[Izulde]

vs UC-Riverside 2-8 (0-1)
The Highlanders are in a shockingly poor state. Yes, their perimeter defense is terrible, but they still should be doing far better than this. They'll likely match up well against us and win pretty handily.

Their shooting ice cold helps and we're surprisingly up by 16 when the first 20 minutes end. No lead is safe, yada yada.

And yet we win easily. I'm not sure why Dennis Luther's 11 points and 4 steals are PotG. Seems to me it should have gone to Truman Crain's 16 points, 4 blocks, and a steal. Muhammed Owen records 10 points, 11 rebounds, 1 steal double-double. I really like the British Muslim's promise.

@ UC-Irvine 3-8 (0-2)
On the other hand, the Anteaters are well and truly as bad as their record suggests. Their post defense in particular is a joke, which probably bodes well for us to finally get back to .500 on the season.

And we're up 41-32 at the break. Our post players haven't dominated the way I'd anticipated, but I'm still taking the lead.

It's a blowout. 24 points and a steal/block for PotG Papillion Faulvarque, 19 points in as many minutes off the bench for Bogdan Gonchar, and 16 points with a block for Truman Crain.

@ Cal Poly 7-5 (3-0)
Two freshman starters are the only reason why the Mustangs haven't put up a dominating non-conference record, because the rest of their lineup is really, really good, and this will be a fun early-season matchup between two teams that are surprising in early Big West play. And by fun I mean their beating us by like 40.

Imagine my shock when we jump out to a 10-0 lead and find ourselves on the positive end of a 39-25 line after the first half. Will it hold? Probably not! But this is still quite the thing to watch.

16 points, a block, and 2 steals by Bogdan Gonchar results in our crown jewel Russian freshman getting his first PotG win as we withstand an early second half surge and then grind them out. 11 points and 2 steals for the Butterfly Man in a victory where we score 75 by getting contributions from pretty much everyone.

vs UC-Davis 11-2 (3-0)
The Aggies, I'd like to remind everyone, were the NIT Champions last season and despite my surprise at their record, appear to be bona fide for their record after a close examination. Why? Because they shoot the hell out of the ball and have just enough solid defense in the right spots to get wins. It's a matchup of the only two unbeaten Big West squads, and you know I don't have any hope of pulling the upset.

We're shooting terribly (33.3%) but are only down 27-28 when Dennis Luther converts the jumper as the buzzer goes off at the half. I fully expect us to be run roughshod in the second half, but we're showing some surprising chops to even hold our own - and that's after we opened down 0-7.

All we can do is briefly tie it up, as their superiority does indeed win out in the second and we lose handily.

vs CSU-Fullerton 9-6 (3-1)
Recall how I said the Titans were the class of the Big West on paper? That's still true, and their only loss in conference has been in single digits to the Aggies. Squash match incoming.

Down by 2 at the half, but it feels very much a lucky thing to even be close. That'll settle down in the second half, much like it did in the previous game.

Yep. Pretty much the exact same script.

@ UC-Santa Barbara 3-13 (1-4)
The mirage that we're a Big West contender was fun while it lasted and the paper tiger status should again get exposed here. The Gauchos are way too talented to be bottom-feeders.

Yep. Blowout loss by 28.

@ Long Beach State 4-12 (3-3)
At least we can quit pretending we're more than a team who got hot early now.

And yet we eke out the 74-70 win on the Butterfly Man's 20 points and a steal and Truman Crain contributing 18 points, 2 blocks, and a steal. Our stars don't often align but when they do, they do.

@ Pacific 2-17 (1-7)
The Tigers always play us tough, records be damned. And they have a chance to spoil our hopes of finishing the front half of Big West season at .500 overall. I'm sure they'll take full advantage.

We piss away a 10 point lead and have to fight to get it back to 6 by the time the first buzzer goes off. It's all grind from there on out to an ugly 55-45 win that we get on Truman Crain's 16 points, 7 rebounds, a block, and a steal, with Dennis Luther adding a 10-5-4-1 line.

Our 6th straight season of 10+ wins is secured (and if injuries hadn't doomed us to 9 wins in 2015, we'd have double-digit victories in every season but the first). We're back to .500 and have already equaled last season's conference wins total with 6.

It's been a better season than I expected so far for sure, but I still don't see a path to the tournament. Not with the Aggies and Titans totally dominating the Big West this year (9-0 and 8-1 respectively).