The Aggies managed to win their first conference game of the season this past Thursday but it was far from pretty. They managed to survive just enough to beat Riverside after nearly squandering a 24 point lead with 8 minutes to go in the 4th quarter and they will have to play much, much better to have a chance against the Anteaters who currently sit atop the Big West standings.
This was a fun game to watch. The Irvine guard combination of Tom & Lee run a brilliant trap defense. And Tom is a lethal 3 pt shooter. Lee plays all over the court. I was reminded of an NBA coach talking about Oscar Robertson: "He beats you in every phases of the game," is how I remember it. Watching the Ags deal with that combo was fascinating. Watching the Ags learn to deal with them (or not) was also great. Some really fine ball movement by the Ags opened up scoring for us as well as some clutch rebounding. I thought this week Bria Shine played her best and made a crucial difference in the outcome.