No. 5 seed Cal State Bakersfield (15-10, 11-7) vs. No. 4 seed UC Davis (9-7, 7-5)
Big West Conference Tourney Quarterfinals, Michelob Ultra Arena, Las Vegas; Thursday, 5 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Cal State Bakersfield and UC Davis are set to do battle in the quarterfinals of the Big West tournament. UC Davis won against Hawaii 74-66 on Saturday, while Cal State Bakersfield fell 90-87 to Cal State Northridge on Feb. 2.
BIG MEN ON CAMPUS: UC Davis’ Elijah Pepper has averaged 14.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals while Ezra Manjon has put up 15.9 points. For the Roadrunners, Taze Moore has averaged 11.7 points and four rebounds while Shaun Williams has put up 9.3 points.EXCELLENT ELIJAH: Pepper has connected on 44.6 percent of the 74 3-pointers he’s attempted and has gone 15 for 30 over his last five games. He’s also converted 87.2 percent of his free throws this season.
ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Roadrunners have recently gotten buckets via assists more often than the Aggies. UC Davis has 25 assists on 76 field goals (32.9 percent) across its previous three outings while Cal State Bakersfield has assists on 53 of 84 field goals (63.1 percent) during its past three games.
STIFLING DEFENSE: UC Davis has forced opponents into committing turnovers on 24.5 percent of all possessions this year, the ninth-highest rate among all Division I teams. The Aggies have forced conference foes into turnovers on 24.6 percent of all possessions.
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