The first place Aggies get a chance to get even with UC Riverside in the second game of the Saturday double header at 5 pm. The Highlanders beat the Aggies 61-55 a month ago at Riverside in a game where the Ags were ice cold for most of the game before rallying in the final 5 minutes to make it close at the end.
Riverside is a physical team that has good size and are capable of beating anyone in the league. The Ags have been plagued with getting off to slow starts lately and Coach Les will be looking for his team to take care of the ball and play well from the start. Even though the Ags have won 7 of their last 9 games, it doesn't feel like the team has played their best yet and there is still room for growth.
This should be a good ball game between two competitive teams. The men and the women are both in first place in the Big West so they've done their part. Come on out to the Pavilion and support the Aggies!
looks like Goode might be out again. He's watching the women's game, not dressed. It looked like his back was giving him problems Wednesday so I'm guessing that might keep him out. Update: he's dressed for warm ups so looks like he'll give it a go.
All of a sudden I'm interested in the Hawaii vs.UC Irvine game starting in two minutes or so. I'd like to see UC Davis take a 1 1/2 game lead with six games to play. It would be nice if UC Davis wins the conference title - such a surprise since I think people voted for UC Davis to be last in the conference before preseason. Luke Nelsons's health status may be a key.
It doesn't look like we'll get any help from Hawai'i as Irvine takes a 35-20 lead into halftime. Luke Nelson has been hitting NBA distance 3's...impressive.
The Ags win today over Riverside was a very good win for them. The Aggie defense forced 21 TO's that led to 26 points for the Ags. I've watched every team in the Big West play at least one or more games now and I think the Ags are the best defensive team in the league. Everyone knows that Coach Les is intense and competitive and he gets more upset when the defense breaks down than he ever does when the offense is struggling. His philosophy of defense first is paying off as the Ags continue to win and maintain a one game lead over Irvine.
Brynton Lemar may have earned himself the Big West Player of the Week after his 29 point performance against Fullerton on Thursday and then leading the Ags with 14 today. His maturity and leadership are more and more evident with each additional game. Siler Schneider came off the bench and sparked the Ags to a nice lead in the first half with a trio of treys and, as usual, played pedal to the metal until fouling out late in the game. JT had one of his best outings of the season with 10 points and 6 boards and Mikey Henn chipped in 11.
The Highlanders 2-3 zone made things tough inside and they did a good job of bottling up Chima who finished with just 7 points, all from the FT line, but he also grabbed 8 rebounds in limited PT. Lawrence White did his usual great job of being disruptive defending and hustling for 50-50 balls and he had a beautiful baseline drive that ended with a thunderous dunk too.
All in all a nice crowd of 2607 got to see the defensive minded Aggies do what they do best and keep their unbeaten home winning streak going.
Irvine beat Hawai'i 72-48 on the island to stay one game back of the Ags in the Big West. Luke Nelson put on a 3 point shooting display hitting 6 of 10 from downtown and scoring 29 points. He has the ability to hit NBA distance, fall away 3's. Nelson has missed much of the season due to injury and did not play in the game that Irvine lost to the Aggies in the Pavilion. The Anteaters are a much better team with him back in the lineup.