2.5 point underdogs which is closer than I can remember a game at Hawaii.

Speaking of spreads: SsnDiego +26.5 over Fullerton. I’d take the Tritons to cover easily. They are trying to pad their NCAA resume

From The Big West Banter by Gauchodan:

The Aggies (15-13, 9-8) have been the most perplexing team. UC Davis swept UC Santa Barbara, almost swept UC Riverside (losing on a late basket at Riverside) and played UC Irvine tough in Irvine. The Aggies have also been swept by CSU Bakersfield and are the last team to lose to Long Beach State, at home no less. UC Davis completes its season next week with home games vs. UC San Diego and UC Irvine but, barring a miracle, Davis will be the 6 seed in Henderson.

Tonight is senior night at Stan Sheriff Center. The uniquely Hawaiian take on the festivities is each senior gets a lei and one final dunk on the SimpliFi Arena floor. Will this be head coach Eran Ganot’s final game in Honolulu? This has been a most disappointing season for the Rainbow Warriors (14-14, 6-11), who have faded to 8th place. Hawai’i faces a tough road trip to Bakersfield and Northridge next week with a BWT berth on the line.

https://bigwestbanter.substack.com/p/must-win-game-for-gauchos-at-csun?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=3137908&post_id=157480990&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=31ratq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

I see that Cal Poly has beaten Bakersfield. Good for us in that it moves us three full games ahead of the Roadrunners. Bad for us, because if Hawai`i is paying any attention to the Big West scoreboard, it really puts them in danger of missing the tournament. A loss to UCD tonight ties them with the Mustangs and Cal Poly has a very easy final two games, whereas Hawaii is on the road at Bakersfield and CSUN. The Warriors are going to be desperate for a win.

Toke, Poly has not beaten UCSB this season. The Gauchos won both of the games they have played.

Thanks, my bad. I fixed it.

CSUN just crushed UCSB 103-77.

Down 35-29 at half. Offense is stagnant (Hawaii zone is effective). Rocek has 3 fouls which may play a big role in the second half.

I’ve been out at little league games all day so I can’t make it through the rest of the game. Hoping we can figure out a way to pull it out

I was sitting right behind the Aggie bench and the team's frustration was very evident, from Coach Les on down. If not for Hawaii's 13 turnovers, including 10 steals by UH to go along with 4 blocked shots, this would have ben an embarrassing loss. I looked at the box score when I got home which verified my game time impressions. We got 61 field goal attempts, 12 more than Hawai'i and clanked 13 of those from the 3 point line, while the Warriors were hitting 39% of their treys. Each 3-pt. make, the Hawai`i crowd enthusiastically erupted, despite the fact that the arena was very empty, partly due to a baseball game going on at the same time and partly due to the B-ball teams losing record.

story of the season- our defense keeps us in games, and we win when we can squeeze out some offense. It seems like everyone is so much longer than us - takes away penetration and makes us rely on contested parameter shot. In the first half that I watched, their zone didn’t give us many good looks - I’m assuming the same was true in the second half? 1-13 from Leo and Sevilla isn’t a winning combo, nor is continuing to get beat in the boards

Lurker for a few months, but this is my first post! I never had any interest in basketball, until last season and also when I knew I could watch the Ags on ESPN+. I’m still learning how basketball works, but it’s been a fun journey.

I watched the Bakersfield v CalPoly and UCSB v CSUN games yesterday and I was hoping we’d bring the same energy to Hawaii.

TY definitely seemed frustrated and understandably so. He played decently well, despite the last few shots where all the Ags were throwing shots in a desperate attempt to come back. It’s been tough to see DeBruhl on offensive, but he’s always been a scrappy player for the times I’ve seen him play. Sometimes I forget that he’s playing and the next thing you know, he’s diving for the ball and we have the ball! Sevilla has been hot and cold this season, but hopefully he’ll be on for the final two games…

The Hawaii announcers (or it was my husband… I can’t remember now…) made a good point that once you’re in the tourney, you have a clean slate. I think it’s a good reminder for the Aggies and we should keep our heads up because we will be playing in Henderson!

I for one love to watch teams who play great defense and Les emphasizes defense as much as any coach in the nation. However, you simply can't win with defense alone.

We have struggled on offense in most of our games this season and, with such little interior scoring, we are overly dependent on our perimeter shooting as you noted. Our opponents know this so they clog up the interior and throw a zone at us in order to make us a one dimensional, jump shooting team. TY continues to get his points and Tamba has improved immensely in his ability to score in the paint but, after that, our scoring consistency falls off sharply.

I know that the team is frustrated right now and we'll certainly be decided underdogs in our final two games. As always, we'll play hard and leave it all on the court but the odds are stacked against us which, in my opinion, makes us a hungry, dangerous team.

There will be no lack of effort by the Ags but we could very well end the season on a 6 game losing streak. I can't remember when that may have happened before.

It was tough to read the Honolulu newspaper crowing about how Hawai`i had beaten a good UC Davis team by feeding their big men and how TY had missed all five of his last shots in a "please, please, please" effort to stage a comeback. It seemed to me like the team lost it's composure, not so much panicking but not playing with discipline for much of the second half. After one particularly tough sequence mid-way through the second half Leo came back to the bench yelling and punching his chair. He was clearly angry with the way he was playing and it is true that he missed a lot of shots (0 for 6), but he wasn't the only one. The only one who had a decent game on offense was Pablo Tamba. On the other hand, the team did all it could on defense against a sometimes huge Hawai`i front line. It's a mystery to me that the Warriors are 7-11.

I understand the team's frustration. Leo is as competitive as anyone on the team and no one plays harder. How many times have we seen him dive after a loose ball and come away with a steal or grab a rebound by his sheer effort among much taller players? He's a warrior on the court and I have loved watching him progress over the years.

agree completely - I hope I didn’t come off as putting this game on him and Connor. There was a point around midseason (I think going into Pepperdine) he was shooting 50% from the Arc. Since then, the basket has shrunk for him. Easy for me to say ‘it’s all mental’…but he seems to be pressing so much. His effort and intelligence has never waivered. Same for Sevilla.

If somehow that 1-13 was 5-13 (decent shooting) that’s at least 8 points.. different ballgame.

I was replaying the end of the game and noticed myself and my brother in law right behind the Aggie bench in my UC Davis hoodie. Did anyone who saw it catch the names of the Hawai`i commentators?

I think I spotted you, Toke, sitting behind the Aggies. You could replay the very start of the game to get the names of the commentators. I think they do a good job. They're not hardcore homers and they often make positive comments when an opposing player makes a great play.

Thanks.

Agree about the commentators. I thought almost all the BWC commentors were good this year. Can't remember the really bad team (Bakersfield?) but the rest have been very well prepared and didn't go too crazy for the home team.

I agree, Mike, with the exception of long time UCSB coach Jerry Pimm. He's too much of a homer for me and rarely has anything positive to say about the opposing players.

I remember being impressed with most of the broadcasters but appalled with the Bakersfield guys.