What was totally unexpected was that the Ags would lose this game due to the difference in 3 point shooting. UCD: 4 for 15, Hawai`i: 7 for 16; 9 point difference. The guys kept it close, though, and I'm optimistic that we'll beat them in Davis.

That was night and day from how we played before Thanksgiving. That game was winnable even with a bad performance all around from the squad.

The Ags fought hard and kept the game within reach. That was a rugged, physical game with 44 fouls called. I think we'll beat them when they come to Davis.

Was the broadcast the one from Hawai`i's local sports station? It would have had Artie Wilson and Kanoa Leahey. They're real professionals and Leahey has been doing Rainbow basketball for 7 years taking over for his father who used to team Wilson since the turn of the century.

In the radio post-game interview Les said he was very disappointed with how the Ags played overall tonight. He said that the team made too many defensive mistakes and allowed Hawaii to be the more physical team. He said he told the team that in life you get what you deserve and tonight you got what you deserved. He did say that he liked how we came back and stayed in the game but he felt like the team "just forgot" a lot of the things they had been practicing and preparing for all week. Man, Les can be a very tough coach...

From Bob Dunning's Substack column:

“That was a disappointing performance,” said Aggie head coach Jim Les.

“We had a multitude of mistakes at the start of the game and didn’t show a lot of discipline. We had moments when we fought back, but in life you get what you deserve and what you earn and tonight we earned a loss.”

https://www.thewaryone.com/p/aggies-rally-late-but-cant-catch?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2582284&post_id=180779655&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=31ratq&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

I think Jim Les is a very good tactical basketball coach who gets a lot out of his players but I think he'd be an even better coach if he dialed down his competitive intensity a bit. I don't think that most players respond well to the constant barking during the game nor how negative he can be after a game when he is disappointed with the team's performance. I'd like to see him embrace more of Tim Plough's approach to coaching where Plough focuses on detaching from the results, learning and growing from mistakes and finding joy in playing the game.

I thought we are especially wired tight last night ( I turned it on about 8 minutes in). Don’t know if it was frustration from our defensive lapses or with so of the calls, but he was pacing like a tiger at the zoo. I hadn’t seen that in a long time.

I’ve felt that he has really toned that down the past 3-4 years.

Hard to say why Coach Les seemed so agitated, but it's clear he doesn't like to play in Hawai`i for a few good reasons, including the fans. I just want to note that the official attendance last night was only 4219, well under half of capacity for Stan Sheriff Arena. On the other hand, they were quite loud. Who knows what they might have been yelling.