MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's basketball team will play at Pacific Union College (Feb. 6/7:30pm) and host Cal Maritime (Feb. 8/4:00pm) to begin the second half of California Pacific Conference play.
UC Merced (14-5, 5-0) remains the only unbeaten team in Cal Pac play, while PUC (2-14/1-4) is on a four-game losing skid and Cal Maritime (6-12, 2-3) is sitting in fourth place in the league standings.
Live coverage is available here on Thursday night: Watch | Live Stats
Saturday's live coverage is available here: Watch | Live Stats
Saturday's game will be a "Pink Out" with all fans encouraged to wear pink clothing to support the fight against cancer. The first 150 fans to the doubleheader will get a pink T-Shirt. The doubleheader begins at 2:00pm with the women's basketball game.
OPENING TIP
UC Merced enters the week on an eight-game winning streak, one win shy of tying the program-record set in the 2020-21 season. The Bobcats finished the shortened 2020-21 season undefeated at 9-0, winning eight regular-season games and then winning the Cal Pac Phase Two Tournament Championship.
UC Merced is 5-0 in Cal Pac play for the second consecutive season, joining just former program University of Antelope Valley as the only two men's basketball teams in the last decade to start 5-0 in Cal Pac play back-to-back seasons.
The Bobcats magic number to secure a spot in the upcoming California Pacific Conference Championships is two. UC Merced can clinch with two wins this week, or can clinch as early as Thursday with a win partnered with a Simpson loss to Cal Maritime.
UC Merced's magic number to claim the Cal Pac regular season title is four. If UC Merced wins its next two games, and Westcliff and La Sierra each lose once prior to February 15, the Bobcats can play for the regular season title on their Senior Night on February 15.
The Bobcats have won four consecutive road games and are 6-3 on the road overall this season. The Bobcats six wins is tied for the second most road wins in program history, behind the program-record eight road wins in the 2022-23 campaign. The Bobcats have a minimum of three road games remaining this year.
The Bobcats have won six consecutive home games and are 7-1 inside the Gallo this year. Also of note, the Bobcats are 20-5 in their last 25 home games and 37-13 in their last 50.
UC Merced is looking to sweep the regular season series with PUC and Cal Maritime for the second consecutive season. A win over Cal Maritime would mark the Bobcats first ever five-game winning streak against the Keelhaulers. The Bobcats current four-game streak over CSUM began with a Cal Pac Tournament Opening Round win in the 2022-23 season.
The Bobcats are most recently coming off a 71-64 win over La Sierra on February 1. Jayson Wiltz scored a season-high 22 points and he was one of four Bobcats in double digits overall. UC Merced shot an impressive 55.6% (10-18) from beyond the arc as a team and finished 48% from the field. Defensively, UC Merced held La Sierra under 40% from the floor and 30% from downtown, while also forcing 15 La Sierra turnovers. The Bobcats ten triples marked the most in a Cal Pac game since February 15, 2024. Head coach Kevin Pham's squad never trailed.
Prior to the Bobcats final Cal Pac slate, UC Merced had a program-record nine nonconference wins. The Bobcats previous record was eight nonconference wins in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.
UC Merced played five nonconference games against NCAA Division II competition this season. The Bobcats, who are currently transitioning to NCAA Division II, finished 3-2 against NCAA Division II teams. UC Merced's wins include Stanislaus State, Fresno Pacific, and Menlo College. Prior to beating Menlo on November 15, the Bobcats last NCAA Division II win was 76-68 over Dominican in 2019. All-time, UC Merced is 5-3 under head coach Kevin Pham against NCAA Division II members.
BOBCATS PLAY DEFENSE
The Bobcats are currently ranked fifth nationally allowing just 62.2 points per game. If the Bobcats finish top five, this would mark the third consecutive season as one of top five defenses in the NAIA. UC Merced ranked fourth each of the last two seasons, allowing just 59.7 PPG last year and 62.7 PPG in 2022-23. The 59.7 opponents PPG stands as the program-record. The Bobcats also ranked first in opponents field goal percentage (.372) and opponents three-point field goal percentage (.283) last season.
