39-37 NAU at the half.

As they have so many times this season the Ags have dug themselves a hole early and trail 20-11 at the end of the first quarter. A porous defense has allowed the Lumberjacks to shoot 57%.

That's a very disappointing crowd size for their first playoff game in 30 years especially after the great year they've had.

The crowd was very small...only 949 officially and very few students. I'm sure there were more in the library than the game with finals coming up next week. The players have finals too so it will be a light week of preparation for San Diego.

This was a very solid win over a pretty good basketball team. I thought the Aggie defense was excellent for most of the game. NIU is a very good defensive team and I really liked how well the Ags moved the ball around with crisp passes.

Les is rotating a lot of players in and out of the game and it seems to be working nicely for the Aggies. Our defensive pressure lapsed a little late in the first half but, other than that, we were working hard on defense and the boards.

It's amazing how far this team has come along since the early part of the season. We didn't look very good then and I thought we were in for a very long season. Our defense has come together, our energy is high and players are looking so much more confident on offense. I like what I'm seeing now.

I looked at at the stats: Sac only had 60 total yards in the first half! Wow...

Is he injured?

The Ags cooled off and take a two point lead into the half 36-34.

I watched a little of the match. The Ags won the first set and lost the second set by a big margin but the last two sets were very close. The Aggies outhit Tulsa but made a lot of errors that cost them the match. The program seems to be on the rise.

Thanks for posting this. I had it in my mind that the game was tomorrow night. That's an amazing game for Cierra Hall. Wow!

CSUN is so athletic even without Lamine Diane in the lineup. We have to make defense the staple of our game like Les preaches because we don't always match the overall length, quickness and athleticism of many of the Big West teams like CSUN. We have to take away their edge in athleticism by slowing them down and making it frustrating for them offensively. Of course, Diane is the kind of player who can create scoring opportunities even when he is defended well.

Joe lit it up in the second half last night and Gonzalez did the same in the first half. Both of them can be streaky when they get it going. We've been missing that kind of offense for a long time so it was really refreshing to see them play like that.

The biggest thing I noticed was that they were taking their shots with confidence and without hesitation and both of them were hitting shots that were challenged. Gonzalez has a very quick release and can hit the 3 while falling slightly away so he's hard to defend. Joe tends to lean into his shot a bit more so he usually needs a bit more space. He's good making a nice jab step and then pulling up and Les gives him the green light to fire away from Steph Curry range. When he does that it reminds me of those very deep, rainbow 3's that Tyler Les used to knock down. I love it when we our 3 balls are raining down.

I found myself wondering if we would fade down the stretch last night even though we were maintaining a double digit lead. Every time we would make a TO or they would hit a couple of buckets and chip away at the lead, I would start to get that uneasy feeling. I've practically forgotten what it is like to win convincingly. I hope we can keep it going on Saturday.

Koehler is improving with each game and we need his contributions in the paint. He's been doing a nice job defending bigs and rebounding. Now he's beginning to show more finesse on offense with some nice moves under the basket and a nice mid-range jumper.

Just what the doctor ordered: a solid game all around. Defense was great in the second half and Joe caught fire too. Mooney scored 35 and 31 came on 11 of 13 shooting in the second half. NAU only scored 30 in the second half so Joe outscored them by 1. Gonzalez was hot in the first half and scored 17.

When Joe and Gonzo get it going from deep we can be a dangerous team especially when the team is playing good defense. I'm looking forward to Northern Illinois on Saturday.

Damn...that adds insult to injury!

UCSB has made it to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Soccer Tournament after beating Indiana, a perennial soccer power, 1-0 in Bloomington, Indiana. They were not seeded in the tournament after losing to the Aggies 2-0 in the Big West Tournament and have beaten Cal 3-1 in the first round and St Mary's 4-0 in the second round before advancing to beat Indiana in the Sweet 16.

The Aggies and the Gauchos played to a 1-1 tie in the regular season before the Ags beat them in the BW Tournament. It's really too bad that the Ags lost to Louisville 1-0 in a game in which the dominated everything except the final score. The Ags and the Gauchos look like they are right up there with the best D1 soccer teams but it's the Gauchos that are still playing.

Pay him around 4 million and he just might do it!

Bummer...sounds like it was a battle...

Wow...I'm not sure many people saw that coming. The article says that this season "wore on him" and that he's stepping away to "recharge." Sounds like he's simply ready to step away from all the stress and pressure of the job. He's only 55 and has enough money to last several lifetimes so why not take some time and enjoy his family and the good life in general.