Here comes the 1-3-1 zone again...let's see how we handle it...

We got rattled when they double =-teamed and trapped and threw some poor passes or tried to split the defenders...they are very quick and have quick hands...tough D by the Eagles zone...

9 turnovers for the Aggies...got to do better taking care of the ball...only 4 for NCC...the Eagles are a quicker team and have quick ball movement...

It appears that they reviewed the shot and said it was a 3.

The Ags are shooting 56.5% overall but are only 3-10 from downtown. We need to heat up from the perimeter and also guard the perimeter against the Eagles better in the 2nd half.

Aggies down 34-31 at the half in a really good basketball game. NCC's 1-3-1 zone is giving us fits though...need some halftime adjustments.

Hard to set picks on a 1-3-1 zone..got to drive and kick the ball out and hit some 3's..or dump it inside off the drive

Lawrence White is playing great basketball...keeping us in contact!

Going through a rough stretch right now...settle down Ags and let's get it going again!

Outstanding basketball by the Aggies so far...keep it going Ags!

8-7 Aggies...furious start by both teams...

Here we go...let's get'er done Ags!!!

It wouldn't surprise me if Coach Les ends up on their radar.

Great story - must read:

On Sunday morning March 12, 1944, during a time of heated racial segregation, the men's basketball team from the North Carolina College for Negroes (now North Carolina Central University) competed against a squad from the Duke School of Medicine on the campus of NCCU in a secret game that was the first racially integrated college-level basketball game in the South.

Whole story here: http://nccueaglepride.com/sports/2011/3/8/MBB_0308110905.aspx?path=mbball

This is a good read. Sac Bee Ailene Voisin article about Jim Les:

Excerpt: “This is kind of who we are,” said Les, still trim and youthful looking with a full head of white hair. “Part of being a good team and a good player is understanding what your strengths are, understanding what your weaknesses are, and we have to play to our strengths. We’re athletic and we have a really good defense that allows us to get in the open court and get some easy baskets. Get stops. Keep the game close until Brynton (Lemar) gets hot, Chima (Moneke) gets going.”

Les? Though the sweats and sneakers have given way to tailored suits and ties, he paces the sideline with enough zest to soak through his dress shirts, hands clasped behind his back, his posture as straight as that of a commanding general. He routinely engages in polite, if high decibel conversations with the referees. He is similarly verbal with his players, though perhaps reflecting his own athletic experiences, displays an intuitive sense of when to chide, when to encourage, when to turn sharply and walk back to his seat.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/ailene-voisin/article138496443.html#storylink=cpy

Transcript of Coach Les' press conference:

Excerpt: “And the process is just our possession-by-possession approach and being the best we can be. These guys, they don’t play for themselves. They play for each other. They have a really tight bond. It’s one of the closest teams I’ve ever been around, whether I was playing or coaching. And they truly feel disappointed if it’s their responsibility to help their teammate and they’re late or they don’t get there.

“There’s a genuine feeling of: ‘I let my guy down, I let my brother down.’ And that’s unique and hard to find these days. And that’s why we’ve been able to get them … to buy into defense, the selfless part of basketball, and take it to heart and have five guys working together in concert to become a good defensive team, and that’s what allowed us to win that championship to get this opportunity.”

http://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/transcript-of-jim-les-ncaa-press-conference/

Transcript form the Aggie players' press conference:

Excerpt: From Darius - “We’re a team full of underdogs by nature. A lot of us have been looked over our whole lives and everything. So to be able to be in this position, first, to play North Carolina Central and then to hopefully to play No. 1 Kansas, it’s very rewarding. We’re excited for it. And just to be able to do that — I like math a little bit, so the law of averages says you’re bound to possibly beat a No. 1 seed, especially since it hasn’t happened yet.

http://www.davisenterprise.com/sports/darius-brynton-and-chima-talk-about-ncaa-experience/

More from the Enterprise about the game in Dayton:

Excerpt: “I don’t know if I’d say mirror image, but they’re a really good basketball team,” says Les, returning to a tournament in which he took Bradley to the Sweet 16 in 2006. “I watched enough film on the flight … they’ve got six seniors, they’ve got experience. Been really impressed. They’re just solid on both sides. They have some really good players.

http://www.davisenterprise.com/?p=714466&preview_id=714466

Bob Dunning chimes in about today's game from his typically unique perspective:

Excerpt: … a secret CIA investigation of the NCAA tournament reveals that 97.4 percent of Davis residents filling out their brackets selected UC Davis to beat North Carolina Central … 14 percent had the Aggies advancing to the Final Four, while 3 percent had the Aggies winning it all and receiving a ticket-tape parade down Russell Boulevard … the CIA conducted its investigation by tapping into microwave ovens, dishwashers and low-flow toilets all over Aggieland …

http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/dunning/bob-dunning-wearing-glass-slippers-on-the-hardwood/

Cal played without 2 of their top players and came out totally flat with a hangover from being left out of the Big Dance. Bake came out inspired and ran off to a 25 point lead at the half then almost handed it back to the Bears in the second half.