GAME NOTES: As the top seed in this year's Big West Conference Tournament, the UC Davis Aggies continue to work towards their first-ever appearance in the title game as they go up against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in the semifinals at the Honda Center on Friday.

UC Davis, which now has a record of 3-4 in this event all-time, survived a scare against eighth-seeded Cal State Northridge on Thursday, slipping by with a 71-67 victory, their fourth in a row and the 11th in the last 12 outings dating back to late January.

As for the fifth-seeded Rainbow Warriors, a team which only recently came over from the Western Athletic Conference, they had to rush things along in order to make it to 21-12 on the campaign, thanks to a 79-72 win over Long Beach State on Thursday. The victory was just the seventh of the season outside of Honolulu, a place where they were 14-5 in 2014-15.

The teams split two regular-season matchups, with each winning on its home floor as Hawaii captured an 84-76 victory in Honolulu back in January, and UC Davis held serve at the Pavilion the following month, 74-67.

The winner of this meeting will be playing for the championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament versus either UC Irvine of UC Santa Barbara on Saturday night.

The Warriors connected on a solid 51.7 percent of their field goal tries on Thursday, offsetting a mere 6-of-20 effort behind the 3-point line and disappointing 13-of-24 at the charity stripe, as they survived against Long Beach State. Garrett Nevels accounted for 17 points, Aaron Valdes 14, Isaac Fleming 11 points and Quincy Smith, who shot a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor, another 10 in the triumph.

Valdes remains the go-to guy for Hawaii with his 13.6 ppg and 5.3 rpg, while Stefan Jankovic, who was limited to just five points in the first game of the tourney, is no stranger to double-digit scoring with his 11.0 ppg, thanks to 51.0 percent accuracy from the field. Nevels checks in with another 10.9 ppg, with all three being fed by Roderick Bobbitt (8.8 ppg) and his 175 assists over the course of 33 starts.

UC Davis made good on 56.1 percent from the floor, including 8-of-19 behind the 3-point line on Thursday, not to mention forcing 18 turnovers, and still the team had to hold on for the four-point win against Northridge. Josh Ritchart tied for the game high with 21 points, hitting all but one of his six shots from the outside, followed by Corey Hawkins and J.T. Adenrele with 15 and 11 points, respectively.

Hawkins, the top player in the league this season, has been hitting his 3- point attempts at a stellar 48.7 percent clip, just below his 49.6 percent from the field overall. Add his 82.2 percent effort at the free-throw line (120-of-146) and it is easy to see how he is producing 20.4 ppg. But more than just a scorer, Hawkins is also responsible for 90 assists and a team-best 5.0 rpg.

With limited experience in high-pressure situations one might think the Aggies are ready to crack, but with Hawkins on their side and the Warriors not fond of playing on the mainland, this is another game that could easily fall into the win column for UC Davis.