Game #27
ART U Urban Knights (16-10, 12-6 PacWest) vs. Concordia Golden Eagles (14-11, 9-9 PacWest)
Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
Irvine, Calif. – CU Arena
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #28
ART U Urban Knights (8-5, 4-2 PacWest) vs. Azusa Pacific Cougars (12-14, 7-11 PacWest)
Saturday, Mar. 1, 2025 at 3:30 p.m.
Azusa, Calif. – Felix Event Center
Live Stats | Live Video

SAYONARA REGULAR SEASON
Academy of Art men's basketball will close out regular season play with the Urban Knights' two upcoming contests, as the squad will battle against Concordia and Azusa Pacific in preparation for the Pacific West Conference Tournament next up thereafter.

TIP-OFF
Thursday's showdown with the Golden Eagles will have a late evening tip time, with the action getting underway at 7 p.m on the road, and the following game will be an afternoon contest against the Cougars at 3:30 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. 

KNIGHT WATCH
Already clinching a PacWest Conference Tournament berth, the 12-6 in conference Knights will now look to maintain their third-place ranking in the standings in preparation for the tournament to compete against the final team that manages to sneak into that sixth spot. With the possibility of the sixth place team potentially being any of UH Hilo, Westmont, Chaminade, Fresno Pacific, Concordia, or Hawaii Pacific, ART U will look to play with the team that can barely sneak in as they hope to keep their third place spot.

With the Knights proving their offensive success can come from anywhere on the floor, they've done just that most recently as ART U contains six members of the squad that have scored double-digit points in their last four showings. With also a strong and rooted defensive presence from the team as a whole, three Knights specifically in senior guard Treylon Payne, junior forward Bryce Moore, and junior forward Robbie Armbrester have shown sparks of greatness defending at the top of the key, as the latter has brought home the most recent PacWest Conference Defender of the Week honor on Feb. 24

With the three leading scorers on the team in senior forward Isaiah Williams (13.5 ppg), senior guard Rodney Munson (12.8 ppg), and senior forward Quintin Metcalf (10.6 ppg) celebrating their Senior Night against UH Hilo in addition to Payne, the quartet will be closing out the regular season together for the last time during the road trip.

CHASING DOWN CONCORDIA
With two games to go, the Golden Eagles, who are just one win out of a tie for the sixth and final spot in the PacWest Tournament, will look to bring the heat against the Knights as every game down the stretch of their homestand brings serious impact on their future this season. Winners of their last two games against Jessup and Menlo, CUI will need to keep the momentum going in their only contest with ART U this regular season, and they'll look to their five starters who have started all 25 games for the Golden Eagles, as Jaden Henderson leads the group with 15.8 points per game. Kaden Minter will look to assist as he puts up an even 13.0 ppg of his own, while Joseph Locandro (11.2 ppg), will do all he can off the bench as the team's third-highest leading scorer. Although CUI leads the all-time series 8-6, ART U are the most recent victors after defeating the Golden Eagles 75-54 last season at home.

GOING ALL OUT FOR AZUSA
2023-24 Sweet 16 contenders and PacWest Tournament Champions, Azusa Pacific will be unable to defend their title this season after being mathematically eliminated from a tournament spot, but will still hope to end their season on a high in the Cougars' final game of 2024-25 against ART U. Dropping their last two against Westmont and Point Loma, APU will compete with Biola prior to their contest with the Knights. This season, Ethan Speaker, Jordan Hansen, and Josh Hardeman have led the Cougars to a 7-11 conference record, and will get together one last time looking for their final win. Historically, APU has had a pleasant past against the Knights, but it's anybody's game after both teams both took at least one win from each other in 2023-24.

KNIGHTS SEND OFF SENIORS BEFORE 70-65 RESULT AGAINST UHH
In a battle with two top-four Pacific West Conference teams on Feb. 24, Academy of Art men's basketball and UH Hilo fought hard until the end of extra time against one another, but it was the Vulcans who found a 70-65 triumph in the final seconds of overtime after Monday's Senior Night event for the Urban Knights. 

LOOKING AHEAD
With the regular season at its conclusion after the pair of contests, ART U men's basketball will next prepare for the PacWest Conference Tournament held in San Rafael, Calif., beginning next week on Mar. 6.