I've heard it said that basketball is a contact sport and football is a collision sport. Your photos capture the physicality of the game. I love the photo of 4 Aggies boxing out for a defensive rebound. That's the way you beat a team with a decided height advantage!

Always appreciated, Adam. Thanks.

Get the Paula Poundstone tickets! I guarantee you'll be worn out from laughing by the end of her show.

We saw her at a small theater in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, last fall while on our long trip to New England and Atlantic Canada. She doesn't have a set routine; she just starts off with some currents events and goes from there...witty, smart, satirical and anything and anybody is fair game. If you've ever heard her on the National Public Radio show, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," then you've heard some of her PG rated commentary. You get her R rated version in her live show and it is hilarious. The audience in New Hampshire was largely boomers and, the funny thing was, that half the men in attendance looked like Bernie Sanders from behind with a flock of wild, white hair!

Quotes from Hawkins in an Enterprise article:

“We’re always trying to reinvent ourselves,” the former UCD fullback told The Enterprise. “Football has changed so much in the last 10 years, it’s crazy. It’s changed a lot in just the last five years, and it’s continuing to change, so you have to take that approach. You always want to keep the best of what you’ve done and (explore) new things.

“I don’t think we’ve ever showed up and said, ‘Yeah, let’s do what we did last year.’ It’s boring for these guys, who like to be intellectually stimulated. If we don’t change things, it’s probably boring for (staff), too.

“You know this place: it’s Quarterback U. Plough is again one of the best in the country at what he does; we have a great culture there. Really want them (the quarterbacks) to be them,” Hawkins says. “They’re not Jake, they’re not Kenny (O’Brien), they’re not J.T. (O’Sullivan). We want them to just be the best version of them and we can kind of ebb and flow with how that goes.

“They do such a great job of competing against themselves, not with each other. So we’re fortunate that way

“I’ve just got to do a better job coaching. That’s all. Like a good marriage, it’s all in the details.”

This year, some of those details include replacing veteran defensive coordinator Robert Tucker with former Oregon defensive analyst Matt Coombs.

“Really happy with what’s he’s done,” Hawkins says of Yale graduate Coombs, who also spent four seasons on staff at Boise State “It’s a great staff on defense.”

Evan Hicks moves from defensive quality control to safeties coach and Paul Shelton (a former volunteer assistant) will work with tight ends, given the departure of Paul Creighton to Fresno State. Hawkins will now handle special teams. Veteran assistant Jerry Brady moves from linebackers to defensive-line coach.

Randy Wright, the former four-year Aggie starter at quarterback (2010-2013), and former Butte College linebackers coach Matt Phipps join Hawkins’ staff in quality control roles

https://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/aggie-winter-features-spring-football/

I wonder why Les rarely used Printup until the last few games this season? He's a rock solid defender and can be a deadly 3 point shooter. I think his recent playing time is one of the reasons the team is playing really well right now.

Nice summary, Mike. It was fun night of basketball. I wish we could somehow get these good crowds out earlier in the season and on a more consistent basis. I guess the secret to getting the students to show up is, "If you feed them, they will come!"

The Enterprise article on the game says that Neufeld is "is day-to-day with a back injury but may be able to play on Saturday."

Unfortunately, my wife and I are going to miss the double-header Saturday. She got us tickets to see Paula Poundstone in Nevada City on Saturday night a long time ago before she knew the basketball schedule. Poundstone is insanely funny and witty in her live show. We've seen her once before and I don't think I have ever laughed so much for two hours in my life. I'll be checking into the game from my phone though.

I thought we simply outplayed the Gauchos and we did it playing small ball. Our defense was tough for most of the game and we battled their length and physicality on the boards. We just had more heart. If it wasn't for Heidegger getting on a heater we would have won by 20. Les has a way of getting his teams to play really, really hard.

The thing I liked the most tonight was that everyone who played contributed. It was a total team victory. How about Manjon also...wow...he's getting better all the time.

Might be the best half of basketball the Ags have played this year. SB has a huge height advantage and the Ags out rebounded them 20-13! Awesome defense!

Outstanding defense by the Ags so far!

We have a BIG problem now...

Has it been confirmed that Nina got a medical redshirt for another year of eligibility?

Svanholm 6'6, Lily 6'5, Stobbart 6'3, Jones 6'3 and Gibb 6'2 along with Cierra Hall who is only 6'0 but plays like she's a 6'3 rebounder. It will be interesting to see how Jen uses all this height.

I watched most of this game. Stobbart is playing with so much more confidence right now. It's great to see her finally finding her stride.

Good for Morgan. Those were some great years of Aggie basketball when she played for us.

Interestingly, both teams had 34 in the paint. The difference was that Fullerton had 15 second chance points to our 8, pounded us on the boards 36-26 and had more fast break points 12-7 yet we still found a way to win.

We kept counterpunching when Fullerton would make a run to cut the lead. I think they got it down to 3 in the last minute or so. They started pounding the ball inside and getting drawing fouls and getting offensive rebounds. Koehler fouled out and Neufeld had 4. We need more depth in the interior especially against teams that are so physical and athletic inside like Fullerton. We kept battling though and got the job done.

We'll have our hands full with Amadou Sow next Thursday. I'm not sure how we're going to be able to contain his length and physical ability.

Ags win 87-81 with Caleb Fuller leading the way 23 points on 9 of 11 shooting.

In other games:

Santa Barbara beat Irvine 64 61
Poly upset Hawaii 79-75 in OT
CSUN nips Riverside 61-59 on Lamine Diane's last second shot

44-35 Ags at the break...shooting 67% from 3.

This game is scheduled for a 7:30 pm tipoff in Fullerton and will be televised on ESPN3. Also, the Irvine at Santa Barbara game just started and it's on ESPNU.

It looks like they focused their defense on Toole and completely shut her down.