UC Merced has held eight of its last eleven opponents under 40% from the field, winning all eight of those games. Overall, the Bobcats are 9-1 in their last ten when holding opponents under 40% and 42-8 in their last 50.
Since 2019-20, head coach Kevin Pham's led defenses have held opponents under 60 points 50 times and the Bobcats are 46-4 when doing so. In the middle of that stretch was a 29-game winning streak when holding teams under 60. In the same span, UC Merced is 29-4 holding opponents under 55 points and are 15-3 when holding the opposition under 50.
On five occasions this season, UC Merced has snapped an opponents offensive streak:
UC Merced held Montana Tech to 42 points. Prior, the Orediggers had scored at least 50 points in 109 consecutive games.
UC Merced held UC Santa Cruz to 51 points. Prior, the Banana Slugs scored 55+ points in 20 consecutive games.
UC Merced held Cal Maritime to 54 points. Prior, Cal Maritime had scored 55+ in 30 straight games.
UC Merced held Westcliff to 57 points. Prior, Westcliff had scored 60+ points in 25 straight games.
UC Merced held The Master's to 60 points. Prior, TMU had scored more than 60 points in 66 consecutive games.
For the first time, the California Pacific Conference is naming an offensive player of the week and a defensive player of the week. Elijah Charles earned the first two defensive weekly honors, while Jaron Mertle earned the distinction on December 9 and Austin Dewes was selected for the honor on December 16. The Bobcats four weekly award winners tied the program's single-season record from the 2020-21 campaign. With Cameron Brown's Cal Pac Offensive Player of the Week nod on January 27, the Bobcats now have a program-record number of weekly award winners this season.
FOR THE LOVE OF NUMBERS
UC Merced has won 31 consecutive games when scoring 80 points or more and have reached that mark on six occasions this season.
The Bobcats are slashing .490/.393/.713 in victories compared to .363/.292/.722 in defeats.
UC Merced is outrebounding opponents by an average of eight per game. There have been six occasions this year in which the Bobcats outrebounded the opponent by 15 or more. The biggest rebounding margin was +33 against Lincoln on December 7.
UC Merced outrebounded three straight opponents by 13+ rebounds (Stanton, Menlo, Jessup) for the first time since December 1-4 in 2022.
UC Merced is 14-1 in its last 15 games dating back to last season when winning the turnover battle. The Bobcats are 7-0 this season, winning the turnover battle against Stanton, Lincoln, Nobel, UC Santa Cruz, Simpson, Westcliff, and La Sierra.
Since the start of the 2022-23 season, the Bobcats are 42-8 when outrebounding the opponent and are 9-3 this season when doing so. However, the Bobcats have been outrebounded in back-to-back games but both resulted in wins. UC Merced had lost four straight when being outrebounded prior to last week.
Elijah Charles and Jaron Mertle have combined for five double-double's this year. Charles vs. Menlo (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Lincoln (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Mertle vs. Stanton (14 points, 11 rebounds), Menlo (12 points, 12 rebounds), and Lincoln (11 points, 10 rebounds).
Three Bobcats are shooting at least 50% from the field, three Bobcats are shooting at least 40% from three-point land, and three are over 80% from the charity stripe.
UC Merced had a four-game winning streak from November 23-December 7, where the Bobcats combined to shoot 54% from the field and shot at least 48% in all four games. It marked the first time the Bobcats put together four straight games shooting 48% or better since a stretch in the 2019-20 season.
The Bobcats entered the year with three fifth-year seniors in Josiah Ajiake, Tiler Fears, and Jaron Mertle. The trio have combined to play in 265 career games with their first year with the program being in the shortened 2020-21 season.
