There's a $27,500 buy in fee for the CBI and that doesn't include the cost of travel to Florida, meals and accommodations. That would be quite a big cost for the Athletics Department for a possible one and done in a minor tournament.

NIT very unlikely and CBI maybe not worth the money. — Toke69

Yes, I don't see the Aggies buying into the CBI. $27,500 is a lot of money for a program like UCD and that's not counting the costs of travel to Florida plus meals and accommodations. That would add up to a very expensive bill for playing in a minor tournament where you could possibly go one and done.

The thing that really made Pepper so special was how much he contributed to the team with his defense, rebounding and assists even when he wasn't scoring big numbers. For example, during his 3 game scoring drought, he had 7 steals in the win over CSUN. He wasn't an exceptionally gifted player when he first arrived at Davis but he worked tirelessly under the leadership of Jim Les and grew into an elite, all around player.

His work ethic during his time at Davis was second to none and he had a motor that wouldn't quit. In the last couple of seasons, the Big West teams focused their defensive strategies primarily at slowing him down. They played him very physical and he often had to fight through double and triple teams in order to get a decent look. He was a very unselfish player who put winning as a team above his own personal numbers.

Jim Les said that Pepper had an opportunity to leave Davis and go to a major program that included some good NIL money so he wasn't sure Eli was going to stay with the Aggies for his final season. Then one day last summer, he came into Les' office and told him that he was going to stay in Davis because he wanted to win a championship for him. The Aggies fell short of that goal but, in his post-game comments, Les said, "The team is hurting, they fell a little short of their goal but in my eyes they're all champions." I'm sure no one was more disappointed than Pepper.

It's been a pleasure to watch to watch Pepper grow into the outstanding basketball player that he is today over the last 5 years. He is certainly one of the greatest Aggie players ever to wear the uniform.

Pepper and Johnson will be hard to replace. — Toke69

Johnson is a junior so he'll be back next year. Of course, he could get enticed into the portal by some bigger programs since he has now developed into an elite guard during his time as an Aggie. I sure hope he doesn't get lured away like Manjon did.

Monson had some heartfelt words for his players as well and it's obvious that his players love him. He creates a team family just like Les does and I think they made a mistake letting him go. I was a bit disappointed that he didn't acknowledge the Aggies at all. Les and Gross always give credit to their opponents win or lose.

Coach Les commenting on his team: "They're hurting, they fell a little bit short of their goal but in my eyes they're champions."

I wouldn't mind having a mid-major championship. Everyone loves the occasional Cinderella story but they are few and far between. Now with big money entering into the college game, the tournament is going to become even more top heavy with the power programs with deep pockets dominating the tournament year after year. Heck, even the NIT has bought into the TV money grab so even fewer smaller programs will be invited to play in it. Big money is ruining major college sports.

Looks like we're in for another tough, physical basketball game...4th game in a row for us...hope we some gas left in the tank!

Long Beach was hitting hitting shots from everywhere against Irvine. I hope they don't do that against us. We won't be able to give them room beyond the arc while betting that they'll shoot a poor percentage.

Totally agree. I hope we get slotted in the play-in round if we win the Big West Tournament. At least we'd have a chance to win a game.

And we CANT get killed on the boards. — DrMike

Long Beach has big advantage on the boards with their length and quick athleticism. I don't think we can win the battle of the boards but, like you said, we just can't get killed on the boards. They were able to get offensive boards in our previous games with them by simply going over the top of us with their length even when we had 2 or 3 players in good position for the rebound.

It's going to be tough to go inside on them also. They have the ability to swat a lot of shots at the rim so we need our shooters to be on target from the outside. We could see them using a box and one to slow down Pepper so we really need Milling and Johnson to shoot a high percentage to help take some of the pressure off Eli.

Long Beach will be emotionally sky high. They finished the regular season losing 4 of their last 5 and then Monson got let go so they feel like they have something to prove and, of course, they want to win a championship for Monson as his swansong. I've watched several of their games this year and they got slapped with a few technicals for taunting and trash talking. We need to be careful and not let any of that stuff get to us and take us out of our focus of playing smart basketball and keeping our heads cool.

Defensively, we have to be disruptive without getting into foul trouble. Les preaches that good defense leads to good offense and it's true. If you look at the Hawai'i game, for example, when our defense was solid and disruptive, our offense was on fire and, when we started having defensive breakdowns or committed TO's, our offense stagnated. So it's imperative that our defense is locked in and disruptive and we take care of the ball.

The Beach has looked scary good in their last two wins over Riverside and Irvine. We may be the #2 seed but I think we're the underdog in this one given how they're playing right now and how difficult it is to match up with their length and athleticism. The crowd will be decidedly bigger for them also. We'll need to have our A game going from the start to finish. Go Ags!

I mean beautiful basketball into the most careless basketball I have ever seen. We are LUCKY… — SoCalAggie

Took the words right out of my mouth...

Unless, of course, he scores 50 tomorrow. — Toke69

Wouldn't that be something...

All I can say is that we survived but the way we lost those big leads in both halves and nearly threw the game away with TO's in the final 3 minutes makes this win feel kind of hollow to me. I'm happy we won and happy for the team to play for a championship regardless.

We came out firing hot and were playing outstanding defense. We built a 16 point lead and then had some defensive breakdowns and missed some easy shots while letting Hawai'i seize all the momentum. That was a discouraging...

The athleticism and length of LB is as scary as is the size and depth of Irvine.

#4 Long Beach 47 #1 Irvine 38 at the half in a really good basketball game. The Beach is playing inspired basketball. They look like the team that beat Michigan early in the season right now.

Great win for the Aggies! This team has grit in spades...winning 3 games in 3 days is grueling but we need one more!

Turning the ball over on that 5 second call nearly doomed us. I couldn't believe Mazzie or Jen didn't take a time out before turning it over. Then we dodged the bullet when Wahinekapu misses both FT's and Mazzie steps up and makes both of hers.

On to the Finals!!

The telecast zoomed in on her at one point when she was on the bench and she was in tears with her arm in a sling and ice on her shoulder. I like her fearlessness and energy. She plays hard with some attitude and it can give the team a boost