MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's basketball team scored a season-high 92 points in a 92-77 win over San Francisco State on Saturday afternoon inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
The Bobcats (4-10, 2-8) 92 points marked their most since December 7, 2024 and their most in any conference game since January 29, 2022.
Pawllos Habtom and Elijah Charles combined for half the Bobcats points to lead UC Merced to victory. Four Bobcats scored double figures overall.
Habtom poured in a career-high 25 points, posting a career-high for the third time in the last four games. The senior, who shot 52% (9-17) from the field, added five rebounds and four assists. He has scored double figures in five straight outings, three of which he also has 3+ assists.
Charles finished with 21 points on 77% (7-9) shooting for his second 20+ point game in his last four outings. Overall, it is his third 20-point game in conference play. Charles made seven free throws (7-10) as part of his day to go along with eight rebounds and two steals.
Jaden Hubbard scored 16 points and shot 50% (3-6) from three-point range in his highest scoring output in league play. He was 60% (6-10) from the field overall and hauled in five rebounds and was credited with a steal. Hubbard has a steal in five straight games.
Cyprus Graham neared his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high nine rebounds off the bench. He added three assists, a steal, and a block. Graham shot 55% (5-9).
Austin Dewes was good for six points and tied his career-high with four blocks for the third time this year. He joins just Kingsley Obiorah as the two Bobcats all-time with 4+ blocks on three occasions in the same season.
Myles Haynes had a career-high six assists, while Jon Taylor scored five points and dished out three assists. Khoi Nguyen buried a three-pointer and Aaron Kullar came away with a steal.
UC Merced maintained a .532 field goal percentage overall, the second highest success rate of the season. The Bobcats also shot a season-best (minimum of eight attempts) .467 from downtown. Head coach Gary Stewart's squad was credited with a season-high 19 assists and took care of the basketball with a season-low seven turnovers.
The Bobcats grabbed their first lead at 7-5 and remained in front for the final 37 minutes. A Graham triple at the 14:15 mark put the Bobcats ahead 14-6 before the squad extended their lead to double-figures for the first time at 22-11 with 8:58 to go.
Nguyen cashed in a three-pointer inside of two minutes to mark UC Merced's biggest lead of the half, 40-23. Though, San Francisco State responded with an 8-0 run and UC Merced's lead was 40-31 at intermission.
The Bobcats started the second half on an 18-7 run over the first four minutes highlighted by a pair of three-point plays and pair of dunks, one of each from Hubbard. A Charles dunk capped the run for a 20-point lead, 58-38. SF State nearly cut the Bobcats lead in half at the 10:00 mark, but the Bobcats lead was back up to 17 points with 8:38 to go after an 8-2 spurt behind five Hubbard points.
UC Merced matched its biggest lead of the game of 20 points at 85-65 with 5:45 to go on the way to victory.
The Bobcats held a +11 advantage on the boards, the second straight night with a 10+ rebounding advantage. The Bobcats also made 19 free throws, one shy of tying their season-high, and have now made 14+ foul shots in four straight games.
Up next, the Bobcats will host Stanislaus State to finish a three-game homestand on Thursday, January 22. Tipoff is slated for 7:30pm inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium in Merced, Calif.
QUOTES
Head coach Gary Stewart on what he is most proud of with his team today:
"Well, I thought it was a collective effort. If you look at the score sheet, there's so many folks that contributed. I thought our energy was good, our focus was good and our commitment was good to getting a little bit better from the last experience on Thursday. We turned the ball over four times today, we turned over 7 total, but four as a team. And so you know, I'm just really, really happy that they're active learners. They want to do well. And, you know, the team came to shoot around laser focused. We're trying to get away from being a result-oriented team, really just focusing on the process. And so collectively as a group, the process was excellent. The focus on the scouting report and the little details that we wanted to try to get done against a team that presents a lot of different challenges for you, because they can make perimeter shots and you saw them shoot 34 tonight and certainly capable and made 13. And then they've got some guys on the interior that can hurt you as well. They're not an easy group to guard and I thought our guys were committed on both ends, for at least the first half. Second-half defensively, that's for another day, but I wasn't wasn't pleased obviously with the second-half performance defensively. But credit to San Francisco State too, they made some shots."
Gary Stewart on getting back on the winning side:
"Yeah, the guys have been fighting, and so there's obviously disappointment when things don't end up the way you want them to end up. But they're a resilient bunch and they come back to practice and they give you an effort, and that's all you can ask for. And so I was excited to get back on the court. They were excited to get back on the court, and the thing that I'm really proud of is the fact that some lessons are hard, and we've learned some really difficult lessons going through the conference for the first time on the front side, and yet they've been able to take those lessons and try to accentuate the positive. But the things that we're struggling with, trying to get a tourniquet on those things so that we move forward. If we're making 10 mistakes, hopefully we'll make them seven, six, and five as we move forward."
