• BlueGoldAg
    1.1k
    When ESPN comes to the Pavilion it makes for the most fun Aggie basketball fans can have and the Pavilion will be rocking when LBSU comes to town for this nationally televised game. The Ags are currently tied with Irvine for first place in the Big West and would love nothing better than to put on a good show and beat the 49ers before a national audience and a packed house.

    The Ags will be looking to keep their momentum going from Thursday's win over CSUN. The started that game on fire and shot 73% in the first half and 61% for the game while canning 14 of 20 from downtown. It was the best offensive display the Ags have had this season. But, CSUN is not known for their defense and the game with Long Beach will be much different.

    Long Beach is loaded with D1 transfers and is battle tested as they play the most difficult pre-conference schedule in the nation. The Ags lost in OT to The Beach just 10 days ago and this game will more than likely be a nail biter as well. The Aggies, though, will have a packed house going crazy and will be highly motivated to play well. I expect the Ags will be fired up and will come out with great intensity. Hopefully, they won't be overly pumped up and will channel their energy into smart play and smothering defense.

    This should be a good one and a ton of fun for Aggie fans. Be there and be loud!

    Go Ags!
  • True Blue Aggie
    44
    Emphasis on LOUD. Don't clap politely. Make the environment uncomfortable for LBSU. Let's go fellow alumni! Show the Aggie Pack what deep Aggie roots look and sound like, so in a few years they will carry on the tradition. Create the culture, promote the passion.

    GO AGS!!!

    p.s. Sac State sucks. (random jab just for kicks.)
  • True Blue Aggie
    44
    Just a thought but this would be an awesome time to have Delveion Jackson in the building and have him ink his NLI and transition for "verbally committed" to "signed". Again, just a thought.
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.1k
    I would expect that the coaching staff has alerted any recruits they are actively pursuing to tune into the game.
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.1k
    Yor're spot on about the need to create a good fan culture. I've said this before, the men's and women's teams are doing their part; they're both in first place in the conference and playing some good basketball. Now it's time for the students, alums and fans in general to step up and help create a loud, supportive environment on a consistent basis in the Pavilion.

    The men have a 9 game home winning streak going and the women have a 6 game home streak going. You really can't ask for much more as a fan and it's a ton more fun when the Pavilion is full and fans are into the game. Good players want to play in front of big crowds with a collegiate atmosphere and when potential recruits see big crowds at the Pavilion, they will be much more interested in choosing to come to UCD to play ball. Winning and supportive crowds are the ticket to growing a great basketball culture at Davis.
  • Oldbanduhalum
    589
    Just a few things...my daughter said this game had a great deal of buzz around campus, maybe even more than the ESPN game two years ago. And LBSU used the Davis High School gym for practice on Friday. If they are late to the game, it's NOT because my son locked them in the gym.

    Go Ags!
  • ucdavisaggie05
    96
    Aggie Pack is embarrassingly quiet tonight.....
  • CA Forever
    546
    Aggies up 31-29 at half. Too many turnovers and letting LB get away with way too much from behind the 3 point line.
  • Zander
    180
    What a game.

    Not pretty but we got it done when it was needed most. Graham came up clutch in the final minutes.
  • CA Forever
    546
    Man when Schneider turned it over at the very end of the game and then we didn't get the buzzer beater tip in I was almost positive we were going to lose in OT. It's just tough to get back into the mental state to play another 5 minutes of basketball after all of that. What a game, it's always fun to win on TV! GO AGS!
  • quadshock
    58
    Schneider seemed nervous or something, lots of turnovers. Overall they pulled off the win so they got it done.

    I was in a section with​ alumni and my friends and I were the ONLY ones chanting or screaming or doing anything. If anything we need louder alumni to boost the atmosphere
  • Zander
    180
    Hopefully the most recent generation of students from the ESPN/Hawkins era will stay heavily involved. The current seniors are the only remaining class who have even seen a truly bad MBB season.
  • Zander
    180
    Also, can we take a moment to appreciate how far this program has come, at least relative to the rest of the conference? The first-ever ESPN game was against conference-leading Long Beach St where the plucky Ags played their best game of the year to almost shock the perennial contenders.

