OAKLAND, Calif. – Tuesday night was all about defense for Academy of Art men's basketball, setting their season high and tying the second-best mark in program history with 19 steals on the night while also forcing 32 turnovers, all of which led ART U to score an eye-popping 43 points off of turnovers and allowed them to pull away down the stretch for a 94-60 victory over NCAA Division III opponent UC Santa Cruz. 

"Tonight was a great display of ball pressure on the defensive end," said ART U Head Coach Scott Waterman. "Forcing 32 turnovers and having 19 steals was a testament to our focus on that end of the court. Offensively we had some good spurts but need to continue to focus on consistently getting great shots on every possession. It was a great win that will keep our momentum going the right direction as we conclude the season."

There was only one tie in the contest as the Banana Slugs (8-15) used a jumper in the paint from Avri Finch to match a dunk from Urban Knights' (17-8, 11-6 PacWest) senior forward Mike Asante, which was the opening bucket of the contest. Scoring was slow through the first five minutes of the period, but eventually the Knights were able to reel off a 9-0 run which earned them their first double-digit lead of the contest. 

Points in the paint were how Academy of Art did its damage in the early going, swelling the lead to as large as 17 with just under five minutes remaining in the period. However, a pair of UC Santa Cruz 3-pointers were among the shots that helped keep the Banana Slugs within striking distance as the game went into the break, 36-25. By halftime ART U had already swiped 10 steals while Asante had already scored 15 points. 

Academy of Art kept its foot on the gas out of the break, maintaining its double-digit advantage through the first three minutes of the second frame. A mini 10-2 stretch that featured a pair of buckets from beyond the arc by UC Santa Cruz trimmed the deficit all the way down to just five points, the closest that the Banana Slugs had been to the Knights since the 14:53 mark of the first half. 

Unfortunately for UCSC, a potential comeback was denied when the Knights produced their most dominant span of the contest thanks to a 19-2 run that also featured a trio of steals. That stretch pushed the Knights out in front by over 20 points, and they glided to victory on the strength of more high percentage shots that came from the painted area as they shot a whopping 62.2 percent (23-for-37) in the second half, leading them to go 39-for-79 (49.4 percent) from the field overall. Though the streak was broken in the first half, ART U has hit on over 50 percent of their shots from the floor in five of their last six periods of game action. 

Fast-paced offense from the Knights helped their 20-point cushion quickly advance past the 30-point barrier, as the largest lead that the Knights had enjoyed at any point in the contest was 38 points (1:01 remaining in second period). Eventually the final score would settle at 94-60, giving Academy of Art its largest margin of victory this season (34 points) to surpass the previous high of 31 earlier this season against Concordia. This also marked the sixth time this season eclipsing the 90-point mark, extending their program record. 

Another nine steals in the second frame helped the Knights reach 19 for the contest, topping their previous best of 16 against against UH Hilo earlier this year while matching the 19 they snagged against Holy Names back on Feb. 3, 2016. Tallying the most steals was senior guard Klay Brown, who set a new season best with five while both junior forward Latrell Williams and sophomore guard Rodney Munson each grabbed four. Additionally, the 32 turnovers forced are not only a season high-water mark (previous: 26, Nov. 13, 2022 vs. SSU) but also a program record, and it is just the second time in history they have reached 30 or more miscues forced in a game (other: 30; Dec. 29, 2010 vs. Cal Maritime). 

Five Urban Knights closed the action scoring in double figures, with both Asante and sophomore forward Jamal Fuller tying for the game-high with 19 points apiece, though Fuller contributed his from off the bench. Just shy of them was Williams with 18 points of his own (7-for-12; 58.3 percent), with Munson chipping in 11 while graduate student guard Deang Deang added 10. All nine Urban Knights in the game recorded points with at least one field goal. 

It will be a return to conference action for Academy of Art the next time out, as the Urban Knights look to set the program record for wins in a regular season when they take on Bay Area rival Holy Names on Sunday, Feb. 19 beginning at 3:30 p.m.