Major Ramirez scores 18 with 10 rebounds and a steal as we blow a lead to
Long Beach State and need
Cesar Wisdom to foul out before we can escape with a 74-66 win. Wisdom had 18 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals, and shut down
Robert Serra. I'm totally bailing after this season, I swear. Anywhere
Jeremiah Hardie is our lead scorer with 19 points and a steal.
We're just hoping to limit the damage as much as possible until the
Trop King returns. Instead, it's blowout loss to
UC-Santa Barbara, heartbreak 3 point loss to
UC-Riverside, before an ugly 65-50 win over
UC-Irvine, where
Major Ramirez has 15 and 11 with 2 steals for PotG,
Ned Fraser scores 14 with 5 rebounds and 3 steals, and
Robert Serra puts up 13 with 4 steals.
I'm still feeling glum, but a tiny bit better after
Major Ramirez produces a second straight double-double of 20 points, 12 rebounds and PotG award as we narrowly avoid blowing a lead in a 76-72 win over
UC-Davis. Also helping is
Robert Serra (17 points, 11 rebounds),
Ned Fraser (13 points, 6 rebounds, a steal), and a rare 11 point, 2 steal bench showing by
Rene Abbott.
Things get out of hand early against
CSU-Fullerton and we have to come back to make it a single digit loss. Thrilling game against
Pacific and we win 67-66 when
Ned Fraser scores the go-ahead bucket with 5 seconds left and the Tigers' shot clangs off the rim. Fraser had 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals, but it's
Major Ramirez's 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 steals that's PotG before he fouls out.
Brian Klingensmith just misses the double with 9 points, 12 rebounds, and a block, while
Rene Abbott has 10 points, 5 rebounds, and a block - showing a little bit of life off the bench during this horror run.
Cal Poly is absolutely itching to knock us off after we stole
The Butler from them, but
Major Ramirez's 14 points, 13 rebounds, and block say no in an ugly 50-48 win. I said when he came in that the Major is the best player we've ever landed and it's shown that this month, as we close out the first half with a 5-4 Big West mark despite no
Trop King.
Code:
TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 9 0 1.000 12 7 .632 76 33
UC Riverside Highlanders 8 1 .889 16 4 .800 68 52
Cal State Northridge Matadors 5 4 .556 12 8 .600 178 34
Long Beach State 49ers 4 5 .444 6 14 .300 258 30
UC Davis Aggies 4 5 .444 9 11 .450 171 49
Cal Poly Mustangs 4 5 .444 8 11 .421 279 33
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors 4 5 .444 8 12 .400 269 37
Cal State Fullerton Titans 3 6 .333 7 12 .368 295 38
UC Irvine Anteaters 2 7 .222 3 16 .158 293 35
Pacific Tigers 2 7 .222 4 15 .211 330 23
Okay, so we're basically playing for third place again. I'm okay with that. How did the
Gauchos fall so far in prestige? From 2019-2024, they were a mediocre to terrible team, crashing from 47 to 30 before they got back on the upswing last year.
We survived the first half due to defense, defense, defense, because our offense is not it without [b]Eutropio Rey[/b's comparatively wizardly passing at the helm running it. To say nothing of his explosive scoring.