The Bobcats have either led or been tied at halftime in 16 of their 19 games. The Bobcats are 13-3 in such games. UC Merced has one win this season when trailing at halftime which was against Menlo College, when the Bobcats trailed 30-18 at halftime before coming back to win 64-57. It marked the biggest second half comeback away from Merced since December 28, 2018.
The Bobcats have shown their depth this season as nine different players have either led the Bobcats in scoring or finished second on the team in scoring.
Games finishing as the top scorer: Cameron Brown (9), Jayson Wiltz (3), Elijah Charles (2), Jaron Mertle (1), Wiltz/Mertle (1), Brown/Pawllos Habtom (1), Brown/Wiltz (1), Aidan Sevilla/Habtom (1)
Games finishing as second leading scorer: Wiltz (4), Brown (4), Charles (3), Mertle (2), Sevilla (2), Fears (1), Habtom (1), Haynes (1), Wiltz/Dewes (1)
Eight Bobcats have scored in double figures this year.
UC Merced opened the season making 20+ free throws in back-to-back games. It marked just the fourth occurrence in program history reaching that output in consecutive games as it also happened once last season, once in 2014-15, and once in 2011-12.
CAL PAC RANKINGS
Cameron Brown leads all Cal Pac scorers with 15.6 PPG and is top five with 1.5 steals per game (3rd) and an .844 free throw percentage (4th/.844). He is also first with 76 free throws and seventh with 39 total assists. In Cal Pac play, Brown is up to 17.2 PPG and 2.0 SPG.
Aidan Sevilla, who has 10+ points and 3+ assists in five straight games, is first in the Cal Pac with 68 assists and is second with 3.6 assists per game. He is also shooting 75% (12-16) from three-point land since January 2.
Jaron Mertle leads all Cal Pac players with 132 total rebounds and 6.9 rebounds per game.
Jayson Wiltz ranks second with 36 three-point field goals and is fifth with a .419 three-point field goal percentage.
Austin Dewes is second in the Cal Pac with 17 total blocks and 0.9 blocks per game.
Tiler Fears is second with an .849 free throw percentage.
Myles Haynes is fourth with ten blocks, while Elijah Charles and Jaron Mertle are tied for fifth with nine blocks.
UC Merced is first in scoring defense (62.2 PPG) and first in opponents field goal percentage (39.9%). The Bobcats rank second with 37.8 RPG and 3.1 BPG. UC Merced is also first with a .371 three-point field goal percentage, a number that also ranks 32nd in the NAIA.
LEADING THE CHARGE
Head coach Kevin Pham is in his tenth season leading the Bobcats and has a 133-104 career record. He is 88-45 since the start of the 2019-20 season. In conference play, he is 74-49 overall and 48-21 since 2019-20. Pham is assisted by Jaylen Wiltz, Moses Oceguera, and Jonah Cottrell.
Pham is the winningest coach in program history and among all active Cal Pac head coaches. Recently, Pham was named the 2023 Asian Coaches Association Men's Coach of the Year by ACA President Mike Magpayo during the NCAA Men's Final Four weekend in Houston.
IN THE RECORD BOOKS (UC MERCED ALL-TIME)
Cameron Brown is ranked top five in program history with 876 career points (4th), 11.7 PPG (3rd), 317 field goals made (4th), 206 free throws made (2nd), an .834 free throw percentage (3rd), 95 steals (5th), and 1.2 steals per game (T-4th). He is also two double figure scoring games away from becoming just the second player in program history with 50 career 10+ point outings, joining Mason Westlake. Brown is also ranked sixth with 134 assists, ninth with a .456 field goal percentage, and tenth with a .346 three-point field goal percentage.
Cameron Brown is just ten games removed from scoring a school-record 39 points, breaking the record of 36 that was previously held by Brown and Aki Chambers. Brown made 17-24 field goals and all four of his free throw attempts. He knocked down one triple. His record-breaking performance came against Lincoln on December 7. The junior also grabbed a season-high nine rebounds and recorded three steals in the Bobcats biggest nonconference margin of victory since October 28, 2017.
