To repeat my ‘old man’ rant - bugged me to see close to half the band sitting during the anthem which was sung by a student. I’m sure they think they are sending a message - just not sure what and to whom

I thought when #10 came out hitting his first 3 of 4 (the missed was followed by a make after an offensive rebound) that really got their offense going early in the second half. They had two guys who could get to the hoop and score despite what seemed like good defensive effort. But they killed us with several back door cuts that led to wide open layups. Those were killers.

My wife said a few times ‘they seem to get some easy buckets but everything we make is a challenge’. Tritons were a lengthy group and seemed to clog up the middle and closed out very well on the three balls. We just don’t have anyone, like they did, that can go one-on-one when the rest of the guys clear out.

Thought Omer kinda regressed to being timid and turnover-prone. Stokes finally got back in after 2 1/2 games on the bench and I thought he gave us some spark on defense and the boards.

UCSD is pretty good - they should challenge with Irvine and Hawaii. Several weapons who can score in different ways and tough on defense

I would go to the radio link on the ucdavisaggies.com website. Many nights it’s not 1140 broadcasting because of a conflict with the Kings (or NFL). That always seems to work

I hope two things :1) those losses to poly and Bakersfield don’t bite us in the butt; 2) we don’t add to our trend of losing to the teams at the bottom on Saturday.

Oddsmakers have them as 2.5 point favorites. This week’s games are big. We close the season on the road and have both UCI and UCSD on the road in the second half. If we have a hope of getting into the coveted top 4 spots, two wins are needed. We faded down the stretch last year with a similar late season schedule.

I suspect some of that is due to the cost of a graduate transfer scholarship going up next season - basically the same as an out of state scholarship

With regard to the portal and Indiana.....last night, their one WR made a big back-shoulder catch late in the 4th. Announcer mentioned how Cignetti came in and basically told the WR room 'thanks but no thanks, good luck at your next school!'...except this guy who was 'allowed' to stay and try to get better. That's, I think, something that folks don't see with transfers when coaches come in -> alot of the old guys get the boot, no matter how close they might be to completing a degree! Sac did it, Colorado did it, and there's many more. KInda sucks, but it certainly ain't gonna stop as long as schools make big leaps after they do it.

we only had 10 TOs yesterday vs a tough defense. BIG improvement over Thursday when we had 13 in the first half - many unforced!

agree - but I think the winning team will have more losses than in past years. I thought, again based on limited viewing, Hawaii has the most weapons but Irvine defends better.

my very non-expert opinion is that nobody in the Big West is overly talented or deep, so style matchups can lead to these head scratching results. That and the guard-heavy, 3 point dominate offenses - an off night is a disaster because most teams don’t have any inside threats.

To paraphrase Scott Marsh on the broadcast. I’ll miss not playing Irvine twice a year.

San Diego will be interesting since they are the only 'top team' that I haven't watched. So for, I think we match up with everybody, although Hawaii's size/length seemed like they will give us headaches any time we play. Irvine wasn't the Irvine of the past -> they lost some really good veteran players that would have put that game away yesterday.

I went back and watched the last 3-4 minutes of the game and, probably like Russ Turner, can’t figure out how we won. Take the lead on a Niko 3 pointer, which was sandwiched by 2 of his attempts that had the patrons of the fastbreak lounge ducking for cover. We missed 3 FTs in the last 90 seconds, any of which would have put it away. Great defense, and let them get TWO tip-in’s - one from a guard over our center! Run an inbounds play with 7?seconds designed to get it to Conner or Carl…
bad pass, but deflected right back to Cooper (who then misses one of those aforementioned FT’s).

But, it’s a win. Good, tough defense was the key again. Nice to see a BIG game from Omar especially with Cooper sitting a lot.

Watching on TV you can really see how teams are just beating up on Connor on offense. We’ll set up something for him where he is cutting through the key, and everyone in the vicinity lays an elbow on him. I think this is where not having a real inside threat hurts - Niko is out on the perimeter and his guy sags to clog things up.

Another observation that’s more obvious on TV - our crowd likes to show up late. At tip off, the seats behind the scorers table (mostly season tickets) are half full. By the 10 minute mark, it’s full. Cmon people - get there before 2! I know getting into the parking lot can be frustratingly slow, but plan for that! Be nice to have everyone there to greet the team during introductions!

probably a little gun shy after getting burned on something similar vs Seattle

Scott Marsh said the SCHOOL is undefeated in Tahoe Blue. Football, both basketball and maybe soccer? We won’t switch until we lose

Hopefully we’ll be wearing Tahoe Blue the rest of the season - undefeated!

The ticket office called me yesterday to thank bd for being a season ticket holder and to ask about my experience this year. ‘Anything you’d like to see different?’ ‘Yes, how about an easy win!’

Seems like every real home game except NDSU has come down to the last minute (or worse!)

Ugly start to the half on both sides. I think we bring out the worst in teams- except the guy from Bakersfield who scored 32

surprisingly they didn’t say anything . He’s starting second half

I missed him being out. Dang. Our offense struggles with him. Omar is too gun shy right now to really contribute on that end. I’d like to see more Stokes - he’s tough on the boards.

Let them get on a big run to take the lead; Daugherty makes the bomb to tie it.

No feeling too good about second half - hope they prove me wrong

to have the visitors shooting into the band/student area in the second half. The ‘lounge’ didn’t offer an intimidating backdrop for free throws late in the game.

According to a department post, opponent FT percentage is dropping about 10% in the second half.

I miss the Irvine asst. coach with the big Afro! Turner is so much more animated when he plays us