Last game Heidegger had 25 points in the last 10 minutes after 6 in the first 30. Hopefully he’s on a 8 point game pace, not 100!

31-26 Gauchos at the half. The Ags started off hot and then went ice cold. We'll need to heat up to stay within reach in the second half.

51-48 Gauchos with 7:52 to go in a very tough and physical game. We're staying in contact and that's what you want on the road against a good team...put yourself in position to win...

I spoke too soon...Ags' sloppy play lets the Gauchos take the lead up to 10 with 5:37 to go...this one is not looking good...

Ags fall 70-56 and the game ended with UCSB's coach and Jim Les having words and then the players almost getting into a brawl. Something was happening during the game that got under Mooney's skin also. He had words with Sow and Les had to take him out of the game before he got a T. Credit SB though, they totally outplayed the Ags in the last 5 minutes. We were down 3 and they won going away.

Tough loss. We certainly didn’t play well but UCSB is tough and made the plays. Lots of words exchanged after the buzzer. Not sure what it was all about but it would be interesting if we see them in Anaheim

I just listened to Les in the post-game radio interview. He said he liked how hard we played but he thought we rushed a lot of shots which led to them getting transition baskets. He said, "I liked the effort but we didn't play smart."

Regarding the the words between Pasternack and Les and both teams exchanging words at the end of the game Les said, "There was a reason for all of the emotion and I'd love to play them again in the Big West Tournament."

Something was going on in this game. I've never seen Mooney hot like he was before Les pulled him. I think some bad blood carried over from the Gaucho's loss in Davis. Looks like we have a great rivalry!

interesting words from Les. We need to make sure the right guys are getting the shots down the stretch. Yeah joe was really hot. That is uncharacteristic of him. Squire looked hot too.

Fuller was not happy either. The Ags are not a team that trash talks or does stuff to get under the skin of players but something was going on that got the Ags upset during the game.

The most glaring stat from the game was points-in-the-paint: UCSB 42 Ags 22. Ouch...with Neufeld graduating we need some size and strength inside for next year. We've played small ball very well lately but this is an example of why that's not always the best formula against a good defensive team. It works against a team like CSUN that wants to beat you by simply out scoring you and is lackadaisical on defense, but not so much against a team like the Gauchos who made life tough at the perimeter and clogged up the lanes to the basket.

I feared this would be the outcome given UCSB had seen the small approach already. Sounds like they had a game plan to stop the 3, and exploit the middle. Didn’t get to see any; I’m guessing the chirping might have been a result of physical stuff going on away from the ball ( out of the official’s view)?

I think there’s a simmering animosity in the program toward Pasternak; maybe his past association with Arizona and/or actions while at UCSB.

Pasternack is very fiery and animated and he was that way the whole game similar to what we saw in Davis. Les can be fiery too but has been less so this year but I've seen Les get T'ed up for much less than what I saw from Pasternack. I think the refs gave him quite a bit of leeway. Pasternack said something that set off Les as the teams started the handshake after the game and then some of the players on both sides started pointing and jawing but the refs and managed to get in the middle and quell the conflict until the Ags walked off to a chorus of boos.

I've never seen Mooney talk trash but he had words for Sow after he made a floater over him with contact so something must have been going on before hand. The jawing continued down the floor and Les took him out of the game and you could see how frustrated Joe was.

Les was still simmering in the post-game interview and said he'd welcome a rematch in the Big West Tournament. Unfortunately, I don't think we match up well with either UCSB or Irvine because of their strong interior games. Anyway, a rubber match in the tournament could be hotly contested. Scott Marsh said, "There's no love loss between these two teams."

I had to miss the game but please allow me to make two observations. No Aggie player scored in double figures last night. When was the last time that happened? Second, it is a well known (and appropriately despised) strategy to use trash talk to throw an opponent off his game (male pronoun used deliberately) and it sounds like the Aggies were thrown off theirs so perhaps that is part of Pasternak's coaching. When the Gauchos were out here in Hawaii, this was noted, although it did not work because Hawaii was then playing well. What Jim Les should try to do is to get his players to be above reacting to it. Poise.

