(Y) (Y) (Y) Here's hoping you have a reason to make it to the Honda Center next week, DrMike!

(Y) (Y) (Y)

(Y) I think tonight is going to be special for the Ags and the fans!

You're right about the #1 seeding, OBUA. We do, however, need to win tonight to have a chance to win the conference title outright on Saturday against Irvine. The Anteaters beat UC Riverside last night 68-56 at Riverside so their conference record is 11-4 and they currently have a 1/2 game lead on the Ags who are 10-4. A win by the Ags tonight would set up Saturday's game for all the marbles for the Aggies: the conference championship and the #1 seed in the BW tournament.

This should be a really good ball game. Hawaii is a pretty good basketball team and they'd like to give the Ags some payback for the game the Ags won on the island. The Aggies, on the other hand, want to close out their home schedule unbeaten and send their 5 seniors out with a win in their last home game as an Aggie. If the Ags beat Hawaii they will play Irvine for the league championship on Saturday in Irvine.

Be sure to arrive early for the ceremony honoring our 5 senior Aggies.

Go Ags!

Thanks 6th! I thought maybe the The Donald had flagged it as fake news! :-}

Gotta agree with DrMike, these ESPN games are a lot of fun and this one was right up there with the previous ones. Neither team could find a consistent rhythm on offense but I think the defenses were largely responsible for that. The Ags were not hitting their 3's though after torching the nets against CSUN just a couple day before.

I was impressed with the defenses of both teams. They made the offenses work hard to get a decent shot and a lot of the shots were difficult, contested shots. LB has small quick guards and they explode of the dribble making it really hard to stay in front of them.

Siler did have a tough game with few TO's but I wouldn't say he was "lazy" with the ball. Siler plays hard all the time and, like you said, he's fearless and it gets him in trouble at times. He'll lower his head and shoulders at times and drive the ball into trouble and, against the speed and quickness of the 49er guards, that didn't work. LB is a has caused problems for a lot of team with their press this year. They're good at it and Siler made the mistake of driving the ball into a trap on the baseline and they forced the TO.

I think Siler should be in the running for the Big West 6th Man of the Year. He has been coming off the bench and providing a big spark with his offense lately. He's got a few things to clean up but he gives you a 100% all the time and he's going to continue to grow and get better.

Brynton Lemar has been named the Big West Player of the Week for the third time this year which is the most in the league this year. Lamar has been playing the best basketball of his career lately.

Congrats Brynton!

http://www.ucdavisaggies.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/022717aaa.html

It was a great atmosphere in the Pavilion but the official attendance of 5873 looked a bit inflated to me. The upper levels had more empty space than I seem to remember there was by comparison to the great ESPN game with Irvine during the 2014-15 season. Regardless though, the energy in the Pavilion was great and the noise level during critical moments late in the game was deafening.

This was just a great, hard fought basketball game between two very evenly talented teams. It was like a title fight with both teams going toe-to-toe in a very physical contest in which neither team could quite deliver a knock out blow. Chima and JT didn't give an inch under the basket and consistently adsorbed the hits to make tough shots and fight for rebounds. And, along with Lawrence White, they made some spectacular blocks and thunderous dunks.

Moneke had a monster game with 18 points and 17 boards. Incredible considering how physical Long Beach is in the paint! It was one of the best performances by an Aggie big man that I have ever seen. In my opinion, Chima is the best big man ever to don an Aggie uniform. Mike Lien was very good too but he did not face the kind of athletic competition that Moneke is playing against and, in my view, Chima is more athletically gifted. I'm so glad we'll have him back next year.

What can you say about Brynton Lemar lately that hasn't already been said? He has just been outstanding in every phase of the game lately. His confidence is at an all time high; you can see that he wants the ball and relishes the opportunity to make a big play at crunch time. He's playing brilliant basketball right now.

And, then there's Darius Graham, the energizer bunny and the motor that drives the Aggies. It was wonderful to see him step up and make those big shots in the final moments of regulation. When his long 3 ball went in with time running out on the shot clock, it blew the roof off the Pavilion. It's so great to see Darius, with his huge smile and his bottomless energy, have those special career moments in front of an adoring crowd.

You've got to give credit to Coach Les and his staff too. They've got the Aggies competing for the Big West title for the second time in three years and competing with the teams who have been the perennial powerhouses in the league for a long time. Les has said that this team is not necessarily the most talented bunch overall in the league, but he gets the most out of the talent he has. He does a excellent job of crafting his team around the natural abilities of the players he has rather than trying for force players to do things that are not within their best physical capabilities.

