The betting line has UC Davis as a 2.5 point favorite and ESPN gives the Aggies a 65.6% chance of winning, down from 70% earlier in the week (don't know why). In their last loss, Hawaii scored the fewest points in a game since 1998. Their offense seems to have disappeared. They know they will face a tough game tonight. Interesting that Curry gets back to the Golden State Warriors, but the Aggies have their own Stef who lights it up just like the NBA Steph. Gonzalez' 49.1& from 3 is still the best in the nation by a good 1.7% points. Remember that it was he and Ezra who kept us in the game against Hawaii in Honolulu, as the rest of the team played poorly, yet it was 1 point game. Hawaii will be at full strength tonight (they were missing two key players when they played UCD before), but if Mooney plus anyone else plays as they are capable of playing, I think the Ags will win.

I watched the second half of the Hawaii game to see what the Ags might expect this Thursday and i hope they can expect the same terrible shooting performance, because Hawaii lost badly to an inferior UCR team. Their two big scorers, Buggs and Stansberry, shot a sickly 4 for 22. I think they said it was the lowest point total (43) of the season. It is hard to explain. Their earlier problems this season were due to injuries to two key layers, Brandon Da Silva and Samuta Avea, although their absence did not prevent them from beating UC Davis 4 weeks ago. If they can't figure out the problem, Ags will win Thursday, but I suspect that they will figure it out and give us a tough battle.

I was disappointed by how poorly the Aggies handled the press. I would have thought they would be better prepared after what happened down at Long Beach. Granted, both Manjon and Squire and underclassmen, but they get the "big bucks" to take care of the ball. Still, a win is a win no matter how ugly it was and how poorly the officiating went. I don't think that the refs "lost" control of the game as much as they went out of their way to take control of it. Let the guys play, dammit.

I thought they were the 49ers?

Helps that the Beach have turned their beachball over 16 times.

Ags have only one offensive rebound so far.

If each Big West home team wins today, four teams will be tied for second place at 8-6. UCI has already guaranteed themselves at least an NIT berth, so today's game is critical for the Ags to stay in contention for an upper seed. They need to avoid the fourth seed or lower. Hawaii is showing signs of revitalization, so next Thursday's game against the Rainbow Warriors will be tough. Eran Ganot seems to have some kind of edge on Jim Les lately, Hawaii having won 4 of the last 5. I thought that this year's Hawaii team was the best they've had since they went to the NCAAs and beat the Cal team that had Jabari Bird, Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb.

ESPN gives UC Davis an 85% chance of beating Long Beach and the oddsmakers give the Aggies an 8.5 point-spread.

Sorry, He was on the team after I left Davis.

movielover, Yes! I was at that game in 1968 when the starting lineup was Al Budde, John Frost, Steve Schaper, Stonebarger and Baranco. I think we were playing Sonoma State, but still in the first half, Ham pulled out all five starters and put Wood, Cupps, Tom Larkin, Bob Johnson and Bob Guild in. we all thought he'd lost his marbles, but they ran the other team ragged (not sure it was the Cossacks, but it was a conference game). Then he subbed them all out and put the starters back in again. He must have been experimenting, because I don't think he used it much after that.

movielover, I have one great Baranco story. It was an away game at Sac State. Aggie fans outnumbered Hornie fans about 3:1. It was a close game and Sac State had to foul to try for the win. Ham made sure that the team got the ball to Baranco. They kept fouling Gordie and he kept sinking two shots to keep UCD in front for the W. He was totally cool the whole time. It must have been around February 1969, so 51 years ago. I don't recall any video streaming to what we called the women's gym, but then, I always got there really early so I could set on the top of the risers. The band was great, the song-girls beautiful and Bob Hamilton was a show all by himself.

Yeah, Hickey Gym really rocked in those days. It was always SRO. Lein and Thomas were actually after my time, which shows how old I am.:smile:

I remember that season very well. We had to go to SF State to fight for at least a tie for the FWC title. My friends and I drove down to the Bay Ares to see the two games to close out the season. The Ags took it to double overtime and won on a buzzer beater by Bob Johnson. The next night, we came out flat and got upset by CSU Hayward (now Cal State East Bay) to fall into a tie and the NCAA allowed both us and the Golden Gators to go to Las Vegas. My friends and I listened to the game on the radio, but I don't remember the blocks being thrown on the court. I guess you had to be there.

I had to miss the game but please allow me to make two observations. No Aggie player scored in double figures last night. When was the last time that happened? Second, it is a well known (and appropriately despised) strategy to use trash talk to throw an opponent off his game (male pronoun used deliberately) and it sounds like the Aggies were thrown off theirs so perhaps that is part of Pasternak's coaching. When the Gauchos were out here in Hawaii, this was noted, although it did not work because Hawaii was then playing well. What Jim Les should try to do is to get his players to be above reacting to it. Poise.

Give credit to SLO for doing a nice job of defending the perimeter. Sadly for them, their hot outside shooting cooked off just like it did at Davis. Discredit to the officials who called a very tight game, but both ways. Too many ticky-tack fouls and missed calls. Aggies made 26 free throws, with most misses coming in the first half.

Sloppy game so far by both teams. Total of 9 turn overs and 14 fouls in 12 minutes.

Never mind.

Anyone else having trouble with the audio? I can barely hear anything.

As far as we know, has Jim Les recruited any new 3-point shooters for next year? Of course, the sign of a really great coach is the ability to adapt his strategy to fit the payers he has as well as find players who fit his system. Seems to me that his best team, meaning the 2016-17 NCAA team, was not a particularly good outside shooting team (35.4%) but succeeded on grit, teamwork and solid defense.

Why do I think that Coach Les is really good at teaching how to shoot the 3-point shot? Is it because he's had so many over the years or because he was pretty good himself? I guess he could be just lucky? ... No, don't think so. :smile:

With Hawaii's loss to UCI, the Aggies are in second place. It does mean, however, that the gap between UCI and the rest of the pack is wider. There are 5 teams that are either 6-5 or 5-6. The good news, I guess, is that Hawaii continues to fade, having lost 4 straight. It's a real mystery since they have a lot of talent. If they do not fix whatever is wrong with them, the Ags should beat them. Even if the Warriors right their outrigger, if UC Davis plays as well as they've been, they will not likely win at the Pavilion.