From Wikipedia: "In December 2022, (Holy Names) announced plans to close after the spring 2023 semester. It cited "rising operational costs, declining enrollment, and an increased need for institutional aid", particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic downturn. It has formed a relationship with Dominican University of California to allow students to continue their studies there after Holy Names closes." It's kind of too far for Cal to use it for students, but Milll's is just down the road.

I wondered over the hyperbole of the EWU broadcasters calling us the best team in the Big West or one of the best teams in California. I guess that's how they pump up the Eagles to make the W a lot bigger than it really is.

This was easily the worst I've seen the team play this year. They lost their composure when they lost their lead. I'm going to guess that they will come home in January against UCI hoping to avoid a 4th straight loss. Hope I'm wrong.

Hard to believe that the Ags have now missed 17 3s in a row since the early minutes, one by Pepper and one by Milling.

Eagles have more assists (13-7) and rebounds (31-29). Ags have 10 more points from the foul line, but the 3s push everything to EWU's advantage.

:D

Good to see Milling back. He's made half of their 3s. John Stockton is in the audience.

The end of the half was pretty strange.Lots of odd calls by the refs. Ags not hitting from the 3 line so far: 18%. If they were stroking at their usual rate, they might be ahead by double figures. I think the Eagles made an early mistake trying to get the ball to their big man, Price. The Aggies did a great job of collapsing on him and forcing turnovers or missed shots. I notice they gave up on that at about the mid-point of the half. Nice that we have the lead. Even nicer that they're shooting 90% from the free throw line. I suspect they worked on the mental angle over the finals break.

So far, so good. Ags making 100% of their free throws. :)

EWU favored by only 2 points, but ESPN gives them a 70% chance of winning.

You're right agalum. You could see the team getting lazy with its passes and defense about midway through the first half. I'd bet that coach Les chewed the out the first chance he got. The Hawks did take some advantage of it, but they lacked the ability to do what Boston U. did back in Milwaukee.

Is Milling on the bench?

Ags don't look rusty or over-confident, but nice to see them hitting their free throws (81%), especially Anigwe who is 4/4. Note that Ags hold a 29-8 rebound edge and a 8-1 assist edge. Bob Williams, however, made a good point about the last game played by the Hawks, a tough 92-91 win over a league opponent, Chaminade College of Honolulu, only last night. They're not only over-matched, they're probably a bit tired.

19-2, Aggies in the first 4 and half minutes. Holy Names is no match in either size or speed with UCD. This reminds me of the days of the Far West Conference when we wold play Div. I teams and the game would effectively be over in the first 10 minutes.

I see that ESPN gives Sac State the highest odds of winning the title.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/insider/story/_/id/35211710/fcs-quarterfinals-top-games-key-player-updated-title-odds

In a similar comparison, it does not bode well that UCI beat Pacific yesterday.

The team is off for almost two weeks for finals. Maybe coach Les should give them final exams on "The Difficult Craft of Shooting Free Throws." Seriously and, not too much of the burden on the players, I wonder if there is a sports psychologist who works on the team. There are a variety of methods that can be used to help with the mental aspects of specific skills from relaxation to visualization. My former grad school adviser did some of that kind of work using video and other techniques to help the Hawaii baseball team.

I left with the Ags trailing by 4 and around 6 minutes to play. Sounds like it was an exciting ending when Pepper made that 3 to bring them within one, but too little, too late. Very frustrating that they lost this game while missing 14 free throws. Take away Pepper and they were 10 of 23. They need to figure this out before Big West play starts.

I really like Bob Williams' commentary. He knows the game like few people do. I always wondered why he didn't catch on with a major program. He pointed out that the foul (and it really is foul) shooting problems of all but Pepper are due to mental issues. Overthinking the shot or something.

Ags defense seems to have slipped a few notches. Looks like no blow-out tonight.