I moved this from the other discussion (Big West Scores) since it was not getting much attention and I hope it will allow others to post reactions to other important conference games.
Games of Jan. 11:
UC Irvine (15-2/5-0) 60, UC San Diego (home, 14-3/4-1) 52
Hawai’i (11-5/3-2) 95, CSU Fullerton (home, 5-13/0-6) 86
UC Santa Barbara (11-5/3-2) 75, Cal Poly (home, 6-12/0-6) 72
CSU Bakersfield (home, 9-9/3-3) 94, CSUN (11-6/3-3) 90 - The Roadrunners were down 20 at the half.
The game between UCI and UCSD was a key contest in the Big West this year. Looks like the Anteaters are in good shape with a road win.
That was the second sell-out ever for the Tritons. Great to see the stands filled with fans. Frankly I cannot imagine that at UCD unless it was a hyped game on ESPN.
Fun game to watch! Kudos to Russell Turner for an excellent game plan his team executed well. Having UCSD go cold from the outside certainly helped the Anteater cause.
I only caught the last 10 minutes or so after we got home last night. I was much more impressed with Irvine than UCSD. Irvine seems more well rounded, whereas the Tritons lived (and died) by the 3.
I cant my believe Tillis is still playing for the Eaters. He’s my favorite opponent. Not exactly a chiseled physique, kind of a sleepy look. But that guy just makes plays. Irvine, as a team, doesn’t impress you with their athleticism (compared to day Long Beach) but they defend like crazy and don’t make mistakes. Having a seven foot weapon helps!!
Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe the tournament is an 8-team format? With this stretch of road games coming up, we might be putting ourselves on the outside of tournament eligibility unless we can right the ship soon
UC Irvine (home, 16-2/6-0) 82, CSU Fullerton (5-14/0-7) 62
UC San Diego (15-3/5-1) 80, Long Beach State (home, 7-11/3-3) 54
CSUN (12-6/4-3) 83, Hawai’i (home, 11-6/3-3) 60
UC Santa Barbara (home, 12-5/4-2) 66, UC Riverside (10-8/3-3) 63
Only one surprise here and that was in Hawai`I, where the Rainbow Warriors couldn’t figure out how to keep the Matadors off the boards despite a big height advantage. I watched part of this game and Keonte Jones—the same guy who grabbed 20 against the Ags-- was jumping out of the arena. The top two teams continue to roll over the rest of the West. The Tritons held Devin Askew (who got 32 against the Ags last week) to 11 points in their mauling of the Beach at the Pyramid, while UCI didn’t allow a single Titan player to score more than 10. Those two teams play defense.