Aggies off to a good start hitting 50% from 3. and a 24-12 lead. Disappointing crowd, though.

36-25 at half--I'll take it!

That’s about as well as we’ve played offensively in a long time. I’m guessing we’ll see a lot of zone in the second half. Have to keep the big men out of foul trouble

I like how they are shutting Drammeh down. That kid was so cocky in the first matchup.

Great half of basketball by the Ags. Decent crowd. Just noticed that Hawai’i has 3 7 footers.

And it all came crashing down

24-10 run by Hawai’i. Got the Ags on their heels.

I missed the start if the second half. What happened? The 11 point lead has turned into a 3 point deficit!

Some bad turnovers by the Aggies and lights-out shooting by Hawaii

From the box score, it looks like the 3 point shot has deserted them. Ags 0-6 at 10 minute mark?

Does it seem like every single team we play just shoots way better at the line than the Ags?

We were one of the stat leaders in the country at the free throw line early in the preseason.

This one really hurts

Really? that's surp.... oh

What a pisser

Completely blew it.

This was a real surprise given how both teams had been playing lately and the Aggies being at home. So much for a good seed and for momentum going into the tournament. I'd not have thought a veteran team like UC Davis would blow an 11 point half time lead. Hawaii now leads the all time series with the Ags 11-6.

I thought we had like a 17 point lead. I got up for a minute and the next thing i see is a tied game. Let this one get away.

They were up 16 in the first half.

Pretty bad second half collapse by the Ags. We seemed to lose all focus on defense, letting Hawaii drive by us for easy layups or passing out for open shots. All that was done without Purchase being much of an impact. Not sure what this does for our seeding, but I'd imagine we are looking at 5th at best, and maybe 6th or 7th depending on Saturday's games.

The first half and the second half were like two different games. The Aggie defense was locked in the entire first half and Hawai'i seemed flat and wasn't playing with a lot of energy. Then they made a big run to take the lead after falling falling behind 14 early in the second half and, once they took the lead, they played with inspired energy and aggressiveness.

Our defense struggled to stop their penetration in the lane and they took advantage of their superior quickness. Brocke Stepteau just killed us with his quickness and athleticism. We also had some 3's go half way down and then rim out that hurt too.

This game was a big disappointment for sure and, yes, the Aggie D broke down too often in the second half, but a lot of that had to do with the quickness and athleticism of Hawai'i. Give credit to the Rainbow Warriors. They were down big, made a good run and then never took their foot off the gas pedal.

Coach Les was back to his overly intense self again on the sideline barking and stomping his foot and his post-game comments reflected his anger with the team. As usual after a loss, he was very short in his comments, critical of his team and didn't credit Hawai'i. He didn't mince his words either.

When Scott Marsh said that the Ags had trouble stopping the Warriors' drives into the lane, Les said, "I just told the team that our defense was ridiculous in the second half." He went on to essentially throw the team under the bus when he said, "We've been preaching all season to this team trying to get them to buy into playing defense. It's what we need to do to win but they won't do it. So if this is the way they want to go out, then that's the way it'll be."

He also often fails to acknowledge our opponents when he's upset with his own team. Sure, our defense had it's problems in the second half but give Hawai'i some credit. They made a great comeback and they have players whose athleticism and quickness gave us match-up problems.

We all know Les is intensely competitive and that he wears his emotions on his sleeve. He wants to win and demands 100% effort and execution all the time. There's nothing wrong working hard to get better and striving for perfection, but making disparaging remarks about the team is more demoralizing than productive. If that's what he's saying on live radio 15 minutes after the end of the game, then one can only imagine what's being said to the team in the locker room.

Great analysis. Steptoe was very good in the second half. They seemed to figure out that they could get him switched on to Printup on defense, and Rogers just couldn't stick with him. If we happen to face them in the tournament, we'll need to figure out some way to deal with that penetration. I kept expecting us to switch to a zone. Not that we are great at zone defense, but just to change the momentum. Momentum seemed to be a big player last night. It almost felt like if we could get the lead to 20 in the early part of the second half, that might have done it (maybe!). As it was, UH started getting comfortable and we started getting tight.

