CSUN just crushed UCSB 103-77.

Great basketball game between two good teams that have pretty good rivalry going. I thought this was perhaps the best overall game the Ags have played this season. Sidney Burns brought a ton on energy and really got the team going when they needed it. Loved to see all the seniors play so well and get the win in their final home game in front of their families and a great Aggie crowd.

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

The Ags dropped a double header to Utah Valley today 9-6 and 4-3 after romping over them 22-7 yesterday.

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 watched most of this game and the Ags were on a hitting rampage. They scored 22 runs on 20 hits to push their record to 7-2 on the year.

i know it's a long shot but I think we could surprise Irvine and/or San Diego. We had CSUN on the ropes but couldn't hold on and the Matadors were in a position to upset SD until the final seconds. So I think we have a chance to pull an up an upset or two especially since we are playing our final two games at home and the final game, against SD, is on nation TV on senior night. Never underestimate a hungry team like the Ags!

The nationally televised game will be UC Davis' first game of such on their home campus since Feb. 1, 2024 when the Aggies hosted UC Santa Barbara in a 79-69 win on ESPNU. This marks UC Davis' first home game televised on ESPN2 since the 2015-16 season, when the Aggies hosted a rowdy crowd of 4,573 at what was then the Pavilion – now the University Credit Union Center. The five biggest crowds to pack the University Credit Union Center, since it was reconfigured in 2009, have all taken place during nationally televised UC Davis home games.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2025/2/26/mens-basketball-game-versus-uc-san-diego-to-air-on-espn2.aspx

Well, he may be languishing on the bench but he probably feels pretty good about the balance of his bank account from the $$$ he gets from USC's NIL fund though...this is what big time college sports has come too...

I was wondering about that.

It will be nice to both of them healthy for next year and, hopefully, Mani and Chappell will get stronger and quicker during the off season too.

"Our guys played their tails off," Les said.

"Northridge just made one more play than we did and they shot a heck of a high percentage late in the game that put a lot of pressure on us. But I'm proud of our effort. I told the guys a lot of good things happened and they should have no regrets. They left it all on the floor."

Added Les, "We have a week to get ready, get healthy and get energized for the stretch run."

https://www.thewaryone.com/p/late-northridge-surge-takes-down?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2582284&post_id=157729061&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=31ratq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

BIG WEST STANDINGS

UC San Diego (14-2) CLINCHED BWT BYE
UC Irvine (13-3) CLINCHED BWT
CSUN (12-4) CLINCHED BWT
UC Riverside (11-6) CLINCHED BWT
UC Santa Barbara (10-7) CLINCHED BWT
UC Davis (9-8)
Hawai'i (6-10)
CSU Bakersfield (6-11)
Cal Poly (5-11)
Long Beach State (3-13)
Cal State Fullerton (1-15) ELIMINATED

We were up 11 with 7 to go when Rocek got his fourth foul (WEAK!). — DrMike

...and that WEAK foul on Rocak was called by the same ref that let Sevilla get mugged just moments before. I thought the big ref with white hair made a bunch questionable calls and he was never consistent in what he was allowing and what he was calling...

If we don't have the depth we can't rest players when they need it. That's up to the coaching staff to recruit. — abridge

I think injuries have hurt our depth a lot this season too: Borra out before the season started and Roberson out except for about 2 minutes of PT in one game, Mani missing half the season and slow getting back into good playing form and now Chappell out as well. The lack of depth hurts us even more because we exert so much energy defending and creating TO's that the players must be running on fumes late in the games.

Tough loss for the Aggies today but there's nothing for them to hang their heads about. I'm sure the team feels bad about not being able to finish with a win after being ahead 58-48 with 5:40 to go in the game but they played smart and hard against a very good basketball team that's on a roll right now.

Les talked about how proud he was of the effort by the whole team in the post-game, radio. The Ags are pretty beat up at the moment with several players playing with injuries and Chappell apparently out for the rest of the season.

Anyone know what that heated exchange was all about when CSUN's coach, Randy Newman, was screaming at Les and the Aggies during the injury TO after Nils Cooper got fouled and hit the floor hard? It looked like Les had words with Newman during the handshakes at the end of the game also so he was still upset about something.

We’ve done what we needed to do defensively. We’ve made them play our game. They like to run and they average 81 ppg so holding them to 24 in the first half is a great defensive effort. Gotta keep it up in the second half and not let them get get into a fast paced rhythm.

Dr. Wood talking about how Sac State will prioritize spending while facing a projected $37 million dollars worth of budget cuts for the university:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGRsoZZvSY9/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

I think we had to agree to significantly increase the funding for basketball with a focus on elevating our level of competitiveness as a condition of joining the Mountain West.