The (officially) winless in conference UC Davis Aggies head south (which is where they always go for away games) to meet Cal State Northridge. CSUN is 2-4 in conference and if the Ags play as well as they did in last Saturday's game against UC Santa Barbara, they should win. The Matadors are led by junior guard T. J. Starks (not to be confused with T. J. Shorts) who is averaging 20 points a game. The Mats at home have been swept decisively by UCSB and split two road series with Cal Poly and CSU Fullerton. They've also had six Big West games cancelled. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.
Hoping we come out a play better on Friday...we seem to be struggling on the front end of these back to backs. I must admit that I haven't really watched any CSUN this year. They lost practically their whole team from last year, so I know expectations weren't too high. If Manjon and Pepper continue to play like they did on Saturday, and maybe add in a healthy Fuller (hopefully?) we might be able to put one or two in the win column.
I heard on one of the broadcasts that in order to qualify for the NCAA tournament this year, a school has to play in 13 games. Does anyone know what counts toward that number? UCD will have played in 16 total assuming no more get cancelled. Two are against UCSD which is not a full conference member yet and one was against William Jessup, an NAIA (?) school. If those games don't count the Aggies can't afford to lose a single game to cancellation. If they--or any other Big West team--does not qualify, would they still be in the conference tournament? I can't imagine they wouldn't be, but I guess if they win it, the team they beat would go to the NCAAs, which sucks. I know that the odds are against such a scenario but I thought it would be worth raising the questions.
That's a good question. I know that in normal years, a limited (1 or 2) games against non-D1 schools count in your record. Any more are considered scrimmages. My gut feeling is that all 3 of the games you mentioned will count towards the required 13, but I definitely don't know that for sure. The women added this weekends game mostly to get above that minimum number also. Also not sure if BW tournament games count towards the min (I think they do, but again, not sure).
Hmm, a point and a half, huh? Like you said, our track record on Friday's hasn't been stellar. It'll be good to have Herenda on the mike for ESPN. He's knowledgeable about the BW and is fairly even between the two teams. The guys from UCSD a few weeks ago weren't bad at the in game call, except when they broke into song (no I'm not kidding).
I thought the UCSD guys were pretty good for a program in transition. Not overly homer, and seemed knowledgeable about our guys. They were better than a majority of ESPNU guys.
Aggies down 4 at the half, but they can play a lot better in every category. Too many turnovers, not enough assists, need better shooting and to hit the boards harder. Defense is just okay. This game is totally within reach as long as they get their act together.
CSUN 80 Ags 77 Final. Close but no cigar. Fuller with 30 and Manjon had 19. The Ags only hit 3 of 1sts 6al from beyond the arc. 51 fouls were called in the game.
Fuller looks like a real player; too bad we didn’t get a better opportunity with him at the end. I thought Ba’s 3 with about a minute to tie it was in; again, no cigar. Too many turnovers, a large number that were unforced
This is shaping up to be the most heart breaking season it has ever been my misfortune to witness. Not just the cancellations, but the way the kids lose. I'm betting (hoping) they come back and win handily tomorrow. The big problems today were 3 point shooting (18.8%) and turnovers a lot of them unforced on sloppy passing. I note that Fuller's 30 points today came on 2 point FGs and 15 points worth of free throws.
On a side note, the C-Sun name is SO annoying. Why not just Northridge? And if I don’t hear ‘physicality’ ever again, I got my fill tonight! Herenda does like to toss in the big words Conundrum. ? Yikes
When Fuller is rolling he’s very fun to watch. I suspect Csun will double him when he gets the ball on the block as they didn’t seem to have anyone that could matchup with him one on one. It’ll be up to him to make the right pass out of it and for someone to hit an open three!! Not having Squire really hurt on the defensive end. Ba did ok against Starks but Squires strength would give us another option.
Ags play their best 1st half of the season and lead 36 - 19 at the half. Got a bit ragged in the last 5 minutes though. We need to keep the pedal to the metal in the second half and play with poise.
Aggies up 36-17 at the half. I don't know it I've ever seen a team play better than the Aggies did in the first 12 minutes of the game. They even held the Matadors to 57.1% shooting from the foul line. : ) I'm a little concerned that they got a bit sloppy after that, but we'll see how they come out in the second stanza.
Ags gain a split 75-63. CSUN came roaring back in the second half and cut the lead to 7 with a chance to cut it to 5 or 4. Then Manjon stepped up with back-to-back buckets to take the lead back up to 11. Great job on the boards 43-31 against a very athletic team. Nice win for the Ags on the road.
Very solid win. Our Saturday performances are so much better than Friday, which is hard to figure. I can see UCSD after the layoff and 8-9 hour bus ride, but last two weeks don’t follow that. Defense drives this team. Only downside was turnovers.
Manjon hasn’t scored in Big West like we expect, but he is still the guy you want with the game on the line. I feel like if he can get off to a fast start one game, we’ll see a 25 point night again.