67-47 Ags after 3 quarters.

47-27 Ags at the half. Nice crowd and the Ags are firing on all cylinders. Idaho did not have a single foul in the first half.

Here's some game photos including shots of the Utah coach going bonkers:

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/utah-utes/2018/03/15/utah-rallies-after-krystkowiaks-ejection-to-beat-uc-davis-in-nit/#gallery-carousel-2131566

It was awful, DrMike. Seriously, I'm not one of those fans who always thinks the calls go against my team and believe the officials are somehow biased but, man, I absolutely hate it when officials are calling silly, touch fouls that heavily influence the game. The crew last night did that early and often and it severely affected the Aggies with John and Shorts having to sit for long stretches. At one point, the tv commentators said, "If Les can manage this foul situation he'll be might Coach of the Year in all of college basketball."

Most officiating crews let the teams play in the post-season but the crew last night called the game overly tight from the get go and were inconsistent at the same time by letting some obvious hard fouls go. The players have no idea what to expect when officials are that inconsistent. It also disrupts the flow of the game, penalizes the players and the teams and cheats the fans from seeing a good, consistent basketball game.

Utah's coach, Larry Krystkowiak, went ballistic on that horrible call against his big man. The official was right on top of the play when he called that bogus foul. I haven't seen a coach that out of control since some of Bobby Knight's tirades at Indiana. Krystkowiak ran onto the court while the Ags were bringing the ball up and then knocked over a chair on the sideline as he left the court and then threw a chair down the tunnel as well. It was wild. Maybe he's a hot head but he was obviously making a statement about just how badly this crew was calling the game.

I'm sure Underwood was suited up just in case we needed a player in an emergency situation just like you said. Glad we didn't have to use him and burn a year of eligibility. It was getting worrisome with the way the fouls were piling up early though.

I'm excited about all the new players we already have committed for next year. We have some good size with Underwood, Neufeld and Strom added to John, Goode and Russell returning. I'm hoping that our new bigs will be mobile and bring a variety of skills to the floor for us. We could use some help with our perimeter shooting also and maybe Gio Nelson will be a nice addition to Schneider and Mooney. I'd like to see more offensive consistency from Siler and Joe next year too.

If we could land Shane Gatling it would be huge. I've watched several videos on him and he is a talented player with a deadly shot from beyond the arc. He has the ability to create off the dribble and can catch and shoot from distance with lightening quickness. He reminds me of shooters like Fullerton's Kyle Allman Jr and Kahlil Amad. He has at least 14 other offers including us though and some are from major schools. I hope Les can convince him to be an Aggie.

Les has turned the corner with this program at the D1 level in the past couple of years and now it's time to continue to raise the bar and compete against even better D1 talent. We knocked off WSU convincingly this year and were competitive with Washington, Nevada and Utah. These are exciting times for Aggie basketball.

I'm hoping the Aggie women make a long run in the WNIT starting tonight so I don't go into basketball withdrawal. Go Ags!

Hope Moore is still with us but it doesn't look like it. He was special last year.

I just finished watching the replay. Wow...I thought the Big West officials were bad...how'd you like this crew...?? At least one early foul each on TJ and AJ were horrible, ticky-tack touches where the offensive player was barely grazed on the jersey. How these officials can allow such hard contact under the basket and then call touch fouls which do not put the offensive player at a disadvantage is mind-boggling. They essentially handicapped the Ags with all those early fouls many of which were totally unnecessary to call. These are tough players, they can handle a little contact and play on just fine without the officials disrupting the flow of the game and penalizing players for minimal contact.

Basketball is NOT a non-contact sport and a foul should only be called when the official actually sees the foul, not just a reaction, and the foul needs create a disadvantage for the player who got fouled. These useless ticky-tack fouls are maddening. To make things worse is that we often see officials allowing hard contact in the scrum in the paint and then calling a foul on the perimeter when a defender brushes a jersey. The inconsistency is awful.

The Utah coach went way overboard and was rightfully ejected but he also had a right to be infuriated. The foul called on their big man when he and Russell went up for the inbound pass was terrible. It was not a foul on either player; it should have been a no-call and play on.

Oh well, it was a remarkable and exciting season for the Aggies and they certainly played their hearts out. I can't wait for the season to start again in the fall.

Thanks, Obda. Yes, both teams did play Washington. I missed that one and will add it to my post above. The Ags nearly won that game in Seattle but we also had Chima battling in the paint with their bigs. I'm not sure how we are going to handle their size tonight.