    This game was the conference-leading Ags fending off an upstart 49ers team that we should have beaten on paper but almost got us with their hustle and capitalization off mistakes. Seems small but I feel there's a whole different vibe consistently going into these games as the favorite compared to when we were the feel-good underdogs. What a difference 4 years makes.
  • AggieMWfan
    5
    This team can play together to grow . Les' talent findings skill is pretty unique. Thy will make some noise in some tournament.
  • aggie6thman
    158
    Big win. Keeps the pressure on UCI who is up on CSUN late in the second half at the Bren.
  • Zander
    180
    UCI barely survives CSUN to win by 3. Looking like a 2-horse race in the last week.
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.1k
    Hawai'i knocks off Fullerton in OT on the island so now it's the Aggies and UCI in front on the pack by 2 games with 2 to go.
  • Toke69
    280
    I was so glad the game was on ESPNU so I could watch it live. The Pavilion seemed to be packed and the commentators mentioned that attendance was 5000. It sure seemed lively. (Living in Hawaii, I've only been to one game there, so it is hard to imagine.) It was a classic game and good revenge against the Beach for the Ags OT loss earlier this season. I've seen 3 LBSU games this season and they all went to OT. The one in Hawaii was a stunning loss for the 49ers, but this one was more devastating. Chima Moneke is back to his all-conference form. What a great block he had late in OT to keep the Ags in front. And how cool is Darius Graham sinking a key trey late in regulation and those free throws at the end of OT? Don't forget that Long Beach State was the preseason pick to win the Big West. They're tough. Ags can't afford to overlook Hawaii next week either, but they should beat them at home then we'll see how they do down in Irvine.
  • Zander
    180
    It looked like about 5000 to me from the feed, a full lower bowl = 3000 plus about half of the upper tier would put it around there. Official attendance was 5873 but I bet that counts every single student ticket allotted, not number distributed or number scanned. Really a crime that there were any empty seats at all in the place, though maybe some of that was by design for fire safety and such.

    Hopefully sometime you can get to an ESPN game on campus when you're visiting California. The atmosphere there is just unbelievable -- better I'd say than San Diego State's 12k arena. I think the Pavilion has really been a factor these last few years, particularly on the TV games, and hopefully attendance growth starts to self-perpetuate as Davis gets known as one of the toughest mid-major venues.
  • movielover
    484
    Huge win!

    Tourney will be interesting, but then we lose 3 studs? Enjoy it now.
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.1k
    It was a great atmosphere in the Pavilion but the official attendance of 5873 looked a bit inflated to me. The upper levels had more empty space than I seem to remember there was by comparison to the great ESPN game with Irvine during the 2014-15 season. Regardless though, the energy in the Pavilion was great and the noise level during critical moments late in the game was deafening.

    This was just a great, hard fought basketball game between two very evenly talented teams. It was like a title fight with both teams going toe-to-toe in a very physical contest in which neither team could quite deliver a knock out blow. Chima and JT didn't give an inch under the basket and consistently adsorbed the hits to make tough shots and fight for rebounds. And, along with Lawrence White, they made some spectacular blocks and thunderous dunks.

    Moneke had a monster game with 18 points and 17 boards. Incredible considering how physical Long Beach is in the paint! It was one of the best performances by an Aggie big man that I have ever seen. In my opinion, Chima is the best big man ever to don an Aggie uniform. Mike Lien was very good too but he did not face the kind of athletic competition that Moneke is playing against and, in my view, Chima is more athletically gifted. I'm so glad we'll have him back next year.

    What can you say about Brynton Lemar lately that hasn't already been said? He has just been outstanding in every phase of the game lately. His confidence is at an all time high; you can see that he wants the ball and relishes the opportunity to make a big play at crunch time. He's playing brilliant basketball right now.

    And, then there's Darius Graham, the energizer bunny and the motor that drives the Aggies. It was wonderful to see him step up and make those big shots in the final moments of regulation. When his long 3 ball went in with time running out on the shot clock, it blew the roof off the Pavilion. It's so great to see Darius, with his huge smile and his bottomless energy, have those special career moments in front of an adoring crowd.

    You've got to give credit to Coach Les and his staff too. They've got the Aggies competing for the Big West title for the second time in three years and competing with the teams who have been the perennial powerhouses in the league for a long time. Les has said that this team is not necessarily the most talented bunch overall in the league, but he gets the most out of the talent he has. He does a excellent job of crafting his team around the natural abilities of the players he has rather than trying for force players to do things that are not within their best physical capabilities.

    Les also sees the bigger picture of molding a team together in which the individual players know their roles and assignments and then insists that they strive for excellence in execution. You can see that with this Aggie team. They work hard on defense and are selfless on offense. The are resilient and don't hang their heads for long when they do make errors or the shots aren't dropping. This team has no quit in them and that is a credit to the coaching staff.

    I hope a lot of the fans in attendance for the ESPN game will return next Thursday for the game with Hawai'i. Hawai'i is playing tough basketball right now and this should be yet another tight Big West battle. It will also be the last home game for 5 Aggie seniors: JT Adenrele, Brynton Lemar, Darius Graham, Lawrence White and Georgi Funtarov. Plan to arrive early to see the pre-game ceremony to honor these 4 great Aggies and give them a well deserved show of appreciation.