Jaron Mertle is eleven rebounds away from becoming the program's all-time rebounding leader, a record that is currently held by Kingsley Obiorah (638 rbs/2018-23). Mertle's record breaking 639th rebound will also put him fifth in California Pacific Conference history. Mertle is also ranked top five in UC Merced history with 14 double-double's (3rd), a .504 field goal percentage (4th), a .364 three-point field goal percentage (4th), 6.8 rebounds per game (4th), 54 blocks (4th), and 76 starts (4th). He is top ten with 25.5 minutes per game (8th), 107 assists (10th), and 92 games played (10th).
Tiler Fears is fifth in program history with 145 career assists and is sixth with 176 free throws made. Also of note, he is on track to play in his 100th career game in the regular season finale at Westcliff on February 22, becoming just the seventh ever Bobcat to make that many appearances.
Jayson Wiltz is currently sixth in program history with 99 career three-pointers and is second with a .396 three-point field goal percentage.
Myles Haynes is sixth in program history with a .466 career field goal percentage.
Austin Dewes has cracked the top ten list with 23 career blocks.
STARTING FIVE
Cameron Brown, Jaron Mertle, and Jayson Wiltz have started all 19 games for UC Merced and they combine to average 33.3 PPG, 13.2 RPG, 4.1 APG, and 2.6 SPG.
The Bobcats have mixed up their starting lineup this season, but two different lineups have started at least five games together. The most common lineup of Sevilla/Brown/Wiltz/Mertle/Charles played to a 5-1 record, while a recent common lineup of Sevilla/Brown/Wiltz/Ajiake/Mertle is 4-0.
Sevilla is 12-2 as a starter for the Bobcats this season.
UC Merced's starting lineup the last two games has been: Sevilla/Brown/Wiltz/Haynes/Mertle. That lineup is 2-0.
HISTORIC STRETCH
UC Merced put together a historic four-game winning streak from November 23-December 7. The first three wins in the stretch marked the Bobcats first ever wins against its opponents, while the fourth win saw UC Merced score a program-record 117 points.
The run started with an 86-83 overtime win at Stanislaus State. UC Merced's win over Stan State was the first in school history for any sport. Stan State is the closest four-year university in proximity to UC Merced and the two foes will be conference members beginning in the 2025-26 season. The Bobcats overcame an eight-point deficit inside of six minutes to force overtime and eventually win the game.
A week later, UC Merced knocked off Fresno Pacific University for the first time in ten tries with a dominant 71-51 road win. The 20-point margin of victory was the largest ever against a NCAA Division II team. The Bobcats outrebounded the Sunbirds by 20, their biggest rebounding advantage in a road game since April 7, 2021.
The Bobcats returned home to host No. 7 The Master's University on December 5 and earned their first ever win over a top 10 opponent, beating the Mustangs 76-60. The Bobcats turned in a great defensive outing, snapping TMU's 66-game streak of scoring 60+ points. Offensively, five Bobcats scored in double figures. With the win, UC Merced snapped an eleven-game losing streak against Top 10 opponents and a six-game losing streak against The Master's. It was the Bobcats first ever win for each scenario.
After three program-first wins, the Bobcats made more history as they scored a program-record 117 points in a 117-72 win over Lincoln. The Bobcats also finished with a program-record .641 field goal percentage in the victory. Cameron Brown scored a school-record 39 points finishing 17-24 from the field, while Elijah Charles also made program history becoming the first ever Bobcat to go 10-10 from the floor in a game. Charles finished with 21 points and notched a double-double with ten rebounds.
RPI & STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE. ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
In the February 3 NAIA Men's Basketball RPI Release, UC Merced's RPI ranking was 15th out of 225 teams and the strength of schedule was ranked No. 6 in the country. Only NAIA opponents count for the strength of schedule ranking and four of the nine NAIA opponents head coach Kevin Pham's squad has played are currently ranked Top 10 in the NAIA Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll: The Master's (#5), Montana Tech (#9), Arizona Christian (#10). UC Merced played TMU twice, including beating them 76-60 when they were ranked seventh in the nation. Of the five NCAA Division II opponents the Bobcats played on the road, two of them have at least six wins in their conference, including Stan State and Fresno Pacific.
