My wife and I were listening to the post-game on the radio on the drive home as well and Les said he didn't have a whole lot to say to the team in the locker room after the game. He said that the team was doing most of the talking with each other. He also mentioned that this is the second game in a row where we have not come out with the energy and aggressiveness we need at the start of the game and you know that will not sit well with Les.

I'm sure the team is frustrated right now and it's showing. We got blown out by San Diego in front of the biggest crowd of the season, got scorched in Hawai'i in front of a boisterous crowd and then couldn't finish the comeback in this game after taking the lead by 4 with 5 minutes to go. The Riverside game will be a gut check for us. We have a tough schedule ahead and we need to turn the frustration into energy and determination going forward.

Seven out of the last eight games between the Aggies and The Beach have been decided by 5 points or less and last night was another really good, tough game.

When LB gets it going, like they did in the first half, you can see how beating Michigan on the road was no fluke for them. They have so much length and athleticism and they use it well around the basket. Like Dr Mike mentioned, they have players who can create their own shots and they were draining them even when they were tightly contested.

They were killing us on the offensive boards in the first half also although we did much better in the second half. There were a lot of times when we had a several players in good position for the rebound and they would simply out leap us and snag the rebound with their length and bounce.

We had quite a few blown layups throughout the game and each miss added up against us in the final tally. Missing the easy ones is going to happen at times. You just can't have 4 or 5 of them against a good team like LB.

Teams are trying all kinds of defensive strategies to try and slow down Pepper. He's seeing a lot of double and even triple teams and they're playing him very physical. He's getting bumped and pushed around a lot away from the ball. The box and one shut him down in the last 5 minutes of the game and I think we'll see that defensive strategy used again against him again by some teams in our upcoming games.

Rocak continues to get better and better. He's the most improved player on the team in my opinion. He's made great progress in scoring underneath the basket with good ball fakes rather than rushing the shot and getting it blocked. I hope he'll continue to work on that mid-range jumper teams are giving him. They'll have to come out and defend him if he starts knocking a few of those down.

There are no gimmes in our schedule ahead and 4 of the next 6 games are on the road. Hanging on to the #2 seed is going to be very tough.

Yes, we missed a bunch of bunnies and FT's also. Aboubacar Traore only shoots 59% from the line but he hit 4 critical FT's in the final minute too.

Pepper passed Greg Grant to become the second leading scorer in Big West history behind Lucious Harris.

2/15 scores:

Long Beach 78 Aggies 74
San Diego 61 Santa Barbara 46
Hawai'i 80 Cal Poly 51
Riverside 81 Fullerton 73
CSUN 76 Bakersfield 71

Current standings:

No kidding...

The Aggies made a valiant effort to come back from 19 down in the second half to take the lead by 4 with 5 minutes to go but, ultimately, fell short when they could only score 2 points after that until the end of the game. The game was lost in the first half though as we seemed to have a hard time adjusting to their length, quickness and athleticism and were down 17 at the half.

The Aggies got thumped by The Beach 78-52. The Ags trailed by 30 points 59-29 after a miserable 3rd quarter.

46-30 Long Beach at the half. Impressive performance by The Beach. They’re long, quick and extremely athletic. We’re in a heap of trouble…

Long Beach State is led by dynamic scorer Marcus Tsohonis as well as the trio of Aboubacar Traore, Jadon Jones, and Lassina Traore. Recognized for their wins in the non-conference against USC and Michigan, the Beach use their physicality to initiate contact for free-throws and to try and win the rebound battle every night. The Beach rank 14th in the nation in free throw attempts per game while both Traore's lead the conference in rebounds per game. Long Beach State enters the contest with a record of 15-9. The all-time series between the two programs sits at 13-25 with the Beach holding the advantage.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2024/2/14/mens-basketball-aggies-set-for-vital-two-game-homestand-host-long-beach-state-and-uc-riverside.aspx

Well, the Ags get soundly beaten and the 49ers lose the Super Bowl in OT. It’s been a lousy weekend…

Hawai'i was on fire in the first half...sizzling hot...and, as you noted, even players who hadn't hit 3's all season were knocking them down with their eyes closed. They couldn't miss if they tried to. Obviously, we were not making them take difficult 3's in the first half but, give Hawai'i credit, they were simply shooting out of their minds.

Riverside beat Irvine in essentially the same manner. They were raining 3's over and over again. Sometimes a team can catch fire and the ball finds the hoop not matter what. I highly doubt that we'll see either of those teams shoot 3's like that again any time soon. That said, we did a poor job of defending the 3 point line also. So when a team is on an uncanny hot shooting streak and you're defending poorly...well, you're gonna get burned and Hawai'i fried us.

The thing that was most disappointing to me was how out of position we were so often on defense. You have to give Hawai'i some credit again. Their ball movement was outstanding. They were swinging the ball finding the the open look and we were slow to react and out of position to defend. We looked like we were 2 or 3 steps slow on defense all night. I'm sure that some travel fatigue affected the Aggies but that wasn't the main reason we got solidly beaten. Hawai'i simply played a great game. The more they drained those 3's, the more the crowd got into it and the Warriors fed off the that energy.

Hawai'i often does not play well on the road. Likewise, the trip to the island is tough for the rest of the Big West teams. We got caught in a double whammy with the travel and encountering a blazing hot Hawai'i team. It will be a much different game when the Rainbow Warriors come to Davis.

Les didn't come out for the radio post-game interview which usually indicates that he not at all happy with how the team played and he's having an extended conversation in the locker room. If there's one thing that will get the team in the doghouse with Les, it's when he feels that his team was not the aggressor and got outplayed.

2/10 games:

Hawai'i 87 Aggies 70
Riverside 88 Irvine 78
Bakersfield 73 Fullerton 71
CSUN 82 Santa Barbara 74
Long Beach 77 Cal Poly 68

Hawai'i was just the much better team tonight. They are capable of beating anybody in the league when they play like this. They shot lights out in the first half and were the more aggressive team for the entire game.

The Ags were only 5-25 from 3 and, although Pepper got 27, he was only 8-25 overall from the field including only 3-13 from 3. We only had 7 assists tonight and Hawai'i pounded us on the boards 39-27.

You have to give Hawai'l credit. They're draining 3's like the hoop is 6 feet wide but many of those 3's were not contested by our defense.

45-35 Hawai'i at the half. The Bows shot 71% overall and an unbelievable 9-11 from 3. If we continue to allow them to shoot uncontested 3's...this game is over.

Riverside just upset Irvine 88-78. The Aggies can move into a tie for first place with a win over Hawai'i tonight. Go Ags!

I like the energy and fight the Baker and Epps bring to the game.

Aggies win 61-51. Victoria Baker and Nya Epps lead the Aggies to a 13 point come from behind win over the Rainbow Wahine.