View Single Post
Old 06-14-2023, 08:22 PM   #81
Izulde
Head Coach
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Code:
2025 Big West Conference Standings TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hawaii Rainbow Warriors 0 0 .000 7 3 .700 107 35 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 0 0 .000 5 5 .500 96 30 UC Riverside Highlanders 0 0 .000 4 5 .444 190 52 Cal State Fullerton Titans 0 0 .000 4 6 .400 213 43 UC Irvine Anteaters 0 0 .000 4 7 .364 255 36 Cal State Northridge Matadors 0 0 .000 4 7 .364 267 29 UC Davis Aggies 0 0 .000 3 7 .300 166 53 Long Beach State 49ers 0 0 .000 3 8 .273 201 28 Pacific Tigers 0 0 .000 2 8 .200 188 23 Cal Poly Mustangs 0 0 .000 2 7 .222 329 35

This feels like the most wide open the Big West has ever been. My gut is any number of teams taking the title wouldn't surprise me. UC-Santa Barbara has a star player in Virgil Hudgins, but the Gauchos are garbage outside of that. Not even a lot of green guys in the league right now.

We nearly blow a 20+ point second half lead, but Eutropio Rey carries us to an 80-72 win over UC-Irvine with 29 points. [b]Major Ramirez[/b just misses the double-double with 14 points, 9 boards, Jeromy Harrington scores 10 with 7 rebounds, and Robert Serra chips in 12.

And of course Tim Grey gets hurt and is out 18 days. Then we lose to CSU-Fullerton when our offense dies in the second half and Paul Mattson is out 20 days. It always happens like this. Just when we finally look like we're going to have a potential breakthrough season, injuries start devastating us.

29 points, 8 rebounds by Jeromy Harrington and 10 points, a block by Major Ramirez allow us to grind out a 64-60 win over Cal Poly. And then we hand UC-Riverside their first conference loss of the year, 79-71 at their place on Major Ramirez's 23 points and a steal. Jeromy Harrington scores 14 with 6 assists and a block, and Eutropio Rey, who is probably my favorite player to put on a Matador uniform, adds in 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. The junior has really come into his own this season and might just surpass Dennis Luther as the greatest guard in school universe history.

Tim Grey is a game-time decision to come back against Hawaii with our first crack in a while at .500 overall. The Rainbow Warriors throw all 13 players in at one point or other, but we escape with 72-68 win as Jeromy Harrington goes off for 31 points, 2 blocks, and a steal, Major Ramirez scores 11, and Eutropio Rey gets 15 points and 2 steals.

Paul Mattson could play against UC-Davis, but I opt to keep him out as he's only at 85%. End result?

Code:
Cal State Northridge 91, UC Davis 60 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UC Davis (5-11, 1-4): Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts Devin Martinez C 30 4-9 3-5 4 8 1 2 11 Edmond Brown PF 25 1-6 3-4 2 5 1 2 5 Chris Brown SF 30 6-12 2-2 2 7 2 1 17 Adrian Johnson SG 30 1-14 0-0 3 5 2 1 3 Gilberto Moreno PG 23 2-6 0-0 0 2 2 2 5 Daniel Damiano PG 14 1-3 2-4 1 2 1 4 4 Dan Henderson PF 18 2-10 2-4 2 4 0 4 6 David Chick SF 17 2-7 1-4 1 3 0 1 5 Charles Rogers C 7 0-0 2-2 2 4 0 1 2 Ross Ogle PG 6 0-1 0-0 2 2 1 3 0 David Flack PG 1 1-1 0-0 1 1 0 0 2 Arthur Collins PF 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Turnovers: 10 (D.Martinez 1, E.Brown 1, C.Brown 2, A.Johnson 1, D.Damiano 2, D.Henderson 1, D.Chick 1, R.Ogle 1) Blocked Shots: 2 (D.Henderson 2) Steals: 2 (A.Johnson 1, D.Chick 1) 3P FGs: 5-31 (C.Brown 3-7, A.Johnson 1-12, G.Moreno 1-2, D.Damiano 0-2, D.Henderson 0-3, D.Chick 0-4, A.Collins 0-1) Cal State Northridge (9-8, 5-1): Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts Tim Grey C 20 2-5 0-0 3 5 3 4 4 Major Ramirez PF 30 7-13 7-12 4 12 3 1 21 Jeromy Harrington SF 28 5-12 0-0 2 11 2 3 12 Robert Serra SG 28 7-10 1-2 1 2 3 1 17 Eutropio Rey PG 28 7-10 5-6 1 6 5 3 19 Ned Fraser PG 9 1-1 3-4 0 0 1 4 6 Rene Abbott SG 12 1-3 0-0 0 4 0 3 3 Bradford Taylor PG 7 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 3 B. Klingensmith PF 12 0-3 1-2 0 2 0 0 1 Jeffery Aponte SF 8 1-1 1-2 0 0 0 0 3 Conrad Magee C 12 1-1 0-0 1 5 0 1 2 Paul Dyer PF 7 0-2 0-0 1 1 0 0 0 Turnovers: 9 (E.Rey 5, R.Abbott 3, J.Aponte 1) Blocked Shots: 2 (T.Grey 1, E.Rey 1) Steals: 3 (R.Serra 1, E.Rey 1, B.Klingensmith 1) 3P FGs: 7-14 (J.Harrington 2-7, R.Serra 2-3, N.Fraser 1-1, R.Abbott 1-2, B.Taylor 1-1) Player of Game: PF Major Ramirez (CSNTH)

Right choice, as it turns out.

I'm nervous playing against Virgil Hudgins and I'm right, as he torches us for 35 points and our win streak is snapped against the Gauchos.

All the starters except Eutropio Rey scores 10+ points in a blowout win over Pacific, with walk-on sophomore big man Conrad Magee scoring 10 bench points.

There's a shot to have one of our best, if not -the- best first Big West half in school history vs. Long Beach State, so of course we shoot 32.4% and piss that opportunity away in a 6-point loss.

Code:
2025 Big West Conference Standings TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UC Riverside Highlanders 8 1 .889 13 6 .684 98 52 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 7 2 .778 12 7 .632 122 30 Cal State Northridge Matadors 6 3 .667 10 10 .500 245 29 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors 6 3 .667 14 6 .700 155 35 Long Beach State 49ers 5 4 .556 8 12 .400 200 28 UC Davis Aggies 4 5 .444 8 12 .400 237 53 UC Irvine Anteaters 3 6 .333 7 13 .350 280 36 Pacific Tigers 3 6 .333 5 14 .263 309 23 Cal State Fullerton Titans 2 7 .222 6 14 .300 290 43 Cal Poly Mustangs 1 8 .111 3 16 .158 343 35

Nice first half. But we're still the only team to have beaten the Highlanders, so they'll probably walk away with the title with ease, barring injuries.
__________________
2006 Golden Scribe Nominee
2006 Golden Scribe Winner
Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty)

Rookie Writer of the Year
Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty)
Izulde is offline   Reply With Quote