SCOUTING PUC
PUC is 2-14 on the year and are 1-4 in Cal Pac play most recently coming off a 97-90 loss to Cal Maritime on February 1. PUC won its Cal Pac opener, but have lost four straight. PUC's 90-point outing was their second highest scoring output of the year. They enter the week averaging 70.1 PPG, but have gone over that mark in three of their last four games.
Head coach Landon Banks is in his first season leading the Pioneers. The head coach of both PUC men's and women's basketball was previously at Canyon View High School. Before that, he was the head women's basketball coach at Southwestern Adventist University.
D'montay Warner leads four PUC double figure scorers and is second in the Cal Pac with 15.1 PPG. He is also fourth with 1.4 steals per game and is top ten with 5.3 rebounds per game (7th) and a .465 field goal percentage.
Aaron Anene is top five in the Cal Pac with 13.6 PPG (3rd), 6.7 RPG (3rd), and 2.4 APG (5th). He is also sixth shooting 80% from the free throw line. In five Cal Pac games, he is the league leader with 19.6 PPG.
Jevon Blackmore can do a bit of everything as well ranking top ten in four statistical categories, including PPG (13.1/8th), SPG (1.2/7th), BPG (0.8/3rd), and field goal percentage (.458/10th).
Kyle Durham (11.3 PPG/.475 FGP/2.5 APG) is also a player to watch.
As a team, PUC is fifth in the Cal Pac in both scoring (70.1 PPG) and scoring defense (83.6 PPG).
PUC is 11-19 all-time against UC Merced.
PUC is 1-7 at home this season with its lone win coming 67-57 over Simpson in the Cal Pac opener.
SCOUTING THE KEELHAULERS
Cal Maritime is 6-12 on the year and 2-3 in Cal Pac play most recently coming off a 97-90 road win over PUC. Prior to the win, the Keelhaulers lost three straight games. Cal Maritime's 97 points scored marked their third most this season. Cal Maritime has increased their scoring in four consecutive games and enter the week leading the Cal Pac with 81.2 PPG.
Head coach Colin Johnson is in his second season leading the Keelhaulers and has a career record of 11-34, including 7-18 in Cal Pac play. Prior to Cal Maritime, Johnson was on staff for a pair of national tournament runs at University of Antelope Valley.
Jamal Frenchwood is the Keelhaulers leader and one of the top all-around players in the Cal Pac ranking fourth with 13.3 PPG, sixth with 5.5 RPG, and eighth with 2.1 APG. He is also top ten across the board in shooting percentages: 47.1 FGP (7th), 35.2 3-PT FGP (9th), and 84.7 FTP (3rd).
Lawrence Long is second on the Keelhaulers in scoring averaging 12.0 PPG shooting 57% from the floor. Long missed the first half of the season, but has played in six straight games.
DeAndre Minor is averaging ten points per game and is ranked third in the Cal Pac with a 55.4 field goal percentage. He also grabs 4.3 rebounds a game.
Nick Stone (2nd/43.5 3-PT FGP) and Illyaas Rafiq (3rd/33 3-PT FG's) are players to watch from beyond the arc.
Drew Fischer is ranked top ten in the league with 2.4 APG and 1.3 SPG.
As a team, the Keelhaulers rank first in the Cal Pac with 81.2 PPG, 37.2 RPG, 14.9 APG, 7.7 SPG, and 15.1 OPP TO's PG. Cal Maritime is third with 132 three-pointers and fourth shooting 43.9% from the field and 31.5% from downtown.
Cal Maritime is 13-16 all-time against UC Merced.
Cal Maritime is 3-6 on the road this season but have split their last four road contests.
