# 2016–17 UC Davis Aggies men's basketball team

The 2016–17 UC Davis Aggies men's basketball team represented the University of California, Davis during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Aggies, led by sixth-year head coach Jim Les, played their home games at The Pavilion as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 23–13, 11–5 in Big West play, to finish in second place. They defeated Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine to win the Big West tournament. As a result, they earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history as a No. 16 seed. They defeated North Carolina Central in the First Four before losing in the first round to Kansas.

## Previous season

The Aggies finished the 2015–16 season 11–19, 6–10 in Big West play, to finish in fifth place. They lost in the first round of the Big West tournament to UC Santa Barbara.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Luca Ferrari | 14 | G | 6'1" | 180 | RS Freshman | Studio City, CA | Walk-on; did not return |
| Josh Fox | 21 | F | 6'6" | 210 | Senior | Daly City, CA | Graduated |
| Neal Monson | 22 | C | 6'10" | 230 | Junior | Sandy, UT | Graduated |
| Nolan Berry | 24 | F/C | 6'10" | 235 | RS Junior | St. Louis, MO | Graduate transferred to Maryville |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Arell Hennings | 4 | G | 5'9" | Junior | Seattle, WA | Junior college transferred from Cochise College |
| A. J. John | 25 | F | 6'8" | 225 | Junior | Santa Rosa, CA | Transferred from Pepperdine. Under NCAA transfer rules, John will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. Will join the team as a preferred walk-on. |

### 2016 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Peter Hewitt #72 PF | Mountain View, CA | Saint Francis High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Oct 4, 2015 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 69 ||||||
| Mikey Henn #102 PF | Bellevue, WA | Bellevue High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Oct 16, 2015 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 60 ||||||
| 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 10, 2016. ||||||