I don't think that Coach Les' intense style helps his team play to the best of their ability. Players play their best when they are loose and confident and not tight and anxious.

The following is from Bruce Gallaudet's Enterprise article interviewing Morgan Bertsch when asked how the coaching staff has kept the atmosphere relaxed and the players loose and is a great example of positive coaching and keeping the fun in the game:

Bertsch: “At least for me and the twins, this is our fourth go-round. We’ve had these pressures at least for the last two years: winning (a regular-season title), then expected to win the tournament.

“We’re more relaxed with the idea of it now because we know going in there and playing with certain expectations for yourself, certain expectations for your team … you never do your best.

“It’s something we’ve been talking about as a team these last couple of days. Making sure we don’t have those expectations and we’re not putting pressure on ourselves. You’re never playing loose, you’re never playing at your best when you have anxiety, pressure and expectations weighing you down.

“This season we’ve been playing so loose, having so much fun and I know that’s something we need to continue doing.

“We have our goals set, we have the things we want to accomplish, but not putting so much pressure on (ourselves). Enjoy the time we have left with each other, the experience of the tournament…

“We want to have fun with all this and still be able to succeed.”

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/aggie-corner-a-little-down-time-with-morgan-bertsch/

It is an interesting juxtaposition between coaching styles. I talked with a former player a few years back and he clearly did not enjoy playing basketball under Les (he did not say it that way, but the message was clear). And I doubt he's the only one.

There will definitely be pressure on Coach Gross and the women in Anaheim again this year. They have not dealt with that well the past few years, so it's nice to see the senior leaders recognizing it and figuring out how to deal with it.

Yep....that’s a great comparison....a women’s team approach with a 100 fans in the stands....and a men’s program that has led the very very public resurgence of sports programs at UCD. Why does ESPN come on campus ? Swimming ...football...soccer....ladies hoops? Nope..men’s basketball with a guy who played in the NBA..for the Kings and has out recruited the school and facilities. Not all kids can handle playing at that level. Each time I watch Virginia play and think about Kihei Clark committed to UCD before he blew up....I am looking at a kid who starts on the number 1 or 2 ranked team in the country and Les spotted him and recruited him.

I don’t mind the harshness of his comments. We just gave up 50 points in the second half to a middle of the pack team ( who hasn’t really impressed on the road) after a good defensive half. I thought we let our offensive struggles at the start of the half (we were something like 2-12 starting off) effect our effort on the defensive end. We stiffened a bit down the stretch to give us a chance to pull it out, but they made shots when they had to.

Disappointing. A win probably would have put us in position for a 4 seed AND winning BWC record. Now we hope we get the 5 (no real difference). I’d just as well be 6 and play USCB. I’m more disappointed we’ll be ( I hope) 8-8.

Yes, Morgan is very intelligent and mature beyond her years. I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to see her play and to develop into the great college player that she has become. I think that Jen and Jim are both great coaches with much different styles and approaches, but both have shown that what they both do works very well. If jim could get that big Croatian player (a long shot) we will be a very improved team, and that is the type of player he likes. Smart, aggressive and can play defense. Keep your collective fingers crossed.

You know, your comment about having the opportunity to watch Morgan develop over 4 years got me thinking. I agree, one thing I do enjoy with the women's team is watching the players realize their potential over their college careers, coming in as players who really didn't understand how to play the game and turning into clutch all-star performers. It used to be that way with the men's team, too. Heck, I'd take my kids and we'd sit along the end line watching their warm ups so often that players (particularly Mark Payne) would come over before games give them high fives. That was a great connection that the players developed over the years with the fans. But now, with the way the men's team is, we have so many transfers that it's harder to build that rooting relationship. As much as I love watching TJ (and Chima before him), I almost feel cheated by not getting to watch him for 4 years.

"for the Kings and has out recruited the school and facilities."

What? Our school is fantastic, and The Pavilion is also wonderful, with a high performance facility on the way.