MBB: UC Irvine (13-10 & 6-1) @ the Aggies (12-8 & 4-1) This was a gritty win for the Ags. We dug a hole early and crept back to within 6 at the half and then Chima took over in the second half and away we went. It wasn't a pretty game, that's for sure, with 54 fouls called but the Aggies were the aggressors and benefited the most by hitting 35-46 from the line.
I love the resiliency of this team. Irvine has a lot of bigs and the Ags were limited with Goode out with an injury. Our big guys got some early fouls forcing Les to vary his lineup. Eventually Henn and Adenrele fouled out and White was trying to play through cramps but the Aggies gutted it out. It was a foul laden, physical game and the Ags were determined to win it and they did.
Irvine was led in scoring by two freshmen, Tommy Rutherford and Eyassu Worku, two players that Les had recruited but lost the Anteaters. They are a very young team with great size and very quick guards. They presented a tough match up for the Aggies but the Ags simply found a way to win.
I don't know what the official attendance was but this was the largest crowd of the season. My guess is the the attendance was somewhere around 3500-4000. This was a total team victory in every sense of the word. Great win for the Ags and first place in the Big West for now.