UC Davis rallies in 2nd half to beat CS Northridge 71-67

Mar 12, 2015, 08:04 pm

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Josh Ritchart scored 21 points and Big West Player of the Year Corey Hawkins had 13 of his 15 in the second half to rally UC-Davis to a 71-67 win over CS Northridge on Thursday in the opening game of the conference tournament.

Ritchart hit 6 of 8 shots, including 5 of 6 behind the arc to offset an off night for Hawkins, the nation's leading 3-pointer shooter (49.7 percent) who hit just 1 of 5 treys.

The top-seeded Aggies (25-5), who trailed the Matadors (9-24) 36-28 at the half, shot 66.7 percent in the second half and used an 8-0 run to take their first at 54-52 with 7:07 to play. They face fifth-seeded Hawaii in the semifinals on Friday.

After Stephan Hicks made two free throws to tie the game, Tyler Les hit a 3-pointer at 5:51 to put Davis up for good. Ritchart sandwiched a pair of 3s around a Hawkins free throw to make it 64-56 with 3:22 left.

Aaron Parks had 21 points and Stephen Maxwell added 19 for Northridge.