Idaho beat VMI 68-67 in the other game today in the Red Wolves Classic. The Ags play VMI on Sunday.

Photo gallery of the game from the Arkansas State website:

http://www.astateredwolves.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?ATCLID=211816135&SPSID=35066&SPID=2746&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=7200&PALBID=2207340

A standing room only crowd of 1,308 (new record) watched the Ags win the BW Tournament Title

The @NCAASoccer Selection Show and 48-team bracket reveal will take place on Monday, November 18 at 10:00 a.m. (PT) on http://NCAA.com .

Comments from Coach Shaffer:

"As everybody knows, we have been to three consecutive finals. We never lost one, we just did not advance because of penalty kicks," said head coach Dwayne Shaffer. "I am proud of this team and all of the student-athletes because they do everything right. We play hard, we are a very good team, and all credit goes to the players. All I do is stay out of their way, let them do what they do best, and it worked out well for us today.

"Every year I coached at UC Davis has been enjoyable, but this season ranks up there at the top right now because we have a great program, and the tournament format did not fall our way a lot of the time. Today, it did."

More here: https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2019/11/15/mens-soccer-aggies-clinch-ncaa-berth-with-big-west-tournament-title.aspx

"They were the more aggressive team tonight," said head coach Jim Les. "They had 13 offensive rebounds and finished with 12 steals tonight. When that happens, there is added pressure on our offense.

"We did some good things on offense; I liked the way we attacked their zone especially from the new guys who faced a live zone, against another opponent, for the first time this season. It was a baptism by fire for those guys," Les added.

UC Davis shot .510 overall — it hit 52 percent of its shots in the first half and 50 percent in the second — compared to Arkansas State's .489 clip.

"When you shoot like that, that usually means you are in the game and have a shot to win," Les said.

In addition to his perfect shooting performance, Neufeld collected a team-high five rebounds.

"I liked [Matt's] aggressiveness tonight. He was solid with his fundamentals and aggressive once he received the ball, especially around the basket. When he does that, he is skilled, talented and can create scoring opportunities down low," said Les.

Like his teammate Neufeld, Mooney also finished with a team-high five boards.

"We have a day off to re-energize, watch some film, prepare for Sunday and hopefully enjoy a nice trip home," added Les after the game.

More here: https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2019/11/15/mens-basketball-mooney-neufeld-and-fuller-lead-aggies-at-arkansas-state.aspx?path=mbball

Official Aggie Announcement:

DAVIS, Calif. – Caleb McGill, a 6-foot-7 forward from Aurora, Colorado, signed a National Letter of Intent with UC Davis basketball during the fall window, as announced by head coach Jim Les.

"On the court Caleb is a highly skilled and versatile forward. His ability to play different positions on the floor will be a major asset to our program. At 6'7" he can shoot from the perimeter, play off the dribble, post up, and is someone that we can run offense through because of his high IQ and passing ability," said head coach Jim Les.

"We also love his competitive fire and work ethic – things that have helped him enjoy a tremendous amount of success at the high school level, and will lead to continued success for him in college."

"During my official visit, I felt at home with the team, and felt the coaches were very genuine and honest people that I could see myself playing for in the future. The campus and people that surround the program all just felt like home to me," said McGill.

More here: https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2019/11/15/mens-basketball-caleb-mcgill-signs-with-uc-davis-during-early-period.aspx?path=mbball

I was at dinner with friends and wasn't able to listen to this game. Looking at the stats it seems like the big difference in the game was the Red Wolves' 24 points off the 23 Aggie TO's. Not many games can be won when you turn the ball over 23 times.

Anyone hear the post-game comments from Coach Les?

You're right. It's not on ESPN+. Their game against VMI yesterday was.

I think it is on ESPN+ but you have to pay for that. The only other options are the radio broadcast and Live Stats to follow the game.

Huge game! We'll carry some strong momentum into the Sac game if we can get this one in the W column. I hope we have a great crowd to help motivate the Ags!

UCSB has consistently been ranked above the Aggies this year but the Ags dominated today and are off to the NCAA Tournament. I wouldn't be surprised to see SB get an at-large bit too.

Lots of pressure on goal by the Aggies but nothing in the net yet.

There is an interesting topic going on over on the anygivenday.com forum discussing the difficulty of the Aggies schedule, how other FCS teams might have fared against such a tough schedule and whether the Ags should be considered for the playoffs if they win out. Many believe that the Ags should get in if they go 7-5 and also point out that the Massey ratings have them ranked at #10 despite being 5-5.

https://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthread.php?239824-If-______-Played-Davis-s-Schedule

Good article on Harris from the San Diego Union-Tribune:

Junior standout trying to make Dons’ season a masterpiece

By JUSTIN LAFFERTY
DEC. 5, 2018 8:10 PM

Give Mazatlan Harris a canvas or a court, and she’ll craft a work of art.

Harris, a 6-foot-3 junior wing at Cathedral Catholic High, leads the Dons in points and paintings. The mindset that helps Harris create inspirational drawings also pushes her to succeed for the top-ranked Dons.

“I’ve gotten some really cool pieces from her, and I’d love to see her do even more,” Cathedral coach Jackie Turpin said. “She’s just such a good kid and one that deserves all the positive things that are coming her way.”

As a sophomore, Harris led Cathedral Catholic in points per game (13.7) and rebounds per game (11.3). Her size allows her to be a dominating presence in the post, while her refined shooting touch gives Turpin a reliable scorer.

This season, she’s off to another hot start, averaging 10.8 points and 12 rebounds a game for the 4-3 Dons.

More here: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/high-school-preps/sd-sp-preps-basketball-mazatlan-harris-cathedral-catholic-20181205-story.html

I reviewed the stats of these 3 players on MaxPreps and the thing that stands out the most to me is that they are all good rebounders especially Shine and Harris. It looks like Jen is focusing on getting more athletic and long on defense and improving our ability on the boards. I think this is a good strategy for the Aggies since we have always struggled to rebound well against athletic teams.

Interesting post, OBUA. I thought that Adebayo and Pepper stopping the ball out high and disrupting the ball handler's attempt to either go up for the shot or pass was crucial. The Idaho player on the right was streaking to the basket and calling for the ball. I'm glad that the ball handler wasn't able to make the pass because I'm not sure Mooney and Neufeld would have been able to the player streaking to the basket in time.

Les also pulled all of the Aggies back while Neufeld was shooting a FT. Ironically, we lost a game at Idaho 68-66 three years ago that had a similar scenario in the final seconds but a different outcome. The Ags had tied the game at 66 when Brynton Lemar hit the front end of a 1-and-1 with 6 seconds left. Les did pull his players back, Lemar missed the second FT and the Vandal's rushed the ball up the court and hit a shot at the buzzer for the win.

After the game, Les said that if he had it to do over again he would have pulled his players back to half court and would not have left them at the FT line. He played it different this time...