 15 Cal State San Bernardino, the Knights responded with a 90-78 win over Saint Martin's before capturing a signature win in the history of the program with a 79-60 defeat of UC Davis, the first victory over a DI opponent in the regular season in program history. ART U knocked down exactly half of their looks from the floor but hit on a season-best 61.5 percent (8-for-13) of their looks from downtown, the highest 3-point percentage in a game by a PacWest member school this season. 

PacWest action for the Knights began with an all-around impressive 91-71 toppling of Dominican, the largest win over the Penguins in program history (previous: 17 points, 79-62 on Feb. 1, 2019). Academy of Art showed their defensive grit and set a pair of their season highs that night, including 14 steals and six blocks, leading Bagley to be named the PacWest Defender of the Week on Dec. 6 thanks to a career-high four steals.

Following that was the first ever undefeated road trip to Southern California in ART U history, with an impressive 90-77 victory over Concordia before narrowly escaping 76-74 over Point Loma and the return of PacWest Preseason Player of the Year Kaden Anderson. Strong on the glass in the victories was Williams by snatching a total of 15 defensive rebounds (22 total), becoming the third Urban Knight this year to be named the PacWest Defender of the Week on Dec. 13. This is the first time in program history that more than one Urban Knight has earned the award in a single season, having captured exactly one such honor in each year starting with the 2013-14 campaign through 2017-18. 

The final PacWest game of 2021 saw the Urban Knights handily take down Chaminade in a 100-77 win effort, leaving ART U as the only remaining team without a loss in conference action and moving them into sole possession of first place. Additionally, ART U has now produced a four-game PacWest winning streak, the longest such streak in Urban Knights history. Starting with a 29-2 run in the first frame, the Knights would go on to set the third highest point total on the most field goals made (43) in program history. While the shooting hand of the Knights would cool a bit in the second frame, they still finished at a season-best 55.8 percent shooting from the floor. It was the third time the Knights hit triple digits in school history, and the first since they tied the program record with 107 points against Simon Fraser on Nov. 21, 2014. The scoring against CUH came on a season and program best 26 assists, tying the mark that they set against Holy Names on Feb. 13, 2020. 

SILENCING THE SEA LIONS
Point Loma will mark the first rematch of the season for Academy of Art, as the two teams first faced off no more than a month ago on Dec. 11, 2021 when the Urban Knights secured a thrilling 76-74 victory despite the return of PacWest Preseason Player of the Year Kaden Anderson. It snapped a 12-game losing streak against the Sea Lions, with the previous win over PLNU coming in a 63-61 effort back on Dec. 3, 2013. In fact, the Knights had not won on the road against Point Loma since the first ever meeting between the two teams on Jan. 31, 2013 (77-69). Since that game the Sea Lions have collected wins over Azusa Pacific (94-82) and Pacific (121-71) before most recently falling to Concordia by just six points (72-66), dropping their record to 6-7 on the year and 2-3 in the PacWest. Their season scoring average has boosted to 79.4 ppg thanks to the win over Pacific, ranking second in the PacWest, but give up the second most points per game at 75.5. Since Anderson's return he has recorded 20.5 ppg and 7.5 rpg in four contests, while Brock Mackenzie enters as the top scorer with at least five games played at 14.5 ppg, as the pair leads five Sea Lions averaging double-digit scoring. Though ART U is looking to sweep the season series (and tie their longest winning streak against PLNU), the Sea Lions still lead the all-time matchup, 12-3. 

FLY LIKE AN EAGLE
Concordia has played just two games since they first met with ART U on Dec. 9, 2021 when the Knights came away with a convincing 90-77 victory in Irvine, Calif., but the Eagles responded with wins over Dominican (70-60) and Point Loma (72-66). ART U's win marked the second consecutive victory over CUI, with both wins coming on the Eagles' home floor. A look through the PacWest rankings shows Concordia in the middle of the pack for nearly all categories, though they do have the best turnover margin in the conference at +3.09. Wayne Arnold leads not just the Eagles but all of the PacWest in scoring average at 23.9 ppg, which is right at the mark he dropped on ART U in their first meeting with 24 points. After Arnold, only two other Eagles are averaging in double figures, while the best rebounding average on the team belongs to Kayle Knuckles at 5.0 rpg. Though ART U has won the previous two matchups, CUI still holds the edge in the all-time series, 6-3. 

URBAN KNIGHTS WINNING STREAK STOPS AT HANDS OF DONS
Academy of Art men's basketball rode a program-best six-game winning streak into its battle against the second NCAA Division I opponent of the year in the University of San Francisco, but ART U couldn't extend its run as USF dialed up the long ball in a 111-78 non-conference victory on Tuesday. 

LOOKING AHEAD
Following this week's games, the Urban Knights will hop on a plane to head out to the islands of Hawaii to face all three PacWest teams in UH Hilo, Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade, beginning with the Vulcans on Thursday, Jan. 13 at 9:30 p.m. PST (7:30 HST).