In all three of those games the Ags led at the half or shortly after the half by 7 to 10 points and lost. In two of those games they had defensive let downs. Versus Cal Poly they allowed 30 in the first half and 54 in the second. Versus the Tritons it was even worse, 25 and 55. Bakersfield was slightly different in that they had a guy who scores less than 10 per game go off for 35. Sightly different because they never were able to defend him even after the half. Note, too that against Fullerton we won, but gave up 45 in the latter half as opposed to allowing only 24 in the first. In all four cases the question is why? We saw them play very good defense against both UCSB and UCI. It's up to Coach Les to figure this out.

It's strange how inconsistent this team has been: beating one of the best teams in the conference and losing to the worst; playing so well against the Anteaters then playing so poorly against the Tritons. It's enough to turn a coach's hair white.

As soon as Chaikin, #10, came out and hit his first 3, I said Uh-oh, we're gonna lose this one.

Thanks. That's what I get for the copy and paste process.

Yes, it was clear that the D broke down in the second half. Disappointing after that great effort against UCI. But the offense was also inconsistent, shooting only 36% and with Cooper and Sevilla, the Ags two leading scorers, combining for only 15 points.

So much for the Tahoe Blue Unis bringing good luck.

ESPN finally has stats up. What is striking is that San Diego has big advantage in rebounds: 33-22. Ags have a slight advantage in turnovers: 15-10. Score is tied at 45.

Sevilla hurt, but the Ags are getting some shots to fall to take a 30-25 lead. Hope they can keep it going.

No stats available, but it's evident that neither team has found the range yet. Low scoring first half so far at 18-13 UCSD. Both Sevilla and Chapelle are scoreless for the Ags and Chaikin has not hit a 3 for the Tritons.

I see that the spread opened at 2.5 but is now 1.5. If I were a gambler, I'd have taken the Ags at 2.5. I believe the consensus was that last season the Aggies lack of depth caused them to run out of gas the latter part of the season. They lost seven in a row as if we need to be reminded.

Yes, but it could have been even better. I just remember one stretch of three straight possessions late in the game when the team lost its focus, seemingly, a surrendered unforced turnovers on bad passes.

I would have disagreed with you before this past weekend. I still think Irvine and Hawai`i are clear co-favorites, but let's see how things play out.

Nice points about the defense. I don't think I've ever seen such great defense by a college team before. All of the guys on this team play the one on one by staying very close to the player they are guarding. That's so essential because it only takes one player to let the offense break it down. Plus, their switches are incredibly fast. The fact that they could hold Irvine to only 30 points in the second half is strong evidence of this. Now if only the offense could turn the ball over less. On the other, hand, quite true that the defense converts turnovers by the other team into points.

Thanks. I don't know how I missed that.

The first and eighth place teams are now only separated by 2 games. It's always been tough to win road games in the BW. The Anteaters have now lost two of those in a row and Hawai`' lost their only two on the road as well. Look out Aggie fans: two road games next week. With back to back home wins, UCD is in the mix...for now. Ironically, they played poorly against a mediocre Fullerton team, but played maybe their best game of the season to beat UCI. It makes me wonder if they're playing to the level of the opposition?

I am so happy the Aggies win especially after seeing the 49ers get demolished up in Seattle!

That was way too close. Don't know why the Ags didn't foul in the backcourt at the end. Aggies could have lost on poor free throws (20 for 30), but their solid trey shooting (11 for 27) saved them. Interesting that Rocak made 4 of them and he only made only one 2 pointer.

I guess Coach Les held Cooper out in the first half due to foul trouble.

Aggies have missed 7 free throws; UCI has missed none.

Cooper is out there now. Wonder why he was out so much in the first half?

Maybe Scott will have some information about Nils after the break.