# 2023–24 UC Davis Aggies men's basketball team

The 2023–24 UC Davis Aggies men's basketball team represented the University of California, Davis in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Aggies, led by 13th-year head coach Jim Les, played their home games at the University Credit Union Center in Davis, California as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 20–13, 14–6 in Big West play to finish in third place. Due to UC San Diego's transition to Division I, the Aggies were the No. 2 seed in the Big West tournament, where they defeated Hawaii in the semifinals before losing to Long Beach State in the championship game.

## Previous season

The Aggies finished the 2022–23 season 18–14, 11–8 in Big West play, to finish in sixth place. They were defeated by UC Riverside in the first round of the Big West tournament.
Elijah Pepper scored 697 points to break the program's single-season scoring record, which had been held by Randy DeBortoli since 1987–88. He also became the 10th UC Davis player to score 1,000 career points since the school transitioned to the NCAA Division I level.

## Offseason
### Departures

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Joaquin Strong | 1 | F | 6'7" | 215 | Freshman | Playa del Rey, CA | No longer on team roster |
| Christian Anigwe | 4 | F | 6'9" | 220 | Senior | Phoenix, AZ | Graduated |
| Robby Beasley III | 5 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Sophomore | San Ramon, CA | Transferred to San Francisco |
| DeAndre Henry | 15 | F | 6'7" | 225 | Junior | Phoenix, AZ | Entered NCAA transfer portal |

### Incoming transfers

Incoming transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Marsalis Roberson | 5 | G | 6'6" | 200 | Junior | Oakland, CA | California |
| Pablo Tamba | 8 | F | 6'7" | 210 | Junior | Málaga, Spain | Indian River State |
| Drew Carter | 15 | G | 6'3" | 195 | Sophomore | Portland, OR | Colorado |
| Lukas Prongos | 32 | F | 6'6" | 235 | Junior | San Rafael, CA | College of Marin |

### 2023 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Connor Sevilla PG | San Ramon, CA | Dougherty Valley High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2023 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Preseason
### Big West coaches poll

The Big West Conference coaches poll was released on October 19, 2023. UC Davis was picked to finish fifth in the Big West Conference with 69 points.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | UC Santa Barbara | 92 (9) |
| 2 | Long Beach State | 82 (2) |
| 3 | Hawaii | 80 |
| 4 | UC Irvine | 75 |
| 5 | UC Davis | 69 |
| 6 | Cal State Fullerton | 58 |
| 7 | UC Riverside | 45 |
| 8 | Cal State Bakersfield | 36 |
| 9 | UC San Diego | 31 |
| 10 | Cal State Northridge | 18 |
| 11 | Cal Poly | 12 |