Gary Stewart on Charles and Habtom today:
"Yeah, Eli probably is going to have a lawsuit against me for not getting him more shots. I mean, he's dynamite down there and virtually unguardable one-on-one down on the interior. Our guys are looking for him. We're kind of in between right now, we want to get him the ball, but we don't want to throw it away. So we're trying to make some better decisions. But he's working down there and once he gets somebody sealed, it's over with. And it's very comforting as a coach that you know you can go on the interior and get a basket. And Pawllos is a guy that, he doesn't know this, but the more I argue with him, the better he plays. I try to argue with him all the time because he continues to get better and better and better. You look at his production certainly since Christmas and he's really performing well. Aggressive, assertive guy, and a relentless motor, high competitor. And we're really, really fortunate to have both of these guys"
Gary Stewart on Graham's play off the bench:
"Yeah, Cyprus was really good. And we're pretty good when he's good, you know, and I don't want to put all that on him because it's a good team effort. But when he gives us some production like he did, we're really hard to beat because we've got a number of places that we can go and get production. He's kind of that guy that, you know, he's capable of buying a home in this neighborhood, and I keep trying to get him to live in it, to live in that neighborhood. And that's just a matter of time. He's a young kid, and he is making his way and getting grounded in the CCAA. But he's another guy, much like Los, that kind of resembles, you know, the heart of a lion, you know, kind of thing that a high competitor wants to do well. It's important to him. fun to coach."
Gary Stewart on Khoi Nguyen off the bench:
"I would be remiss if I didn't mention one other person, obviously a team effort, really proud of all the guys. But Khoi, who comes to practice every day, puts a hard hat on, has an infectious personality. There was a time in that game that we needed him to be really good when he was inserted in the game. Jon had two fouls, Jaden had two fouls, and so I'd like to get into halftime with those guys still with two fouls, and he came in and took a big charge and hit a huge shot, and really kind of energized us in a way that, again, could have went either way at that point in the game. And he made some real positive plays that helped us. But he's a kid that understands the scouting report completely. He's almost like a coach on the floor. And he was ready for his moment."
Pawllos Habtom on his game tonight:
"I'm feeling good right now. You know, Coach Jaylen Wiltz kind of talked to us before the game and told us that this is the most connected that we have to be in terms of just all year. And if we do that, we're going to come out and win this game. And just me personally, I kind of had a chip on my shoulder because this is a school from the Bay Area as well. I'm from the Bay Area, I never really got recruited from the school like that. So coming into it, I felt like I had something to prove personally for my team and for myself as well. So that's why I just wanted to come out aggressive, help my teammates. Also some guys weren't able to play today, so I know I had to step up. Me and some other guys had to step up. And as you can see, we had about, I think, three or four guys in double figures. So a lot of guys really stepped up and got the job done for us."
Habtom on having fun:
"It was tons of fun, you know, like seeing a lot of people succeed on the team, especially a guy like Khoi who, you know, comes every single day, bust his butt, coming in and being able to make an impact immediately, that's an amazing feeling. And I feel like that gets guys on the bench and in the game, pumped up and energized up to just see everybody kind of get a chance to succeed. And I kind of talked to the guys before the game about getting back to just having fun and just playing a game we love and remember why we're doing this, not to have any added pressure for individually or team pressure, but to just go out there and just hoop, just have fun."
Elijah Charles on his own performance:
"I really just trusted my preparation and I believe that whatever I do is going to be the best option out there for the team, really. So, not too much pressure and I just go out there and just knock the shots down."
Charles on having fun:
"Really I just enjoy competing and lately I've been trying to get out of my own head and just move more freely and just have fun. Get back to having fun with a game of basketball and like playing with my teammates and just really play the game the right way. So it's more so just getting back to like the playground or having fun in the game instead of like looking at it as a job or you know being stressed that I'm not going to do something right. So just going out there and having fun with my teammates is the best part. the entire part, actually. It's why I go out there and play like I do."
Charles on Habtom:
"Kind of the same thing as me, like finally being able to play free and I've been telling him like he needs to get more active and get more downhill and play the game that I know he can play. So it helps us all and really brings the team together like it did today. So yeah, really proud, proud of my guy."
Habtom on Charles:
"I'm very proud of Eli. You know, like of all he's accomplished this year. Last year he played with us, but then he missed part of the season. So to see him come back and bounce back and have a really strong season and lead the conference in rebounds and field goal percentage, you know, it''s an amazing feeling. Also, playing with somebody who's probably the best big I ever played with, like to play with somebody like that who you can just throw the ball to and they can get a bucket at any given time on one people, two people, three, 4, 5. It doesn't matter. It's an amazing feeling. So I'm very proud of Elijah."