On paper these two teams look very even although the PAC12 is a power conference compared to the the mid-major Big West:

UTAH................Aggies

GP..........30.........32
PPG.......74.1......72.9
REB........34.1......32.3
OREB.......8.1.........8.1
DREB......26.0.......24.2
AST.........15.7.......12.3
BLK...........3.5.........2.4
STL............5.3.........7.2
TO's..........12.2......13.3
FG%.........45.6.......47.1
3PT%........36.3.......37.1
FT%...........76.1......72.0

The Runnin' Utes, as they are called on their official basketball website, and the Aggies have had 3 common opponents: Washington State and Hawai'i.

Utah 80 Hawai'i 60
Utah 82 Washington State 69
Utah 77 Washington State 70
Utah 70 Washington 62
Utah 70 Washington 58

Aggies 81 Washington State 67
Hawai'i 77 Aggies 72
Aggies 70 Hawai'i 59
Washington 77 Aggies 70

This is only the third time these two teams have played each other and Utah won the previous two games:

Utah 106 Aggies 72 on Nov 24, 1990
Utah 94 Aggies 60 on Nove 15, 2013

Unfortunately, I'll have to watch the game on ESPN3 replay tonight after I get home from dinner with some friends. I won't be checking in here so I can keep some suspense in the game when I watch it. Utah will be a tall order (pun intended :cool: ). I hope we can stay within striking distance and make a game of it. It would be a huge win for the program if we can pull an upset.

Go Ags!

:up: :up: :up:

The President of CSUN, Diane Harrison, moved quickly that's for sure. I guess some of the CSUN fans are not happy with the hire since Gottfried may still be being investigated as part of the whole college basketball investigation by the FBI. They've had enough suspensions from the Theus years. Harrison and Gottfried both went to college at Alabama and even went to the same high school but she said it had nothing to do with the hire.

My wife and I have our tickets. Anyone else going?

Gottfried is reportedly going to sign a 6 year contract with a base salary of $400,000 per year. Wow...CSUN is going all in... :yikes:

https://twitter.com/latsondheimer/status/973616443093786625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs9e.github.io%2Fiframe%2Ftwitter.min.html%23973616443093786625

Those big arenas are always tough for distance shooters if they haven't had much experience playing in such a vast space. It's even worse when it is practically empty. Amad and Allman sure had it dialed in for Fullerton against Irvine though and they regularly play in a crackerbox.

The game time has been set for 6 pm Pacific time. I still can't find any information regarding any live tv or online coverage.

Bracket with all game times:

https://www.womensnit.com/uploads/2/0/0/5/20054671/2018_post_wnit_bracket-non_writable.pdf

Their height presents a real problem for us. I hope we are on fire from outside because points in the paint will be hard to come by and keeping them off the boards could be a nightmare. This is a tough match-up for the Aggies.

We need to get a good crowd out to the Pavilion for the game to support the Ags. I think the WNIT committee considers crowd size as a factor for getting a second home game also. I know that is something they consider in awarded the first round home sites.

Here is the ticket info:

Tickets will go on sale on Tuesday (March 13) at Noon online at UCDavisAggies.com, in person at the UC Davis athletics ticket office at Aggie Stadium on campus, and over the phone by calling (530) 752-AGS1. Courtside seats are available for $15, reserved seats are $13, with general admission tickets going for $11.

http://www.aggiesportstalk.com/discussion/621/wbb-2018-wnit-tournament#Item_1

The tournament has a 3 game guarantee which is really nice for all the teams. I wish they did that for the men too.

WNIT Format

The event features a three-game guarantee format. All games, including the semifinals and championship, are hosted by participating schools at their home facility.
The initial round of the event involves eight sites hosted by participating institutions. The winner’s bracket looks identical to past Preseason tournaments.

First Round Winners

The eight Round One winners will continue on in traditional bracket play, with half of them hosting the other half in separate host sites. The winning teams will continue on, with separate host sites throughout the semifinals and championship. The two teams in the championship game will play four games in the tournament.

Round 1 Losers

The eight teams that lose their first games will be re-grouped into “Consolation bracket quads,” which will be two four-team pools. The teams may be re-shuffled from their original sides of the bracket, so they could play any other first-round loser in the tournament. One team in each pool is selected to host the other three teams. Each team will play two games for a total of three in the tournament. These are called Consolation Rounds 1 and 2.

Round 2 Losers (from original bracket)

Of the four Round 2/quarterfinal losing teams, two teams will be selected to host one of the other quarterfinal round losers in a single game at separate sites. The teams may be re-shuffled from their original sides of the bracket, so they could play any other Round 2 loser in the tournament. This game provides the third game for each of these schools. This round is Consolation Round 3.

https://www.womensnit.com/event-info.html