In other BW action today:

Poly at Riverside at 5 pm
Santa Barbara at Irvine at 6 pm
Bakersfield at Fullerton at 7 pm
CSUN at Hawaii at 7 pm

I wonder is the UC schools will ever go to using the city names as some other state system schools have done (UNC Charlotte > Charlotte, SUNY Albany > Albany, Wisconsin-Milwaukee > Milwaukee)? I'm sure Cal will stay Cal and UCLA will stay UCLA. San Diego would be a problem, since there is a USD but as Dr. Mike just shorthanded, why not just Riverside, Santa Barbara, Davis, Irvine, etc.?

Riverside, LA, and Santa Barbara have CCs or CSUs by the same name. Plus, I think the state wants to emphasize that it's a UC system.

Tritons have some scorers and are playing tough defense - not many open looks for us. 29-23 then 3:00 to go

Not a great half, down 37-30. They’re shooting 60%. Add that to our 9 turnovers ( Johnson with 5, Pepper with 3) and that’s the story of the half. Their D is tough, but we’re a bit reckless in the key with the ball.

See what we can do differently defensively else if a bad start to the week

Down 37-30 at the half. We look either tired and/or uninspired or both. 9 TO's already: TY has 5 and Pepper has 3. You really can't have your guards turning the ball that much. I hope we come to life in the second half.

The Triton offense is looking very good. I noticed a large number of their points came around the rim where they were beating the Aggie defender one-on-one with some pretty good moves. Meanwhile, TY needs to start playing under control. A too often ignored quality of a basketball game is simply hustle and the Ags are getting out-hustled.

Haven’t been able to watch it but it sounds like we’re having passing issues. Maybe the fast breaks feed TOS?

Ags coming back. Plus they're doing a great job of defending free throws. :smile: Tritons only 4/9.

Much better defense so far; finally a lead 41-40.

They are shooting FT with 13 to go which might not be an advantage

not really fast breaks, more trying to press it into the lane and losing it to good defense

Pepper has 3 fouls - I expect they’ll go at him

Ags only have 1 TO in second half.

And defense MUCH better. 61-50 6:15 remaining. Johnson has sat a bit and Leo is playing his best half of the year. We have 12 offensive rebounds

Whew! Am I glad their free throw shooting has improved.

I tell ya, we make those last couple minutes closer than they need to be! I know we’re protecting agsin the 3 BUT they had 3 layups that were nearly uncontested. Leo and Milling were big off the bench. Offensive boards were huge. Big win to start a big week

Nice comeback for the win by the Aggies after a lackluster first half being down 7. We had 15 offensive boards...incredible! Milling and DeBruhl are really contributing coming off the bench. Only downside to this win is too many TO's by our guards: Johnson had 6 and Pepper had 5. Fortunately, it didn't hurt us too much but it could against the top BW teams.

I really liked listening to the the Triton announcers. They had a lot of good things to say about the Aggies during the game which was nice to hear instead of the usual homers. They both said they feel like the Ags are a team that could contend with the top of the BW.

This is a very fun team to watch and we have a huge game next Thursday when Riverside comes to town.

If anything, this team has taught me to never associate size with good rebounding. We may be slightly bigger than previous Aggie teams but I’ve never seen a team dominate on the offensive boards like this team does. Anigwe, Ade, Rojak are usually smaller than their counterparts but just out work them. Add in TY and Pepper, who always seems to have a nose for the ball, and you have a great rebounding team. Actually, Ade reminds me a bit of Dennis Rodman. Just relentless rebounding effort.

We've had so many years when we got out rebounded often so it's so nice to see this team work the boards.

Seemed like the game plan was pound it inside; several of TJs and Eli’s TO were when they tried to force themselves into the key and UCSD defended them well.

I’d like to see Ade take a shot especially after a rebound - looks a little gunshh about getting his shot blocked.

DeBruhl has improved tremendously the past few weeks. He was so rushed and flustered against UOP and EWU, but the past couple games he’s much more in control. Big help.

One big difference between the turnovers today and in previous games: Today, many of the turnovers were due to the two guards trying to force the ball inside. Previously, many of them were due to sloppy passing.

Totally agree that the TO's mostly due to TY and Eli trying force the ball into the lane or to the hoop. However, I don't think it's too wise to try and split 2 or 3 defenders who are collapsing on the ball and 6 quick hands slapping at the ball. You might get through on occasion or get fouled but the likelihood of a TO is quite high leading to a loss of possession.

In other BW games:

UCSB 73 Irvine 66 - the Gauchos pull away in the final 2 minutes for the win at Irvine.
Fullerton 27 Bakersfield 19 at the half in Fullerton.
Hawaii 33 CSUN 17 at the half in Hawaii.

Hawaii 58 CSUN 51 - Final
Fullerton 76 Bakersfield 46 - Final

Just an observation

your comments sound a little more of personal than technical, since you point out the same two guys each posting. Hope these comments aren’t being fed to their teammates - not good for team chemistry.

Johnson had 6 TOS in the first; one in the second. Maybe they altered things at the half, like not trying to force it in the paint?

Also, Pepper led the team with 6 assists.

WBB Seems Jen has a bit of a problem this season. No really good players and some very mediocre ones without any grit. Very different from the Morgan and twins days. Oh, how I miss those days!