In their last regular season game, UC Davis hosts Hawai`i for the second game in their back-to-back series at the Pavilion. One thing that characterized Hawai`i is their balanced scoring. They have four players averaging double figures, yet none scoring more than 12.4 points per game. They are similarly balanced in rebounds and assists. Three years ago, they had three 7-footers on the team, but only one has persevered, Matt Colina, and he hasn't played enough to even lead the Warriors in rebounds.
As with Friday's game, this one has been rescheduled for 4 pm. It is doubtful that Hawai`i will be as accurate from 3 point range, but it is equally likely that they will again dominate the boards. From what I saw, the Warriors big men were much more aggressive and athletic in being able to out-jump and out position the Ag front court. That kind of difference is pretty consistent. If UC Davis is to win, they will have to play solid defense on the perimeter and shoot the ball better, especially at close range. They can move into the fourth seed with a win or fall into the sixth seed with a loss.
I agree about Murphy. Les is not letting him go too long so his inexperience doesn’t get exposed, but has definitely shown glimpses on both ends. The little hook in the first half was very smooth.
Hopefully we keep this energy up through halftime.
Not sure what the Aggies are doing on the boards to eliminate the huge advantage that Hawaiii had yesterday, but I sure hope it keeps on working. Odd stat: Hawaii had no assists in the first half. Their 3 point shooting has also cooled off, but is now around their season average, but the UCD perimeter defense is a whole lot better too.
I think we all anticipated a split. I think this means that we'll face UCR in the second round. That's too bad in that I believe that the Aggies have an advantage from playing a team earlier in the season due to Coach Les' ability to make adjustments (as was in evidence today). UCSB is going to be a tough out for anyone.
After being killed on the boards 42-20 in yesterday's lose, the Ags out rebounded the Warriors 36-22 today...go figure... We owned the points in the paint today: 46-18 and that made up for 1 of 11 shooting from beyond the arc. These are two very evenly matched teams.
Thanks CMT. I forgot about the play-in teams. Same logic applies since we haven't played the Roadrunners before either. Maybe worse, since it's been 13 years since we last played them. Series record is 11-29 for what it's worth. I recall seeing one of the losses back in spring 1974. More recently, they eliminated Cal in the NIT in 2017 and dominated the WAC the 5 years prior to 2020.
This was quietly one of UCD's best finishes ever in the Big West I believe. I think it might be 4th after the two regular season titles and the time we were barely the 2-seed.
Yeah there was the one with Corey Hawkins where we decimated almost everyone but went 1-2 against Hawaii in the season and tournament. In 2018ish as well there was that co-championship with Irvine where we got the one-seed by beating them in the final conference game. Then there was the March Madness year, where we won the tourney but not conference if memory serves.
Looking at the headlines of the Aggie website this win seems to have closed out a pretty all-around great day in Aggie athletics, maybe top-to bottom one of the best in years:
Beach Volleyball got a win today, Softball won on a walkoff, Football beat a ranked team, MBB had one of its best conference finishes ever, and now WBB continues the streak.
The loss in the BW tourney in the Corey Hawkins year will always hurt. We not only had the best team but were projected as a 13 or 14 seed, which means you winning a game is somewhat realistic, as opposed to a 16 where you’re more likely to lose by 40 than win.
I was at the one and only game in Hawai`i when UC Davis won here. I can't remember who was on that team in addition to Corey Hawkins and Tyler Les, but they came out on fire and the Rainbow Warriors didn't know what had hit them. The 9000 fans there fell into stunned silence and I risked my neck by continuing to cheer "Go Ags" at a volume that was quite audible. A disgruntled Hawai`'i fan behind me muttered "What's an Aggie anyway?" and I turned around and said "It's short for Agricultural." I felt a bit bad about it all since, as an employee of the University of Hawai`i, I had lots of friends and colleagues in the crowd. It still felt great when they won. Little did I know that I would not see another Aggie win for...shoot, I hope 2022.