Even though the coaches had words at the end of the game, Pasternack had this to say later:

"UC Davis is one of the best coached teams in our league," said head coach Joe Pasternack. "They play tough, hard and always make adjustments. This is a good win for us because of how well they (the Aggies) are coached."

https://www.ucsbgauchos.com/sports/m-baskbl/2019-20/releases/2020022344sbx3

Santa Barbara News Press describes a different ending:

"Sparks even flared after the final buzzer. UC Davis’ Joe Mooney pushed Heidegger from behind and the Gauchos’ Brandon Cyrus returned the favor to the Aggies’ guard. Mooney also kicked some water bottles and pushed a fan on his way to the locker room."

"Aggies’ coach Jim Les also yelled at Pasternack during the handshake line, setting off a few more shoves between players."

" “I think emotions fly,” Pasternack said. “It’s a competitive sport. But I’m not really sure (what was being said)."

If true, not good.

https://newspress.com/sports/2020/ucsb-mens-basketball-surges-past-uc-davis-to-move-in-control-of-second-place/

A 70-second video of the game, and ending.

https://keyt.com/sports/college-sports/2020/02/23/ucsb-mens-basketball-holds-off-uc-davis-in-testy-rematch/

I'm sure both sides have vastly different opinions. I will say this: I've been watching Joe Mooney for 4 years and I've never seen him trash talk or do something dirty and I've never seen him as visibly upset as he was with whatever was going on on the during the game. Joe competes hard but he's also a class act. I'd easily be 99% certain that he was on the receiving end of something very unsportsmanlike during the game that really got under his skin and it carried over to the end of the game.

Here is a video that shows Heidegger saying something to Mooney, who, after Heidegger has turned and is walking away, shoves him in the back. According to a fan that witnessed it, Mooney also shoved a couple high school students who, oblivious to what had just happened, were in his way on the way to the locker room. Nothing major but douche-baggy because he could have easily walked around them.


https://twitter.com/RyanFishTV/status/1231504703466307584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1231504703466307584&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs9e.github.io%2Fiframe%2F2%2Ftwitter.min.html%231231504703466307584

Seems like a good rivalry is budding.

I didn't see HS students shoved on this tape, but still, something the BW Commissioner probably doesn't want to see repeated at the BW Tourney.

BTW, what is the UCSB fan site?

Hey Movielover,
the shove(s) with the student(s) weren't captured in that video, it was just mentioned both on the message board and, as you posted above, in the Newspress writeup of the game. From the feedback, the interaction with the fan(s) (some said it was one fan, others two) weren't egregious and nothing escalated from there but were still unnecessary.
Another poster mentioned there was a hard shove in the back by Mooney on Heidegger in the second half of the first game too. I did not watch that game but perhaps there was some bad blood and yapping carrying over from the first game.
The NBA is hyper sensitive to player-fan interaction and if the NBA, Mooney would probably receive a suspension. I'm not sure how the Big West will handle it. If up to me, I'd go with a warning and advice that BW refs are going to be watching him closely for the rest of the season, especially if these two teams face off in the BWT.

The Gaucho fan site: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/ucsbgauchos/gaucho-sports-talk-f1/

I was at the earlier game between the two. With the way the Aggies started, there was some frustration on one side and some strutting on the other (neither of which seemed out of the ordinary). When Max got insanely hot in the second half and started bringing the Gauchos back into it, I think the Ags started pressuring him more and getting more physical. From his standpoint, I'm sure he wasn't thrilled with it, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Ags let him know that his team lost. Again, I didn't see anything I'd consider dirty, just hard physical play. Being such a small team, the Ags do have to play a physical brand of basketball to keep from just getting bulldozed by bigger stronger opponents. I can certainly see how that might tick off other teams, especially if the refs are letting them play.