Les also sees the bigger picture of molding a team together in which the individual players know their roles and assignments and then insists that they strive for excellence in execution. You can see that with this Aggie team. They work hard on defense and are selfless on offense. The are resilient and don't hang their heads for long when they do make errors or the shots aren't dropping. This team has no quit in them and that is a credit to the coaching staff.

I hope a lot of the fans in attendance for the ESPN game will return next Thursday for the game with Hawai'i. Hawai'i is playing tough basketball right now and this should be yet another tight Big West battle. It will also be the last home game for 5 Aggie seniors: JT Adenrele, Brynton Lemar, Darius Graham, Lawrence White and Georgi Funtarov. Plan to arrive early to see the pre-game ceremony to honor these 4 great Aggies and give them a well deserved show of appreciation.

Go Ags!

I'm just a month late to the party!

The men's tennis victory today wins the Causeway Cup for the Aggies.

Hawai'i knocks off Fullerton in OT on the island so now it's the Aggies and UCI in front on the pack by 2 games with 2 to go.

Yor're spot on about the need to create a good fan culture. I've said this before, the men's and women's teams are doing their part; they're both in first place in the conference and playing some good basketball. Now it's time for the students, alums and fans in general to step up and help create a loud, supportive environment on a consistent basis in the Pavilion.

The men have a 9 game home winning streak going and the women have a 6 game home streak going. You really can't ask for much more as a fan and it's a ton more fun when the Pavilion is full and fans are into the game. Good players want to play in front of big crowds with a collegiate atmosphere and when potential recruits see big crowds at the Pavilion, they will be much more interested in choosing to come to UCD to play ball. Winning and supportive crowds are the ticket to growing a great basketball culture at Davis.

I would expect that the coaching staff has alerted any recruits they are actively pursuing to tune into the game.

It looked like all the food was from the residence halls. It was quite an extensive array of food items that took up the east side of the upper level in the Pavilion.

(Y)

My wife and I will be there for both the women's and the men's games. Remember there's Sudwerk beer and pizza available now in the Pavilion. I hope there is a good turnout for the women as well. They are playing great basketball right now and have a good chance of going dancing if they keep playing the way they are now.

That's a good point, Obda. Coach Les commented after the game that he felt like this was a "trap game" for the Aggies with all the hoopla about the ESPN game on Saturday. I guess I'm just overly optimistic when it comes to thinking that we're going to have a fan base that is typical of what you would see for a pretty good, mid-major progarm in the midwest. We'd have consistent crowds of 5000 or sell outs if that were the case.

I'd like to see that happen but I don't think it will unless we become the next Gonzaga.

I was disappointed with the crowd size also. The official attendance was only 1621. There was a Fanfeast going on also with lots of different kinds of food available. For some reason I hadn't heard about that and had already eaten before coming to the game. I thought it was a great idea and I wish more fans would have come out and supported the Ags and the Fanfeast.

I feel like the men's and women's teams are doing their part...both are in first place and battling for the championship yet we often draw relatively small crowds. I'm not sure what it will take to change the fan culture and have these teams consistently draw good sized crowds. The players and coaches are getting it done...the fans...not so much...

The defensive minded Aggies got offensive in tonight's win. They shot 61% for the game overall and 70% from downtown. The Ags were on fire in the first half and put up 56 points on 72% shooting that included 10-12 from 3. We had 91 points with 5 minutes to go and then got sloppy against the Matador's press and got out out of rhythm trying to take time of the clock and fell short of the century mark.

Brynton Lemar was flat out lighting up the Pavilion knocking down 8 of 11 3's and ended up with 28 for the game. Siler Schneider had a terrific game and pumped in 23 while Chima looked like his old self and added 19 to the offensive fireworks. Lamar joined the elite Aggie 1000 career points club and Darius Graham became one of 3 Aggies ever to have 400+ career assists.

The stage is now set for a big showdown in the ESPN game Saturday with Long Beach State. The Beach got upset at home tonight by scrappy Cal Poly so they will be fighting for their lives to have any chance at all in the conference race. If the Ags can continue their hot shooting on Saturday the Pavilion will be loud and rockin'. It should be a great game for Aggie fans in great atmosphere!