### Preseason All-Big West teams

Elijah Pepper was selected to the All-Big West Preseason Team.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Jessup | W 86–51 | 1–0 | 21 – Pepper | 7 – Tied | 7 – DeBruhl | University Credit Union Center (567) Davis, CA |
| November 9, 2023* 2:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Pepperdine | W 79–78 | 2–0 | 28 – Johnson | 6 – Tied | 4 – Adebayo | University Credit Union Center (1,263) Davis, CA |
| November 12, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Montana Montana MTE | L 65–78 | 2–1 | 23 – Pepper | 6 – Tied | 3 – DeBruhl | Dahlberg Arena (2,507) Missoula, MT |
| November 14, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | vs. North Dakota State Montana MTE | W 68–53 | 3–1 | 24 – Pepper | 7 – Pepper | 3 – Johnson | Dahlberg Arena (71) Missoula, MT |
| November 26, 2023* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Sacramento State Causeway Cup | L 63–69 | 3–2 | 22 – Pepper | 6 – Tied | 4 – Johnson | University Credit Union Center (1,485) Davis, CA |
| November 30, 2023* 7:00 p.m. | | at Oregon State | L 59–71 | 3–3 | 11 – Milling | 4 – Borra | 4 – Adebayo | Gill Coliseum (2,757) Corvallis, OR |
| December 6, 2023* 6:00 p.m. | | at Nevada | L 68–80 | 3–4 | 20 – Pepper | 6 – Tied | 4 – Johnson | Lawlor Events Center (7,312) Reno, NV |
| December 9, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Milwaukee | L 79–81 | 3–5 | 28 – Tied | 6 – Pepper | 4 – Tied | University Credit Union Center (1,143) Davis, CA |
| December 16, 2023* 2:00 p.m. | | at Pacific | W 82–61 | 4–5 | 30 – Johnson | 8 – Milling | 4 – Pepper | Alex G. Spanos Center (932) Stockton, CA |
| December 19, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Montana | L 61–73 | 4–6 | 16 – Milling | 8 – Rocak | 4 – Johnson | University Credit Union Center (941) Davis, CA |
| December 21, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UC Merced | W 80–57 | 5–6 | 21 – Pepper | 7 – Rocak | 4 – Tied | University Credit Union Center (1,219) Davis, CA |
| Big West regular season |||||||||
| December 28, 2023 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | UC Santa Barbara | W 76–62 | 6–6 (1–0) | 27 – Pepper | 6 – Rocak | 10 – Johnson | University Credit Union Center (1,771) Davis, CA |
| December 30, 2023 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Cal Poly | W 71–46 | 7–6 (2–0) | 25 – Pepper | 6 – Tied | 4 – Johnson | University Credit Union Center (1,186) Davis, CA |
| January 4, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UC Riverside | W 83–63 | 8–6 (3–0) | 31 – Pepper | 8 – Pepper | 4 – Tied | SRC Arena (257) Riverside, CA |
| January 6, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UC Irvine | L 71–74 $^{OT}$ | 8–7 (3–1) | 26 – Pepper | 5 – Rocak | 5 – Johnson | Bren Events Center (2,232) Irvine, CA |
| January 11, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Cal State Northridge | W 95–75 | 9–7 (4–1) | 27 – Milling | 6 – DeBruhl | 7 – Pepper | University Credit Union Center (1,262) Davis, CA |
| January 13, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Cal State Bakersfield | W 78–71 $^{OT}$ | 10–7 (5–1) | 22 – Johnson | 9 – Pepper | 5 – Johnson | University Credit Union Center (1,317) Davis, CA |
| January 18, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Cal State Fullerton | W 67–65 | 11–7 (6–1) | 27 – Pepper | 10 – Pepper | 3 – Johnson | Titan Gym (583) Fullerton, CA |
| January 20, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UC Irvine | W 54–52 | 12–7 (7–1) | 19 – Johnson | 9 – Milling | 5 – Johnson | University Credit Union Center (2,153) Davis, CA |
| January 27, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UC San Diego | L 59–92 | 12–8 (7–2) | 22 – Johnson | 6 – Rocak | 2 – Tied | University Credit Union Center (2,537) Davis, CA |
| February 1, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UC Santa Barbara | W 79–69 | 13–8 (8–2) | 24 – Tied | 9 – Rocak | 6 – Pepper | The Thunderdome (2,204) Santa Barbara, CA |
| February 3, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Cal Poly | W 59–52 | 14–8 (9–2) | 16 – Pepper | 9 – Rocak | 4 – DeBruhl | Mott Athletics Center (2,087) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| February 8, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Cal State Fullerton | W 71–58 | 15–8 (10–2) | 19 – Pepper | 5 – Tied | 4 – Pepper | University Credit Union Center (1,379) Davis, CA |
| February 10, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Hawaii | L 70–87 | 15–9 (10–3) | 27 – Pepper | 7 – Rocak | 2 – Johnson | Stan Sheriff Center (5,576) Honolulu, HI |
| February 15, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Long Beach State | L 74–78 | 15–10 (10–4) | 32 – Pepper | 8 – Rocak | 4 – Adebayo | University Credit Union Center (1,810) Davis, CA |
| February 17, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | UC Riverside | L 61–67 | 15–11 (10–5) | 22 – Johnson | 7 – Rocak | 5 – Johnson | University Credit Union Center (2,031) Davis, CA |
| February 22, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Cal State Northridge | W 66–65 | 16–11 (11–5) | 24 – Johnson | 6 – Milling | 5 – Johnson | Premier America Credit Union Arena (542) Northridge, CA |
| February 24, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Cal State Bakersfield | L 56–75 | 16–12 (11–6) | 22 – Johnson | 5 – Johnson | 2 – Johnson | Icardo Center (1,793) Bakersfield, CA |
| February 29, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Hawaii | W 75–63 | 17–12 (12–6) | 30 – Tied | 4 – Tied | 3 – Milling | University Credit Union Center (2,398) Davis, CA |
| March 7, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UC San Diego | W 70–63 | 18–12 (13–6) | 28 – Pepper | 10 – Tamba | 5 – Pepper | LionTree Arena (1,373) La Jolla, CA |
| March 9, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Long Beach State | W 88–78 | 19–12 (14–6) | 24 – Milling | 5 – Milling | 4 – Pepper | Walter Pyramid (1,894) Long Beach, CA |
| Big West tournament |||||||||
| March 15, 2024 8:30 pm, ESPNU | (2) | vs. (3) Hawai'i Semifinals | W 68–65 | 20–12 | 25 – Pepper | 7 – Milling | 5 – Johnson | Dollar Loan Center (1,919) Henderson, NV |
| March 16, 2024 6:30 pm, ESPN2/ESPN+ | (2) | vs. (4) Long Beach State Championship | L 70–74 | 20–13 | 30 – Johnson | 9 – Pepper | 4 – Johnson | Dollar Loan Center (1,623) Henderson, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific. |||||||||
Source