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Big West teams were 2-16 against Power 5 programs before this weekend. UC Davis was winless against high-majors since upsetting Stanford on Dec. 4, 2005.
Washington State, meanwhile, was the feel-good story of the Pac-12 after its 6-0 start and a Wooden Legacy title.
Naturally, the UC Davis Aggies strolled into Pullman and pulled off an 81-67 win that one could call the epitome of brutality.
Washington State loses a buy game to UC Davis. The epitome of brutality.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) December 2, 2017
The Aggies were on fire out of the gate with an 11-0 run, sparked by JuCo transfer T.J. Shorts, who set career high with 20 points. UC Davis’s patience on offense and superb ball movement stifled the Cougars throughout; to wit, seven of the nine Aggies scored, and their bench outscored Washington State’s 23-7.
Granted, the Pac-12 announcing crew was quick to remind the audience of Washington State’s knack for dramatic comebacks. The Cougars have been a second-half team this season, so on its face trailing the reigning Big West Champions at the first half isn’t too alarming.
But when UC Davis’s 12-5 run to close the first half made it a 17-point game at halftime, brutality seemed feasible. Then, when the Aggies picked up right where they left off with a 6-0 run to start to second, it was only a matter of time before Jon’s fabled “epitome of brutality” tweet.
#Aggies' current 23-point lead (48-25) is the biggest of the game — one @UCDavisMBB led from the opening tip. #GoAgs
— UCDavisMBB (@UCDavisMBB) December 2, 2017
But Washington State isn’t 6-0 — mostly fueled by come-from-behind wins —for nothing: The Cougars clawed back in the second half by shooting 47.4 from deep. Led by Robert Franks Jr.’s career outing with 32 points on 12-of-18 shooting, the Cougars picked apart UC Davis in the pick-and-roll.
The wheels nearly fell off the wagon late in the second, as the Aggies went cold. A.J. John fouled Franks on a made three. Head coach Jim Les was t’d up after seeing his Aggies no-show on a 3-on-1 fast break. Then, UC Davis committed two straight shot-clock violations. It looked like the Cougars would add another come-from-behind victory.
UC Davis’s cushion from the first half ended up being the difference maker. Oh, and maybe that Chima Moneke fellow — who’s casually averaging a double-double — might have something to do with that.
.@UCDavisMBB 81, Washington State 67 (F) Shorts II posts his first 20-point game as an Aggie by finishing with 20&5, Moneke collects 5th double-double w/ 19&11, #Aggies out-rebound Cougars, 37-29 to record 1st win vs. Pac-12 team since 2005. Next: Wed. vs. Pacific (7:30p) #GoAgs
— UCDavisMBB (@UCDavisMBB) December 2, 2017
Although it won’t make the box score, the post play between Moneke, Garrison Goode and A.J. John looked really solid. Even though the Cougars had an edge in athleticism, the chemistry in the post led to plenty of open looks that Ernie Kent will fret over in the film room.
Brutality Leaderboard
Conference | America East | Atlantic 10 | Atlantic Sun | Big Sky | Big South | Big West | Colonial | C-USA | Horizon | Ivy | MAAC | MAC | MEAC | Missouri Valley | Mountain West | NEC | Ohio Valley | Patriot | Southern | Southland | SWAC | Sun Belt | Summit | WCC | WAC |
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Conference | America East | Atlantic 10 | Atlantic Sun | Big Sky | Big South | Big West | Colonial | C-USA | Horizon | Ivy | MAAC | MAC | MEAC | Missouri Valley | Mountain West | NEC | Ohio Valley | Patriot | Southern | Southland | SWAC | Sun Belt | Summit | WCC | WAC |
Total Brutality | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Albany | Davidson | FGCU | E. Washington (1) | Campbell | Cal Poly | College of Charleston | UAB | Cleveland St. | Brown | Canisius | Akron | Coppin St. | Bradley | Air Force | Bryant | Austin Peay | American | Chattanooga | Abilene Christian | Alabama A&M | Appalachian St. | Denver | BYU | CSUB | |
Binghamton | Dayton | Jackonsville | Idaho | Charleston Southern | Cal St. Fullerton | Delaware (1) | FAU | Detroit Mercy (1) | Columbia | Fairfield | Bowling Green | Delaware St. | Drake | Boise St. | Central Conn. St. (1) | Belmont | Army | Citadel | Central Arkansas | Alabam St. | Arkansas St. | Fort Wayne | Gonzaga | Chicago St. | |
Hartford | Duquesne | Kennesaw St. | Idaho St. | Gardner-Webb | Cal St. Northridge | