Big shift when Idaho’s two “bigs” fouled out in back to back possessions. Aggies drives to the basket became much easier and Idaho was just an outside shooting team at that point. Very good last 5 mins or so. We’ll see how the rematch goes in Davis in December

I think we got a big break when their two bigs fouled out. It wasn't a pretty win and we looked pretty ragged at times but we never quit and got the win.

We are desperately missing bigs. If we aren’t going to have scoring from anyone but TY, we need the ball to go inside out more than it does.

Our entire offense is weaving at the perimeter. I would love to see the ball enter the post 1-2 times on possession even if it gets back to the perimeter.

I listened to the radio, post-game interview with Les and he said he was proud with how the team grinding it out even though it wasn't pretty. He said we made a lot of mistakes and we have of things to clean up. He wasn't happy with our 3 point defense. He felt we just didn't do a good job of contesting their 3's but gave the Vandals credit for hitting their 3's. It was also win #250 for Jim Les in his coaching career.

TY said he came back because "Coach Les is one of a kind...I'm also trying to pick his brain about basketball...he's like a father figure...not many coaches out there like that...he's the reason I decided to play here for my last year."

Between getting TY and Lan Larison to stay at UCD says something about the campus. I'm guessing they both gave up lots of NIL money and a chance at the media spotlight to remain at UCD. Of course, this says something about the coaches and programs, but tit also speaks well of the campus environment, the academic quality and the values of these young men. but now I'm preaching to the choir.

FT's: Aggies 20-25 Vandals 15-25
Points off TO's: Aggies 25 Vandals 8

Our 3 point shooting so far this year is nothing to write home about. We were 6-27 at Washington and 7-27 tonight. So we are 13-54 after 2 games which is a paltry 24%.

Also, we've yet to see much playing time for the 4 transfers we brought in this year:
Carl Dougherty - 27 minutes total
Derek Sangster - 2 minutes total
Nils Cooper - 0
Jamaal Unuakhalu - 0

We also have not seen Jac Mani, Francesco Borra or Marsalis Roberson get any playing time.

I need the Aggie Pride Podcast crew to give us the inside scoop on the post above this one…

Well stupid me, i got frustrated in the second half and put a movie on. It sounds like i missed the excitement.

Well, we came home from our 2 game road trip with a 1-1 record in which the team showed a lot of fight in both games. However, I actually thought our game our game against UW was the better outing of the two for us. Idaho led for nearly 90% of the game before the Aggies took advantage of Idaho's 2 big men fouling late in the game. The Ags finally took the lead for good with 3:27 to go in the game.

The Vandals couldn't miss from beyond the arc especially in the first half. Give them credit for draining those shots but we have to contest those 3's better. They simply got too many open looks from the perimeter.

Idaho returned 10 players from last year's team but they were only 11-21 last year overall and they were picked to finish 7th this year in the Big Sky by the Big Sky coaches and 9th by the media. So they aren't expected to be a contender in the Big Sky but you never know.

It's a good sign that the Ags played really hard in both games and never caved in when they got down by double digits but Jim Les teams always play very hard so that was to be expected. We also saw how much we are currently relying on TY to carry the majority of our offense which is both a great thing to see when he does it but it also is worrisome that he needed to carry a disproportionate bulk of the team's offense in both games. Our upcoming opponents will certainly take notice of how dependent we are on him and will do everything they can to slow him down including playing him very physical and throwing double teams at him. That should open things up a bit for some other players to score but, other than Tamba's best ever 17 points against the Vandals, we haven't seen where that offensive punch is going to come from.

I know it's extremely early in the season and we all know that Les is masterful at figuring out how to get the best from the talent that he has. It's also pretty common for us to have a rough time in the pre-conference schedule each year as Les likes to challenge his players against some tough teams early in order to get his them battle tested before conference play begins. It will be interesting to see how he puts the pieces of the puzzle together this year especially offensively and to see what he has in mind for a bunch of players who have yet to see any playing time at all.

I've read Gauchofreg's analysis of UC Davis and I agree with him about the perennial frontcourt problems we've had. It seems to be Coach Les' Achilles heel. At this point, he seems to favor the new guy, 6' 9" Isaiah Chappell, who has contributed along with Rocak and Tamba in front. Still, we all wonder why Borra and Mani have not had more playing time and it makes me wonder if they are injured. If not, are they getting the kind of coaching they need? Does anyone know if one of the assistant coaches is responsible for the big men's player development? Between Borra and Mani, they have gotten exactly zero minutes so far and I know the two games have been tight. Hope to see them get more time against Menlo. Against any time with size, we're going to need them.

I don't think I saw Bora on the bench for either game. I'm guessing he didn't make the trip so maybe(?) an injury or illness. Mani was on the bench, I think, but never took the warmups off. If you've watched enough games, you know that means he wasn't going to play. Maybe a small injury that they were hoping would clear up during the trip, so they brought him along? Don't know if any of this is accurate... Hopefully we get some clarity soon.

Les brought in 4 transfers this year and he had high praise for all of them but only Daugherty has seen significant minutes. Generally, coaches often bring in transfers because they think they can contribute right away. I don't know if that's true for Les but I do find it curious that we have seen such a limited number of players actually getting playing time when, prior to the season, Les talked about the depth of this team and how he expected to play uptempo with a lot of players seeing action.