:up: :up: :up:

I think we have won 10 straight over CSUN and Theus has been at CSUN for 5 seasons so maybe he hasn't beaten us. I'm not sure if they may have beaten us in the BW Tournament in his first season though.

Not sure why the AD was fired.

It looks like they're cleaning house; they fired their AD as well.

http://gomatadors.com/news/2018/3/7/general-csun-separates-from-director-of-athletics-and-mens-basketball-head-coach.aspx

The coaches show live is over but you can still watch it on UC Davis Athletics Facebook Page. Just click the link in the first post above.

+1!! That's a much needed improvement.

You are absolutely right about having quality depth but sometimes you just need a another body. We're just thin overall with only 9 players but what's even tougher is that we have lost 2 big men: Chima and Jackson. In the LB 2OT game Goode, Schneider and John had all fouled out and Shorts, Onybalu and Russell each had 4 fouls. We were close to ending up with 4 or even 3 players on the floor. Having another player on the bench, however inexperienced, would have been good to have.

Yes, Jackson came back for one game and then disappeared again. Strom will not be an option at all since he is now wearing a cast on his wrist.

Jackson was getting a few minutes early in the season and less it seems as the season progressed. He's a very, strong, athletic player but he did not look comfortable on the floor the few times I saw him. We know Les like defenders and Jackson has the size and strength to give us a tough body inside and help give Goode and John a respite. Colin Russell is looking better all the time as he logs more minutes but Jackson could add a bit to our depth in a pinch. Since he has been out so much lately and has not been seen with the team recently, I wonder if things may not be working out for him.

Ran them out of our house....more clarification. :cool:

Jen Gross is the Women's Big West Coach of the Year.

Frist team All Big West: Morgan Bertsch

Second team All Big West: Pele Gianotti and Rachel Nagel

Honorable Mention: Dani Nafekh

All Freshman Team: Cierra Hall


From the Big West website:

Gross led UC Davis to back-to-back Big West titles, the first time since 2007-09 that a program has won consecutive outright Big West titles. The Aggies equaled their program record for conference wins (14) and are one win shy of tying the school record for victories (25) set last season. The team has also won its last 14 home games against Big West foes and this season became the quickest to 20 wins in program Division I history. Under Gross, UCD has now posted back-to-back 20 win seasons for the second time in program DI history and the first since the 2009-11. The squad has also clinched its second straight postseason appearance, earning at least a bid to the WNIT. Gross is now the first coach to win back-to-back Coach of the Year awards since UC Santa Barbara legend Mark French accomplished the feat in 1999-01.

http://www.bigwest.org//assets/sports/wbball/18WBBAllConf.pdf

From the Big West website:

Big West regular season champion UC Davis captured three of the four primary awards to highlight the announcement of the 2017-18 men’s basketball all-conference team, voted on by the nine head coaches. TJ Shorts is the first individual in Big West history to earn both the Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year award in the same season. Jim Les, the architect of the UC Davis championship season, claimed Coach of the Year accolades. Meanwhile, CSUN local product Terrell Gomez notched the Freshman of the Year award.

Shorts II secured the second Player of the Year award in UC Davis lore behind Corey Hawkins in 2014-15. He also became the third Aggie – Hawkins (2013) and Chima Moneke (2017) – to receive Newcomer of the Year recognition in the eight-year history of the award.

The 5-foot-10 junior guard was a catalyst in the regular season championship for the Aggie program. In overall games, Shorts II ranked seventh among conference players in scoring (15.2 ppg), fifth in field goal percentage (.538), second in assists (4.3 apg) and first in steals (2.0 spg). He also placed third in assist-to-turnover ratio at +1.8. Shorts II stepped up his performances towards the latter part of the season to help the Aggies finish 12-4 in Big West play. Over the final eight games, Shorts II averaged 21.0 points on 56.6% (56-of-99) shooting and hit two game-winning shots – a running three-pointer that downed Long Beach State on Feb. 3 and a coast-to-coast layup that nipped UC Riverside at the end on Feb. 24.

A native of Tustin, Calif., Shorts II recorded first UC Davis triple-double in nearly a decade with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a victory at Cal Poly on Feb. 15. The Saddleback College transfer poured in 10 20-point games, including a career-high 31 points in the triple overtime, 105-104 win at LBSU. He had six 20-point efforts in the last eight games as the Aggies made their run to the title.

Les became the 12th individual in Big West history to earn multiple Coach of the Year plaques. He claimed his first honor in 2014-15 when the Aggies notched a school-record 25 wins and won their first Big West title. With just one returning starter from last year’s NCAA Tournament squad, the 2017-18 Aggie edition went 21-9 overall under Les. In his seventh season at the helm of the Aggies, Les led them to 20-plus wins for the third time in four seasons. The Aggies owned one of the nation’s longest home court win streaks – 19 games – after starting out 8-0 this season on Hamilton Court. Over the last eight contests, in which UC Davis posted a 6-2 record, three of those wins came in incredible fashion as the Aggies defeated Long Beach State in double overtime, Cal Poly in triple overtime and UC Irvine in double overtime. The 90-84 win over UCI in the regular season finale – in a winner-take-all atmosphere – came in front of a Bren Events Center sellout crowd of 5,000. Les has now coached two Big West Players of the Year and three Big West Newcomers of the Year.

http://www.bigwest.org//story.asp?story_id=20328

This is great news and well deserved recognition for the Aggies!! TJ is the first player in the history of the Big West ever to be named both the Player of the Year and the Newcomer of the Year at the same time.

Here's the whole list of awards:

http://www.bigwest.org/assets/sports/mbball/18_MB_All_Conference.pdf

Yes, the Aggie women lost at Washington State in WNIT after road wins over Colorado State and Utah State. They absolutely deserved a home game at that point but the PAC12 has much more influence and power than the Big West.

My guess is that, with the good following the women have, we would have had more fans in the seats than WSU. A WNIT quarterfinals game against Davis in Pullman with a Cougar team with a losing record would not create much excitement with their PAC12 fans. On the other hand, we would have had more fans in the seats because this was a big deal for us and Aggie fans were excited about it.

Yeah, and they skew the starting times to favor the top SoCal teams so they can increase attendance. So even though we are the #1 seed, we get slotted for a noon game in a big arena before an empty house. That's not an easy environment to play in.

I hope that Aggie fans will keep in mind that Chima has also been a big part of us getting to where we were before the suspension. Sure, it's apparent that he messed up, how big and why, we just don't know, but he was the team leader up until then and he had a lot to do with many of our wins up to that point. The team has been unbelievable since his suspension but he deserves a Big West Championship ring too regardless of how things turn out.

My feelings exactly. Well said.

This team is very special for all the reasons you've stated. They are Goliath slayers against all odds. I don't think they're done yet but, no matter how they fare from here on, this team is a courageous winner through and through.

The Big West Tournament is going to very, very hard for the Aggies. We have only been suiting up 9 players with Chima gone and Delveion Jackson curiously absent from the team. Playing 3 tough back-to-back games in a row will be brutal especially with the way the Aggies expend so much energy on defense.

The tournament format favors the better teams that have depth. Last night Irvine's bench outscored us 37-10. I'm not sure how much gas we will have left in the tank if we make it to the championship game but, one thing for sure, this team will play their hearts out and leave every ounce of energy on the floor. Aggie Pride in spades!

I've been watching Aggie basketball for 45 years and this is the most resilient team I have ever seen.

And he was an unknown walk-on 4 years ago. Worked his butt off and look how it has paid off for him. He's a great kid.

Cheers Portland Aggie! If you've got a good internet connection go to ESPN3 and watch the replay. Incredible game!!