After watching Hawai'i beat 3 very good teams, including one Pac-12 and one Big12 school, I need to revise what I wrote above. I don't see think any team in the Big West is better than Hawai`i. A major qualifier is that Hawai`i has not played a single game away from Honolulu and they are notorious for folding on the road. I can see them losing 4-6 games to the UC schools plus the Beach.

I don't think we'll play a better defense all season. Whew! Bruins had 8 steals and 7 blocks. They did a good job of forcing the game at their pace, neutralizing the Ags speed, which is our only advantage over UCLA. Still, I won't call it a blow-out since the final margin was close to the point spread. My hope is that the game will provide coach Les with some teaching points. It was a clinic on how to lay man-to-man defense. Next up: Big West play.

Ags still fighting, but the differences are beginning to show. I hope the team doesn't lose any wheels, even while the vehicle is getting wrecked.

UCLA does have a drama department, right? I wonder how many acting classes their team has gotten? I counted at least 3 flops resulting in offensive fouls called against the Aggies. Of course, that doesn't explain the score, but it helped.

Ags leading through most of first half, despite shooting only 29% from the field!

The AP has UCLA at #13 and the coaches poll has them at #9. This leads me to ask what was the highest ranked team that UCD has ever played? If my memory serves (and lately, it has served me none too well), in 1968 the Aggies played Santa Clara in the old Men's gym. The Broncos were ranked #2 at the time. I was at that game and it was no contest. Subsequently, Sports Illustrated ran a story on SCU, which featured Dennis Awtrey and the Ogden brothers, in which they mentioned that Santa Clara had "swatted such flies" as UC Davis. Taking umbrage, a friend of mine wrote a letter to SI upbraiding them for dismissing us and SI printed the letter. But I digress. Assuming I'm correct, have the Ags ever played a#1 team?

From Wikipedia: "In December 2022, (Holy Names) announced plans to close after the spring 2023 semester. It cited "rising operational costs, declining enrollment, and an increased need for institutional aid", particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic downturn. It has formed a relationship with Dominican University of California to allow students to continue their studies there after Holy Names closes." It's kind of too far for Cal to use it for students, but Milll's is just down the road.

I wondered over the hyperbole of the EWU broadcasters calling us the best team in the Big West or one of the best teams in California. I guess that's how they pump up the Eagles to make the W a lot bigger than it really is.

This was easily the worst I've seen the team play this year. They lost their composure when they lost their lead. I'm going to guess that they will come home in January against UCI hoping to avoid a 4th straight loss. Hope I'm wrong.

Hard to believe that the Ags have now missed 17 3s in a row since the early minutes, one by Pepper and one by Milling.

Eagles have more assists (13-7) and rebounds (31-29). Ags have 10 more points from the foul line, but the 3s push everything to EWU's advantage.

:D

Good to see Milling back. He's made half of their 3s. John Stockton is in the audience.

The end of the half was pretty strange.Lots of odd calls by the refs. Ags not hitting from the 3 line so far: 18%. If they were stroking at their usual rate, they might be ahead by double figures. I think the Eagles made an early mistake trying to get the ball to their big man, Price. The Aggies did a great job of collapsing on him and forcing turnovers or missed shots. I notice they gave up on that at about the mid-point of the half. Nice that we have the lead. Even nicer that they're shooting 90% from the free throw line. I suspect they worked on the mental angle over the finals break.

So far, so good. Ags making 100% of their free throws. :)

EWU favored by only 2 points, but ESPN gives them a 70% chance of winning.

You're right agalum. You could see the team getting lazy with its passes and defense about midway through the first half. I'd bet that coach Les chewed the out the first chance he got. The Hawks did take some advantage of it, but they lacked the ability to do what Boston U. did back in Milwaukee.

Is Milling on the bench?

Ags don't look rusty or over-confident, but nice to see them hitting their free throws (81%), especially Anigwe who is 4/4. Note that Ags hold a 29-8 rebound edge and a 8-1 assist edge. Bob Williams, however, made a good point about the last game played by the Hawks, a tough 92-91 win over a league opponent, Chaminade College of Honolulu, only last night. They're not only over-matched, they're probably a bit tired.

19-2, Aggies in the first 4 and half minutes. Holy Names is no match in either size or speed with UCD. This reminds me of the days of the Far West Conference when we wold play Div. I teams and the game would effectively be over in the first 10 minutes.