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BlueGoldAg
1.1kThe Aggies kick off the beginning of conference play Thursday night at 7 pm when they host UC Irvine. They will be looking to win their 17th straight home game in the Pavilion.
The Anteaters' 5-11 record is deceptive since they have played a challenging OOC schedule that has included Kansas State, Arizona State, UCLA, Nevada, Utah State and St Mary's. The only common opponent that both clubs have played is Nevada. The Eaters lost to the Wolfpack by 9 at home while the Aggies lost by 15 in Reno. Statistically, Irvine is averaging 70.8 ppg and allowing 72.7. The Aggies have hold a slight edge averaging 71.1 ppg but giving up only 65.9. The Anteaters are a good rebounding team gathering in 6+ boards more per game than their opponents.
No one player carries the bulk of the scoring for the Eaters. They have 5 players scoring between 9 and 11+ points per game. 6'1 So G Leonard Evan leads the way with 11.2 ppg followed by 6'2 So G Eyassu Worku with 10.1 ppg. 6'8 So F Tommy Rutherford is a workhorse in the paint and he'll likely match up with Chima Moneke so that should be a battle.
Chima Moneke continues to lead the Aggies offense 19 ppg along with Siler Schneider scoring 12.9 ppg and TJ Shorts Jr with 12.3 ppg. Moneke is just shy of averaging a double double each game with his 9.9 boards per game average. The Aggies will need to do a good job on the boards or Irvine will hurt them in the paint with second chance points.
Everything indicates that this will be a real battle with both teams wanting to start conference play with a W. In order for the Aggies to stay in the hunt for the Big West title they must win at home and this should be a good one.
Live online stream on Big West TV: http://www.bigwest.org/tv/
Go Ags! -
BlueGoldAg
1.1kYes, it's unfortunate that the students are still gone and we'll probably have less than 1500 in the seats. As you said, rebounding and defense are the keys to this game. It would be nice if we are able to can a few buckets from the perimeter to help open up the inside a bit. I'm sure Irvine will be collapsing on Chima and it will be physical. Rutherford and Worku were recruited by Jim Les but decided on Irvine and have become two of the mainstays in their lineup.
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aggie6thman
158@Oldbanduhalum I'm sorry I accidentally deleted your post. For some reason (I still haven't figured out why some posts show up in the moderator's qeue) I accidentally clicked delete instead of approve. Luckily I had the post open in another window and was able to copy it.
Please accept my apologies!!
"@Oldbanduhalum↪BlueGoldAg Looking forward to the start of BW ball. This will probably be a good defensive battle. UCI has the size (Rutherford, Galloway, Greene and Jones are all loads in the paint) that may give the Ags trouble, especially on the boards. We'll need to stay out of foul trouble, help out on D, and get rebounding from every position.
Wish this game was happening when the students are in town.
Go Ags!" -
Oldbanduhalum
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SoCalAggie
43based on watching Irvine, not sure why they are exactly the favorite to win the Big West. While the score might not show it, I feel that we should be running all over them! -
BlueGoldAg
1.1kThis was a blue collar game dominated by tough defense. The shots weren't dropping for the Aggies as they would have liked but their hard-nosed defense kept them close until they put on a 15-1 run midway through the second half to break the game open.
The Aggie defense came up with 12 steals and forced 22 TO's. It was great seeing the Aggies trapping the UCI guards near mid-court and tipping balls in the passing lanes. The D rarely broke down and, when an Irvine player beat an Aggie defender, he usually found himself running squarely into another Aggie defender helping out. That was thing of beauty; it was defense played the way it should be.
How about TJ Shorts? He is so much fun to watch especially when he is driving the ball to the hoop and manages to score amongst the redwoods. He's so quick and can start and stop on a dime. He kept us in the game offensively when everyone else was struggling to get the ball through the hoop.
Chima had to work for every point and rebound he got against the Anteaters' interior. They were big and physical but it's hard to contain Chima for the entire 40 minutes and he ended up with yet another double double.
Siler Schneider has been struggling with his perimeter shot lately and the struggles continued tonight shooting only 4-13. Even when his shot isn't falling Siler gives you 100% and he still managed to score 10 points.
Jim Les complimented Irvine's FT defense after the game as the Aggies were only 16 of 28 from the line and a bunch of those were the front ends of 1 and 1's. That will lose us some close games if that does not improve.
Defensive battles are often described as being "ugly" even when you win one. It may not be pretty when the defenses are dominating and the game is low scoring but the Aggie defense was really fun to watch tonight. Good job Ags!
There was a small crowd of 1203 in attendance with the student's gone but that was to be expected. -
Oldbanduhalum
590Nice pics. Shorts is amazing how he finishes amongst the big boys.
I'm not sure the Ags can play better defense. The perimeter defense didn't allow many open looks, double teaming when it was appropriate, and the interior defense was stellar. There was one series when we doubled off a pick, which left a big man (Rutherford I think) all alone a foot from the basket. As soon as he caught it and turned, Hennings flashed in front of him, and though he didn't touch him, it was enough of a distraction to cause UCI to travel. Definitely a situation when brain and hustle won out over size.
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