Neither team is shooting well from the field. UCD at 38% but UCR at an atrocious 26%. Odds are that both teams will improve in the second half, but let's not allow the highlanders to score 50+.
Both teams are 100% from the free throw line and over half the points so far (17of 33) have been from the charity stripe. Maybe the refs should swallow their whistles for awhile.
I'm concerned that this kind of loss might create a big problem with the team's morale. I can't think of a worse way to lose a game than to lead all the way down to the last minute, but it's true that they have bounced back from other bad losses this year, just not like this one.This is where Coach Les faces a big challenge to get them to turn it around.
With Hawai`i having lost two in a row, the Anteaters are in the driver's seat. At rear of the car is Bakersfield which has been eliminated from the tournament. As far as the fourth seed is concerned, the Aggies are still in contention but are likely to finish 11-9 at best, so they have to hope one of the three teams above them falters down the home stretch.
I totally agree with you on both points. It was great to see Cooper back in form again. It's not usually fair to say that the refs cost us the game and in this case they called more fouls on the Titans (26) than the Ags (22), but they definitely affected the game. I've never seen so many blocking calls and so many ticky tack ones.
I would never have believed that the Aggies would score 92 and lose, especially with a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. They played really well for 36 minutes but the game lasts 40.
I just read that Sac State has joined the Mid-American Conference for football only so they can move up to the FBS. The MAC has no schools further west than Northern Illinois U. and goes as far east as UMass. So here's another Pacific coast team that will be doing a lot of traveling.
" I think it’s dealing with something physically that’s really limiting him." Since you have first hand observations of Cooper, I stand corrected about his lack of effort being due to his having mentally left the team. No disrespect intended, but these days with the NIL and transfer portal it's not an unusual case. I hope he gets better and comes back next year. The guy is super telanted.
The good news is that the Ags are only a game and a half out of first place and play two of the teams ahead of them. The bad news is that the Ags play two of the teams ahead of them and four games on the road where they are 2-4 so far in the Big West.
With the exception of the bottom three schools, things are getting tight again. With only 6 minutes left, CSUN now leads Hawaii 76-49. There is now only 3.5 games separating the 1 and 8 seeds.
I just saw the replay and was happy with the first half, but in the second half I saw signs of a reversion back to the way they played against UCSD. Too many fouls caused by lazy defense, careless turnovers and some poor shot choices. Wilson continues to impress. Chappell and Rocak had nice bounce back games, but Sevilla was 0-5 from 3 and Cooper only managed 6 points. With four road games left, they still need to find consistency.