### 2017 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2017) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Logan Strom PF | Norfolk, NE | Norfolk High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Sep 22, 2016 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Gio Nelson SG | Corona, CA | Centennial High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Sep 24, 2016 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| T.J. Shorts PG | Tustin, CA | Saddleback College | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Delveion Jackson SG | Boise, ID | Centennial High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | May 5, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 75 |||||||
| 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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 10, 2016. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 11, 2016* 4:30 p.m. | | vs. Tennessee State Cable Car Classic | L 64–78 | 0–1 | Leavey Center (1,821) Santa Clara, CA |
| November 12, 2016* 6:00 p.m. | | at Santa Clara Cable Car Classic | W 63–58 | 1–1 | Leavey Center (1,734) Santa Clara, CA |
| November 13, 2016* 12:00 p.m. | | vs. Northern Arizona Cable Car Classic | W 89–76 | 2–1 | Leavey Center (1,102) Santa Clara, CA |
| November 17, 2016* 7:00 p.m. | | Holy Names Great Alaska Shootout opening round | W 89–75 | 3–1 | The Pavilion (2,113) Davis, CA |
| November 21, 2016* 5:30 p.m. | | vs. Sacramento State Sacramento Showcase | W 81–72 | 4–1 | Golden 1 Center (10,104) Sacramento, CA |
| November 24, 2016* 9:00 p.m., CBSSN | | vs. Weber State Great Alaska Shootout quarterfinals | L 58–86 | 4–2 | Alaska Airlines Center (2,154) Anchorage, AK |
| November 25, 2016* 3:00 p.m., CBSSN | | vs. Drake Great Alaska Shootout consolation 2nd round | W 64–58 | 5–2 | Alaska Airlines Center (2,308) Anchorage, AK |
| November 26, 2016* 3:00 p.m., CBSSN | | vs. Oakland Great Alaska Shootout 5th-place game | L 66–79 | 5–3 | Alaska Airlines Center (2,150) Anchorage, AK |
| December 3, 2016* 7:00 p.m. | | at Idaho | L 66–68 | 5–4 | Memorial Gym Moscow, ID |
| December 10, 2016* 7:30 p.m., P12N | | at California | L 61–86 | 5–5 | Haas Pavilion (8,664) Berkeley, CA |
| December 14, 2016* 5:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at North Dakota State | L 70–74 | 5–6 | Scheels Center (2,921) Fargo, ND |
| December 17, 2016* 2:00 p.m. | | William Jessup | W 87–64 | 6–6 | The Pavilion (823) Davis, CA |
| December 22, 2016* 1:00 p.m. | | at Air Force | L 67–77 | 6–7 | Clune Arena (1,021) Colorado Springs, CO |
| December 28, 2016* 7:00 p.m. | | at Seattle | W 72–65 | 7–7 | KeyArena (1,261) Seattle, WA |
| December 31, 2016* 2:00 p.m. | | Utah Valley | W 83–69 | 8–7 | The Pavilion (787) Davis, CA |
| Big West Conference regular season ||||||
| January 4, 2017 7:00 p.m. | | UC Santa Barbara | W 73–47 | 9–7 (1–0) | The Pavilion (1,304) Davis, CA |
| January 7, 2017 7:00 p.m. | | Cal Poly | W 68–64 | 10–7 (2–0) | The Pavilion (1,733) Davis, CA |
| January 12, 2017 8:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at UC Riverside | L 55–61 | 10–8 (2–1) | The SRC (897) Riverside, CA |
| January 14, 2017 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Cal State Northridge | W 71–68 | 11–8 (3–1) | Matadome (1,057) Northridge, CA |
| January 21, 2017 9:00 p.m. | | at Hawaii | W 76–70 | 12–8 (4–1) | Stan Sheriff Center (6,982) Honolulu, HI |
| January 28, 2017 5:00 p.m. | | UC Irvine | W 74–65 | 13–8 (5–1) | The Pavilion (3,574) Davis, CA |
| February 2, 2017 8:00 p.m. | | at Cal Poly | L 70–74 | 13–9 (5–2) | Mott Athletic Center (1,850) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| February 4, 2017 7:00 p.m., Prime Ticket | | at UC Santa Barbara | W 67–64 | 14–9 (6–2) | UCSB Events Center (1,131) Santa Barbara, CA |
| February 8, 2017 7:00 p.m. | | Cal State Fullerton | W 74–65 | 15–9 (7–2) | The Pavilion (1,509) Davis, CA |
| February 11, 2017 5:00 p.m. | | UC Riverside | W 77–63 | 16–9 (8–2) | The Pavilion (2,607) Davis, CA |
| February 16, 2017 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Long Beach State | L 69–78 $^{OT}$ | 16–10 (8–3) | Walter Pyramid (2,554) Long Beach, CA |
| February 18, 2017 7:30 p.m., Prime Ticket | | at Cal State Fullerton | L 72–79 | 16–11 (8–4) | Titan Gym (1,138) Fullerton, CA |
| February 23, 2017 7:00 p.m. | | Cal State Northridge | W 96–85 | 17–11 (9–4) | The Pavilion (1,621) Davis, CA |
| February 25, 2017 5:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Long Beach State | W 75–71 $^{OT}$ | 18–11 (10–4) | The Pavilion (5,873) Davis, CA |
| March 2, 2017 7:00 p.m. | | Hawaii | W 68–59 | 19–11 (11–4) | The Pavilion (2,023) Davis, CA |
| March 4, 2017 3:00 p.m., Prime Ticket | | at UC Irvine | L 49–79 | 19–12 (11–5) | Bren Events Center (4,384) Irvine, CA |
| Big West tournament ||||||
| March 9, 2017 12:00 p.m. | (2) | vs. (7) Cal Poly Quarterfinals | W 66–55 | 20–12 | Honda Center Anaheim, CA |
| March 10, 2017 9:00 p.m., ESPNU | (2) | vs. (3) Cal State Fullerton Semifinals | W 66–64 $^{OT}$ | 21–12 | Honda Center (4,083) Anaheim, CA |
| March 11, 2017 8:30 p.m., ESPN2 | (2) | vs. (1) UC Irvine Championship | W 50–47 | 22–12 | Honda Center (5,085) Anaheim, CA |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 15, 2017* 3:40 p.m., truTV | (16 MW) | vs. (16 MW) North Carolina Central First Four | W 67–63 | 23–12 | UD Arena (11,528) Dayton, OH |
| March 17, 2017* 5:50 p.m., TNT | (16 MW) | vs. (1 MW) No. 3 Kansas First round | L 62–100 | 23–13 | BOK Center (14,715) Tulsa, OK |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest Region. All times are in Pacific. ||||||
Source: