Our defense has been asleep at the wheel in the second half.

We shot 65% in the first half and that was an anomaly for us this season. What we are seeing in the second half is, unfortunately, what we've seen this team do a lot this year especially in late in the season. When we go cold, it affects our defense and everything starts to unravel.

The lead is down to 2. This is exactly what I feared would happen. Poly is breaking down the Aggie defense and Ags have gone cold.

It's great to see Losé playing well tonight. We can use his help off the bench.

I'd be for that.

Poly likes to run and shoot and they do it very well. Our defense needs to be locked in and disruptive in the second half. Poly is capable of exploding and taking over the momentum. Our defense needs to make sure that doesn't happen.

The BW is primarily a SoCal conference and I think they feel like Vegas offers a lot of entertainment for fans in addition to the tournament.

Our defense needs to tighten up. I'm not sure we want to get in a shootout with Poly.

It's on now.

Surprisingly, the Big West tournament is NOT the talk of the hotel here in Henderson. I think teams are at the Green Valley Inn, next to the arena. Convenient and the room price for tonight was $750! Drops $500 after 4 teams go home after tonight. — DrMike

Wow! That's too rich for my budget!!

From The Big West Banter by Gauchodan:

The Mustangs (14-18, 8-12) have changed the narrative of their program, ending a conference losing streak that spanned 3 seasons with 8 wins in 12 games. Cal Poly won its last 3 games by an average of 26.3 points as it became increasingly more comfortable in Mike DeGeorge’s helter skelter offense. Cal Poly also held its last 3 opponents to a combined .400 field goal percentage. One team the Mustangs haven’t been able to beat is UC Davis, committing 53 turnovers in two losses.

The Aggies (15-16, 9-11) limp into Henderson on a 6-game losing streak. Regular season scoring leader TY Johnson was shut down by UC San Diego in the season finale, going 2 for 15 from the field for his only single digit scoring performance (5) of the season. UC Davis has shot .386 or less from the field in 4 consecutive games and has not topped .500 vs. a Division I opponent this season.

https://bigwestbanter.substack.com/p/big-west-tips-off-its-tournament?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=3137908&post_id=158900955&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=31ratq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

It's been a pleasure watching TY during his years here. He's right up there with the very best guards to have worn an Aggie uniform and we've had some great ones.

This year has been a struggle for the Aggies and, if we don't win at least one game in the BW Tournament, we'll end up with a losing record for the season. That won't help with recruiting for next year and, with our move to a higher level of competition in the MWC in 2026, we need to step up the recruiting and turn things around quickly if we are going to have a chance to compete successfully in the MWC.

Do you have a link to this list?

As for their coach….he does come off as a smug bastard. He’s overtaken Pasternik in my disliked coaches ranking. — DrMike

My thinking as well. At one point in the game a Triton player put up a long air ball as the play clock was expiring only to have it fall right into the hands of their big guy and he tipped it in for an easy two almost like it was meant to be a lob pass. There was a big groan from the Aggie crowd and the Triton bench jumped to their feet to celebrate and their coach looked over at the Aggie bench with a big, gloating smile on his face and seemed to enjoy rubbing it in. He's seems smug for sure and his team can be cocky but, so far, they're walking the talk. I don't care for it though...

It was really great to see Leo have a career night in his last home game in front of a big crowd but it was also really unfortunate to see TY have such a tough game. Nils Cooper has made great progress this season and he was a warrior on the boards last night. He's tough as nails but he also takes a physical beating underneath the basket. I think he'll become even stronger and more physical next season after a solid training program in the off season.

Niko was almost absent with no blocks, 2 points and only 2 rebounds. — Toke69

I think Niko had an injured hand the last few games.

Official attendance: 4281.