Obviously I want players held accountable for their actions, but with Joe not having any history of issues, and the back and forth nature of the relationship, it seems like a warning is appropriate.

I think that there is a whole lot we don't know about. Joe was really upset no doubt about it and that's very out of the ordinary for him. There may have been some carry over from the first game between the two teams since there was some posturing and I'm sure some talk by both sides. Pasternack went ballistic on a couple of occasions and both coaches were not happy with the officiating...but what's new about that...

Heidegger went on a heater in the closing moments of the first game and nearly brought his team back single handedly. He also was complaining to the refs a lot and was upset when he fouled out near the end of the game. The game was physical by both sides but I did not see anything egregious by any of the players on either team. It was just a hotly contested game.

You can rest assured that something happened and/or continued to happen during the game in SB that set Joe off. He was very visibly upset on the floor and Les pulled him out of the game. That's totally out of character for Joe. Heidegger also said something after the game to Mooney and you know he wasn't saying, "Good game, Joe." That said, Joe lost his cool and, if all the things that the Gaucho press and fans Joe did actually happened, then Joe was in the wrong.

If the BW feels there is something that should be looked into I'm sure they will. If these two teams meet again in the BW tournament, I hope cooler heads prevail.

I guess the Gauchos didn't see their #11 shove Mooney in the back then subsequently shove him to the ground? If you’re going to dish out penalties for shoving, let both teams feel the pain.

The worst moment of the Jim Les era happened in Hawai'i a few years ago when the players and the fans acted out, the crowd along the Aggie baseline throwing stuff onto the court. (hint: don't give rowdy students free throwable items when they enter the arena.) Jim took the team off the court without shaking hands at the end of the game. The Hawai'i bench that year had choreography for plays that really pushed the boundaries of sportsmanship.

But the worst I've experienced goes waayyy back to the Bob Hamilton lead team playing in Las Vegas at the NCAA Div II regionals. It was Las Vegas, UCD, SF State and UC Irvine. We drew Las Vegas. The crowd was incredibly rowdy. They brought wood blocks to clap together. In the tense last moments of the game some of those blocks were hurled onto the court. NOT GOOD. Definitely threatening. I think it affected the last moments of the game. That was an amazing season.

I remember that season very well. We had to go to SF State to fight for at least a tie for the FWC title. My friends and I drove down to the Bay Ares to see the two games to close out the season. The Ags took it to double overtime and won on a buzzer beater by Bob Johnson. The next night, we came out flat and got upset by CSU Hayward (now Cal State East Bay) to fall into a tie and the NCAA allowed both us and the Golden Gators to go to Las Vegas. My friends and I listened to the game on the radio, but I don't remember the blocks being thrown on the court. I guess you had to be there.

Were these the Hickey Gym days? Was it often full, wild?

Did you see Mike Lein & Audwin Thomas play?

Yeah, Hickey Gym really rocked in those days. It was always SRO. Lein and Thomas were actually after my time, which shows how old I am.:smile:

I remember all those players and, not only was Hickey packed and rocking, it was often stuffy and hot as hell in there.

I love these stories, love Ham stories, Gordie Baranco ... who stands out? What games stand out?

I'm surmising Ham was still intense, younger, and I've heard students who didn't make the main gym followed games on a video stream in Lower Hickey.??

I met a guy in Rec Hall DII era who just took photos of Ham & his towel.

movielover, I have one great Baranco story. It was an away game at Sac State. Aggie fans outnumbered Hornie fans about 3:1. It was a close game and Sac State had to foul to try for the win. Ham made sure that the team got the ball to Baranco. They kept fouling Gordie and he kept sinking two shots to keep UCD in front for the W. He was totally cool the whole time. It must have been around February 1969, so 51 years ago. I don't recall any video streaming to what we called the women's gym, but then, I always got there really early so I could set on the top of the risers. The band was great, the song-girls beautiful and Bob Hamilton was a show all by himself.