MBB Long Beach State (8-17, 4 -9) at UC Davis (15-10, 8-6), Saturday Feb. 14, 2 pm, on ESPN+
  • Toke69
    502
    The Beach has been up and down all season They staggered off winning only one game of their first seven and that win against NCCAA powerhouse Nobel. They then proceeded to lose 3 of their first four conference games. Then they won three straight, but against the weaker half of the Big West. Now they are on a six game losing streak. Head Coach Chris Acker is in his second season after going 3-17 in his first. To be fair, he was not hired in time to do any recruiting that season, but he now has a promising young team led by freshman Gavin Sykes, #11, who is third in the conference in scoring at 18.2 ppg. Sykes had been injured for 4 of the games in their 6 game losing streak, but he’s back just in time to face the Ags.

    Sykes anchors the backcourt along with fellow guards #0 Rob Diaz III (7.5 ppg) and #10 Cole Farrell (6.9 ppg). The frontcourt starters are #6 Peter Majstorovic a 6’8” transfer from Syracuse, who leads the team with 6.4 rebounds per game and 6’ 9” freshman Leopold Levillain, #4. Transfer guards #2 Shaquil Bender from Manhattan and #12 Isaiah Lewis, from Little Rock provide a lot of depth. Bender makes 10 points per game and Lewis adds 2.6 assists per game. As a team, the Beach averages 75 ppg while surrendering 77.2. Given that they are 4-9 in conference (3-4 at home) this shows that they lose a lot of close games, especially at home where their losses have averaged only 4 points per game with or without Sykes. The fact that they are 1-5 0n the road bodes well for this one. Still if the Aggies pay anywhere nearly as badly as they played against UCSD they are perfectly capable of losing this one against Sykes and company.
    Toke69 Options
  • DrMike
    1.2k
    Oddsmakers have us at around 4.5 point favorites with 70% chance of winning a close one (4 points or so). We really need to hit the ground running. Love to see us feed Niko early on pick and roll type players to get their defense off the perimeter. There’s been times recently we look like we’re playing against a zone - pass around the outside, an occasional difficult drive by our smallest players!
    DrMike Options
  • Toke69
    502
    I'll have to watch this on replay because I'm taking my wife to the Moana Surfrider in Waikiki for a Valentine's Day High Tea.
    Toke69 Options
  • Jdur
    417
    ↪Toke69
    Wowza! I'm a jealous man! Have a great time :)
    Jdur Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.6k
    From Gauchodan's Big West Substack column:

    2:00 PM: Long Beach State at UC Davis — The Beach (8-17, 4-9) have lost 6 straight games to fall 2 games out of Big West Tournament qualifying position. Freshman Gavin Sykes made his return to the Long Beach starting lineup, scoring 12 points but turning the ball over 3 times (vs. one assist) in 32 minutes of action. Petar Majstorovic has averaged 20.3 points over the last 3 games, making 19 of 39 shots from the field (.487) and 24 of 28 free throws attempts (.857). The Aggies (15-10, 8-6) saw their 3-game winning streak swatted away in a 68-51 loss at UC San Diego. UC Davis fell out of a 4th-place tie with CSUN and into a 5th-place tie with Cal State Fullerton. Davis couldn’t hit shots from any distance on Thursday…the Aggies were 38.1% from two, 30% from three and just 1 for 7 (14.3%) from the free throw line, failing to take advantage of 21 takeaways.

    https://bigwesthoops.substack.com/p/road-show?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2973109&post_id=187884117&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=31ratq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • DrMike
    1.2k
    ↪Jdur
    I’m taking my wife to Raising Canes after the game. Pretty close
    DrMike Options
  • poisedinpastels
    15
    Also going to this game! Haven’t been back on campus since graduating several years ago. Campus looks relatively the same, so it still feels like home :)
    poisedinpastels Options
  • Jdur
    417
    ↪DrMike
    haha! I’m heading up tomorrow to visit some friends and trying to convince them to go. I will say one of my favorite things about Davis is getting good Chinese food too, it feels like the town has 5 good restaurants. Hunan style for authentic spicy food, wok of flame for the Americanized combo plates and tasty kitchen for a mix of both.

