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UC-Davis Aggies (0-0) vs. California Golden Bears (0-0)
The 2022-23 NCAA men’s basketball schedule gets underway on Monday as the UC-Davis Aggies travel to take on fellow Bay Area resident the California Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, California.
These teams have not faced off since November 2019 when the Golden Bears defeated the Aggies, 72-66. In fact, they have met three times with Cal winning all three matchups. UC-Davis is coming off a 13-11 season. California suffered their fifth consecutive losing season, going 12-20.
The Golden Bears have won the first three meetings between these teams, but the Aggies look to turn the tables here. One of the key figures is Elijah Pepper, who scored seven points in that 2019 loss, just his fourth game ever played in college. Since then, he has blossomed into the leading scorer for UC-Davis, averaging 15.1 points per contest last season. That helped to earn him All-Big West Conference preseason first-team honors.
However, if the Aggies are going to make some noise, it starts by turning around a disappointing end to the 2021-22 season. The team dropped three of their final four games, and simply could not find the ability to put together a consistent winning streak, finding themselves never more than two games above .500 or two games below it.
Fr om Los Angeles, CA to Davis, CA, meet the last new Aggie, JQ Strong @strong_joaquin ?? #NewFaces
Thanks for tuning in to meet all of our ?????? ??????????. See them live for the first time at our home opener on Nov. 9th! pic.twitter.com/kR0AG4yeAV
— UC Davis Men's Basketball (@ucdavismbb) October 28, 2022
Pepper is hoping to turn his senior season into a springboard for the NBA draft next year by improving areas of his game where he has been lacking in previous seasons. “I'm working on my playmaking a lot more,” he said referencing his 1.6 assists per game career average. “Just being able to make the right decision.”