    Go Ags!
  • Zander
    180
    I don't think our dropoff will be as terrible as it seems on paper -- another year of experience for Goode to back up Moneke in the paint will make our post play satisfactory, and Schneider could be a beast of a PG. The 2/3 position is a ? but I think UCD could still battle for the 4th or 5th seed in conference.

    I think you mean the Cal Poly game? Irvine wasn't ESPN but it still had a great atmosphere that year. I see the team pulling at least 3k for senior night -- there will be some serious buzz among the students who stayed until the end last night. Glad to hear the Pavilion was rocking on Saturday regardless of the numbers.

    Congrats to the 5 seniors who will be graduating -- they've done a lot for the program, including several who started their careers in a really bad season and from there took us to the success we've had in the past several years.

    I don't know if Davis can ever be perennially top-tier in the BWC but hopefully Les can get the program to the point where it's always in at least the middle of the pack -- with decent seeds in the BWCT -- and can push for a title every other few years. For that matter, it looks like we're close to that point already.
  • 69aggie
    370
    Yes, I worry that LBS, Fullerton, CSUN and to some extent cal poly can use their easy transfer rules to just outpace all the UCs in this league. Monsan is just an extreme example of how these schools can manipulate the NCAA rules and get new players. Got to offer a superior education to meet this threat, but in D1 basketball will this even matter? Lack of SoCal location also an issue, but Gonzaga is an inspiration for all of us.
  • Toke69
    280
    Thanks. What was great was seeing all of those UCD students cheering for their team. Hawaii's arena holds 10K, but it is rare to have many students show up or have the place half full. The student section is behind the backboard. I go to about three or four games a year and root for the Rainbow Warriors when they aren't playing the Ags.
  • DrMike
    649
    I was there Saturday and had a blast. Not much different to offer than from the wrap-ups above. Chima and JT were much more physical in this game with the 49ers, and that really paid off (LBSU losing Yussef in OT to fouls was a key!). We have some real ballers on this team. They don't let the moment overwhelm them, get off the canvas and come back fighting. Silar struggled with ball-handling. I don't think it was nerves, just a case of a little laziness against some really quick, strong guards. He's fearless which sometimes bites him in the butt with turnovers (like the one at the end of regulation.....too big of a risk to take it back into the press), but leads to some key buckets in the clutch.

    they broke the ~6000 ticket allotment into 3000 paid, and 3000 students. had sold ~2600 as of saturday morning and handed out more than 3000 student tickets. they tried to create a buzz by doing the MU handout the week prior, creating some urgency. sounds like that worked, although i think the actual student turnout was lower then they had hoped -> damn good weather and perfect snow! crowd seemed like it was poised to erupt throughout the game, but pace didn't allow it. it got LOUD on the dunks and blocks, but we didn't capitalize with any kind of run to sustain it. most fun i've had at a b-ball game!

    LB seemed to come apart in OT offensively, while our kids played their game and didn't let some questionable calls effect them.

    I saw Hexter at the game. He was in the Team Aggie between games, and was giddy. He seemed to really enjoy the women's game, and was very excited about the men's tipoff. He was sitting just below us during the men's and he was into it. Not often do you see an administrator REALLY get into the 'YMCA' (still a classic after 40 years). That's great to see. Nice to see someone in Mrak see first hand the positive impact of athletics in college life.

    We have to run the table to get the banner since I don't think Riverside will upset the 'Eaters. Don't put it past these guys to rise to that challenge and pull it off.
  • Davisbear
    29
    Whatever they did for the last game they should do for every game. It would be great to have 3k plus at every home game
  • Zander
    180
    I wonder how sustainable/useful the prior student ticket distribution is. On one hand anything to artificially increase demand and desirability should be a good thing; on the other it might dissuade the procrastinators from bothering to show. Maybe they should emphasize that tickets represent priority seating rather than guaranteed seating to make sure students still feel able to decide to go on game day.

    SDSU gives out student tickets in advance like that for every game, and there's even a line with like 100 students in it at the ticket office on Mondays preceding a game. Really creates a buzz on campus. On the other hand, it seems like people often don't show; the student section seems only half full most of the time.
  • ucdavisaggie05
    96
    I have to vent a bit - I was pretty disappointed with the Aggie Pack on Saturday night. For having the size of student attendance that was in the building...it was like a library at times. There was zero organization, zero engagement, nothing. It should have been deafening (on defense) from the tip. It's sad that, as it seems like it has always been, The Pavilion is loudest when giving items away than during the game itself. We could have had a massive home court advantage, but the crowd in general collectively sat on their hands for most of the game.
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.1k
    Brynton Lemar has been named the Big West Player of the Week for the third time this year which is the most in the league this year. Lamar has been playing the best basketball of his career lately.

    Congrats Brynton!

    http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/022717aaa.html
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