    My girlfriend is taking me to San Francisco and has kept plans under wraps.
    Jdur Options
  • Jdur
    417
    ↪poisedinpastels
    have a great time! It’s worth checking out the new arboretum work.
    Jdur Options
  • Jdur
    417
    I have teaching classes at night most days right now and won’t be able to make a game for a bit. Hoping to make it the 26th vs Hawaii as a late B-day gift.
    Jdur Options
  • poisedinpastels
    15
    Great game so far!
    poisedinpastels Options
  • DrMike
    1.2k
    First half was as complete a half as we’ve played in quite some time. Good ball movement, active and physical on D, snd controlled the boards. Coming out in the second half with a 6-0 burst to get to a 20 point lead sealed it.

    Daugherty was out with a concussion leading to Cooper back in lineup. We was much better tonight but I don’t think he’s 100%. When I was coming back from lounge, the trainer was wrapping an ace bandage across his hip/groan area - perhaps that’s effecting his explosiveness.

    Got deep into the bench. Omer was good although he can get sloppy with the ball. Franklin did some good things on D, but too many turnovers. We need to get the top 8-9 some rest with the tough stretch coming but can only do that if these guys can protect the ball.

    We had some great looks in second half and couldn’t get a break - else that was a 30 point win.

    Poly beating SB. I think that’s bad for us cuz I fear Poly getting on a roll more than I think we can overcome the Gauchos
    DrMike Options
  • Toke69
    502
    I just saw the replay and was happy with the first half, but in the second half I saw signs of a reversion back to the way they played against UCSD. Too many fouls caused by lazy defense, careless turnovers and some poor shot choices. Wilson continues to impress. Chappell and Rocak had nice bounce back games, but Sevilla was 0-5 from 3 and Cooper only managed 6 points. With four road games left, they still need to find consistency.
    Toke69 Options
  • abridge
    157
    Cooper was in tears going into the locker room after the game - my wife says he got a huge hug from one of the coaches before entering the locker room. He certainly didn’t look like a happy person toward the end of the game both with body language and facial expression. I thought he played a good first half.

    It was a very physical game with almost anything goes officiating - at least that’s how it seemed from my viewpoint.
    abridge Options
  • DrMike
    1.2k
    ↪abridge
    I think it’s dealing with something physically that’s really limiting him and taking a toll mentally.
    DrMike Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.6k
    ↪DrMike
    He's appears to be struggling with something and his body language has looked "discouraged" lately. I like what he brings to the team when he is playing solid minutes.
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • DrMike
    1.2k
    ↪BlueGoldAg
    I mentioned above, the trainer was trying to wrap an ace bandage around his hip and groin in one side over a very impressive pair of compression shorts. So, it seems like something there that’s really effecting his quickness. Feel for him
    DrMike Options
  • Jdur
    417
    ↪Toke69
    I was really happy to see Chappell get it going again.
    Jdur Options
  • poisedinpastels
    15
    I know a lot of you guys are season ticket holders and go to the games (I wish I lived close by!) often. I was wondering if the energy at this game was similar to other games? I had a great time going yesterday and I honestly thought the crowd was great. As a viewer watching on tv, it’s really hard to feel that energy through the screen. Now just dreaming of the next time hubby and I can make it to another home game…
    poisedinpastels Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.6k
    ↪poisedinpastels
    I thought the game yesterday was a typical, fairly small crowd with pretty good energy that we often have. The game against Sac was the biggest and most vocal crowd and the crowds at the games against Irvine and Santa Barbara were smaller but quite energetic also. I expect we'll have a good crowd for our final home against Hawaii. We have a pretty good rivalry with the Bows and it will be senior night also.
    BlueGoldAg Options
  • Toke69
    502
    ↪DrMike
    " I think it’s dealing with something physically that’s really limiting him." Since you have first hand observations of Cooper, I stand corrected about his lack of effort being due to his having mentally left the team. No disrespect intended, but these days with the NIL and transfer portal it's not an unusual case. I hope he gets better and comes back next year. The guy is super telanted.
    Toke69 Options
  • DrMike
    1.2k
    ↪Toke69
    I was walking by when the trainer was trying to wrap around that joint - I told her ‘that doesn’t look like an easy thing to wrap’. She just kinda sighed and agreed. I don’t know what you can do to stabilize that area with a wrap - it’s got to be tough for him to push off and get a good first step.
    DrMike Options
  • BlueGoldAg
    1.6k
    ↪DrMike
    Sounds like he might have a groin injury. Those are painful and often slow to heal. I've had one before and it was painful to just walk at times. I hope he heals up quickly. He may not put up the biggest numbers but I feel like he's a solidly grounded, team oriented player who contributes a lot when he's on the floor.
    BlueGoldAg Options
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