So Jadan Alexander who has been averaging about 6 points a game and does not usually start, gets into the zone and goes off for 35. An unpredictable event, but the coach must have sensed something. Ags didn't help themselves in the second half as they had twice as many turnovers as the Runners and I already noted the free throw shooting discrepancy. All the other stats were about equal. Quiet dayu for the fans. Guess everyone is gearing up for the 49ers.

Ags down by 6 with less than 2 minutes to go. I sure didn't expect this. #25 and #10 are killing us.

The refs are calling it way too close on both ends. This favors Bakersfield so far, in the sense that they are shooting foul shots better than usual while the Aggies are shooting it worse than usual.

This is why I thought the 10.5 spread was too big. The Roadrunners are better than their record or preseason expectations. On the other hand, madcity is right. CSUB lacks depth, so the number of fouls hurts them more than the Aggies whose fouls afre more distributed due to their depth.

I've noticed that Rocak wins a lot of the opening tips, not because he jumps high, but he gets up very quickly. I think that is also a factor in the way he can block shots. Plus he has uncanny timing.

Very little: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Scott_(basketball,_born_1986)

UC Davis rates a 10.5 spread over CSUB. I'm a little skeptical of that spread. If I were a betting person, I would take the Roadrunners to lose by a single digit number. Meanwhile, watch out for Hawai`i. They beat Riverside 88-45 at UCR.

I was surprised by the margin of our victory, because I expected a much closer game. In fact, it easily could have been a double digit win, but the Ags let up on defense near the end. Hitting 50% from the 3-point line was a huge factor. CSUN missing 10 foul shots was another. I don't think either of those can be something to depend on.

38-35 Aggies at the half. The only concern is with the rebounding margin so far, but that's not a surprise given the Matadors strength in that area. If the Aggies can keep making 3s at a high rate, this game should be a W.

The arena is pretty empty.

I started watching in time to see Sevilla bury a couple of 3s to lead the Ags in pulling away. Looks good so far.

In other words, the Ags have a high level of unforced errors?

ESPN is giving us a 61.1% chance of winning. I won't be able to focus much on this one as my daughter and her family are with us from Wisconsin through Jan. 1.

100-44 Aggies have a slight lead.

Garbage time started with about 8 minutes to go. Lots of heat checks by the Ags and sloppy play in general. Pioneers at one point were hitting only 11% of their shots. Don't have much reason to keep watching except to see all if the Ags score and except for Franklin, they've already done that.

It's apparent that Coach Les is using this game to give the backups some court time. I see Rawlins and Franklin out there. 27-6 Ags.

I'm likely to tune in and tune out to see if there's any chance of an upset.

"You know, I'm not so sure I want to move to the FBS anymore." I feel this way exactly and I used to be a huge fan of Cal and Pac-12 sports. I haven't watched a complete game since 2023. I much prefer the FCS.

Final stats show that the Aggies shot 60% for the game, mostly due to the way they were able to score in the paint. The trey shooting was disappointing at 4 for 16, but that was offset by all the 2s. What was also impressive was the Aggies 25 rebounds to the Bengals 28, considering the height disparity. The solid play of the Aggies also shows in having only 6 turnovers to 15 assists.

We got this one! (Despite the refs.) Nice the way the Ags were able to stave off Idaho State down the stretch. If they can play this well in the Big West, they'll be in the mix.

Getting too close for comfort now with 7 minutes left and Ags lead cut to 5.