Checking Bracketology, Irvine is currently forecasted to be a 15 seed against Oregon on Friday...in Sacramento. Now, to be entirely forthright, their RPI is 124 compared to the Ags' 181, and I fully expect that a victory would result in the Ags being slotted for Dayton on Tues/Wed, but you never know. Let's get there first though.
Of course we can win but, like Coach Nosek said after the game, "it's going to be a tall task." Our perimeter shooting in the first two games has been dreadful though and we have to have more balance and knock down some 3's. We were only 2-18 last night and that won't get it done against Irvine. It's time for Siler Schneider to come out of his shooting slump also. He's 3-18 from the field in the tournament.
It hasn't been pretty unless you are fan of great defense but, the defense last night and against Poly, was some of the toughest defense I ever seen from an Aggie team. The amount of energy that it takes to keep bringing the effort on defense at that level of intensity is exhausting and yet the Ags just kept making great defensive plays one after the other. I just hope they have enough left in the tank to bring it again tonight.
A frustrated Dedrique Taylor essentially blames the refs for the Aggies win:
“We got to a point to where we had to play five guards. Because of the way the whistle was going, we ended up having to play five guards.
“And so that was a strategic move on Davis’ part, just to physically beat us up and I thought they were allowed to do that to us tonight throughout the course of the game.”
Chima acknowledged the physicality of the game:
“I was just relieved because it was a tough game, one of the toughest games I’ve every played in,” he said. “It just feels good to win a game like that.”
Going to be tough, but we definitely have a shot. 20+ win team and it doesn't hurt that we start four seniors and a junior. Moneke and Lemar both need to show up and we'll need to keep up our defense.
Chima is an inspiring competitor. UCI locked him out in the last game so I think you're right that he'll be pumped to make a statement.
It's going to be a rugged game between two very good defensive teams. I'm just hoping that our offense can find their rhythm that has been missing in action recently.
Either way, Ags get to go to a national post-season tournament, but we all hope it's the Big Dance. I don't care who or where we play. I think of it as a step on a journey to some national attention: better recruiting, more glory for the campus, etc. I just can't believe how well Moneke plays. At least two of his blocks were ESPN highlight worthy. And if you look up the word "clutch" you should see a picture of Brynton Lemar. They definitely need to play better tonight to win. Can't start so poorly and Siler needs to play under more control.