1/20 games:

Aggies 54 Irvine 52
Bakersfield 65 Cal Poly 53
San Diego 67 Hawaii 61
Fullerton 73 Santa Barbara 69
Riverside 82 CSUN 63

Niko Rocak proved to be a true anchor all-night for UC Davis, setting a program record for most blocks in a game with six. Rocak ranks first during conference play in blocks, recording 2.1 per game, and stands alone as the only player to be averaging more than two per game during the first month of Big West action. Offensively, Rocak battled all night and was responsible for a pair of emphatic slams that provided life to the home crowd.

After the game, Johnson spoke in depth about his unwavering confidence with the game on the line. "Big-time players make big-time shots in moments like that," Johnson said. "I work so hard in and out of practice so much and manifest the ability to make those type plays, and lately it's been coming through so I'm going to stick with it."

UC Davis coach Jim Les also praised Johnson's performance and leadership today.

"We have confidence and a lot of faith in putting the ball in his hands to go and make a good decision with space."

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2024/1/20/mens-basketball-johnsons-game-winner-leads-uc-davis-past-uc-irvine-54-52.aspx

So apparently they didn't call a foul on the Irvine player when Tamba went up for the layup.

Still not sure what happened with the Tomba T - I thought they were debating an Irvine flagrant on the drive. — DrMike

Just prior to the official review, the announcer said that there was a foul by Irvine's #11 (Tillis). After the review, Tamba ended up with a T and didn't get to shoot any FT's. I have no idea what happened. Luckily, Irvine missed both of the FT's.

I saw that these two teams have played 17 games against each other that were decided by 3 points or less.

The defensive intensity by both teams was incredible and the officials were letting them play otherwise we would have had 50 fouls. I really appreciate great defense and I think we just saw the two best defensive teams in the Big West battle it out.

Great basketball game. Great crowd and a really fun game for the Aggie fans! I hope they'll come back because this team is playing their hearts out and deserve to be supported.

The Aggies 5 game winning streak is over as they got thumped today at Irvine 79-61.

They’re defending Pepper really well. Nothing coming easy in this game.

49-48 Aggies with 3:37 to go. Rugged, physical defenses by both teams.

27-25 Aggies in a game dominated by the defenses. Ags need to clean up the TO’s in the second half.

Good crowd today. Tough defense by both teams.

Three tough games in a row!

Here's the current Big West standings heading into the games on Saturday 1/20:

I noticed that Jac Mani has been in uniform on the bench for the last 2 games but he hasn't played yet. I wonder if we'll see him this year?

1/18 games:

Aggies 67 Fullerton 65
Irvine 76 San Diego 65
Santa Barbara 97 CSUN 69
Long Beach 79 Hawaii 71
Bakersfield 80 Riverside 56

The Ags came back from being down 11 twice in the second half to pull this one out 67-65.

The Aggies won this one from the FT line as they hit 28-33. I thought that Johnson energized the team with his hustle and determination in the second half especially when he started driving the ball and getting fouled.

Pepper is not shooting well either even though he has 18. The problem is that there is virtually no scoring from anyone else.

35-26 Fullerton at the half. The Aggies did not play well in their last game against Bakersfield and that poor play has continued through the first half tonight.

34-28 Fullerton at the half.

Welcome back, Mike. Long time, no see...hope all is well. I miss reading your comments on Aggie basketball and football.