odds makers have us at a 2 1/2 favorite, with 60% probability of winning. in other words, another nailbiter!

Pepper's production has been dwindling game over game for a while. He got open shots he normally makes. Hurt? Tired?

Eli has had trouble in the last two games. In the previous two (Hawaii and Long Beach) he got 29 and 32 points respectively. It looked to me that both UCR and CSUN had some success denying him the ball. He got a total of 23 shots in those games, while he had 25 in one game vs. Hawai`i. Here's where we hope that Coach Les figures out how to get him the ball.

Sluggish start; officials are letting a ton of contact go. Up 1 at the 18-17 with 8 to go.

Ags down 33-26 at the half and not playing well at all. We've been in a rut lately, especially on offense, and it appears that we are still in it. Eli is off his game again too.

Down 33-26 at half after a terrible final four minutes. Not sure I understand Les’ substitution at the end with Johnson, Milling sitting; backups really struggled.

Another 0 FG half got Pepper; he’s pressing

I have to admit that Pepper is not shooting well. His shot looks fine from the foul line, but he has missed badly on most of his 3s. Generally, the team seems out of focus as they have the past five games. They're being outhustled by the Roadrunners. Note, for example, the difference in both rebounds and turnovers in the first half.

I agree. Les often has a lineup on the floor that has very little offensive punch. I love good defense but you can't win on defense alone.

Bake is killing us on the boards. They have 13 offensive boards already. We don't match up well with their length and athleticism.

Aside from Pepper’s struggles, Addie just has not had any offensive production since back from injury. Team wise this looks like a repeat of the last several games. Hopefully Les can light a fire under the guys at half.

Ade is a great defender but he's never been a scorer. He will often make some good moves to get to the basket but struggles to finish. We see that with Tamba and Losé also although, lately, Tamba looks like he may be able to give us some offensive help.

I just don’t see us coming back tonight; nothing is working and we’re really pressing.

Bako is not very talented; crazy we’re down 10 with 15 to go.,

Eli can't buy a basket even when he's wide open. It's got to be mental at this point...going from such an elite scorer to barely able to score. I hope he finds a way to break out of this slump.

it’s crazy; shot looks perfect but hits back rim. Having a hard time getting over the jump here with only TY scoring,

One bright side : broadcast quality is good, and I like these announcers

We were playing our best basketball when Eli and TY were scoring in bunches. We just don't have anyone filling the offensive void now that Pepper is struggling.

Pepper is the second leading scorer for the Ags with 9, but much of that was from the line. We’re just not the same team in the last 5 games.

looks like we’ve lost confidence and spark; second chance points and hustle plays are killing us, and nobody really looks like they want to shoot

I'm shocked at how quickly we have gone from playing pretty darn good basketball to playing so poorly. It will be interesting to here what Les has to say after this game although he tends to not show up for the post-game, radio interview when he's very disappointed with the team.

I second what everyone else has written. This is both mystifying and sad. Tonight had to be the worst game of the season considering the opponent. I mean losing by nearly 20 to a team that will not likely qualify for the playoffs does not bode well for the Aggies as we head down the stretch against Hawai`i, UCSD and the Beach. Even fourth place is starting to look shaky now.

Well, we got taken out behind the barn and got an old fashioned butt kicking. That’s my best summary of the game.

Ags get thumped 75-56. Dominating win by Bake.

We are not playing good basketball right now when, ideally, you want your team to be peaking prior to the BW Tournament. Unless we somehow stop the bleeding real quick, I don't see us winning any of our final 3 games.

In the post-game interview Les said, "Give Bakersfield credit...we got the butt kicking we deserved...they were the aggressor, dominated us on the boards and won nearly every 50-50 ball. We came out casual and didn't play with the energy or desire that we needed."

I think it's going to be a long bus ride home...

The stats tell much of the story. Ags got out-rebounded 39-27 and on the offensive boards 16-7. CSUB had 8 more assists and twice as many steals and blocks as UCD. Ags made only 25% of their 3s while the Runners gunned for 39%. The question is why? How does a team lose that much focus and energy from not that long ago?

I really think that with each Pepper miss, the team energy and confidence drops. It does in my house watching!

The second half of the season has seem several repeat games with 20 point swings - UCR, CSUN and Bako. Weird

Looking ahead, I think we’ll at least claim the fourth spot unless Hawaii goes nuts on the mainland. Although UCR has an east last three, and I have no idea what the tiebreaker would be (maybe best victory, which would be our Irvine win?)

I was glad to see Les put Mani, Carter, Manu and Sevilla into the game in the final minutes when the game was out of reach. We've seen Sevilla a few times this season and he looks like he has a lot of potential to become a good PG and plays with a lot of confidence for a true freshman.

Manu saw quite a few minutes in the pre-conference games but, once the conference games began, Les has stuck almost entirely with DeBruhl, Tamba, Losé and Borra of the Bench. Manu plays hard and I like the energy he brings to the floor. I'm not sure why Les hasn't given him much playing time at all since the conference began.

We've heard a lot of praise from the coaching staff about the potential for Mani to be one of the best big men we've had in a long while. He has a beautiful shot from distance and has drained a couple of 3's in the few minutes we've seen him but he looks like he has a ways to good to get as strong and physical that he needs to be to play tough minutes in the interior. He could certainly develop in to a good stretch forward for us.

Carter has only seen 22 minutes total in 8 appearances this year but, in those few minutes, he has shown that he can shoot from beyond the arc with a beautiful stroke. The big question will be whether or not he will be quick enough to defend well against bigger and quicker guards. It will be interesting to see how he develops.

It's mental or some other dynamic.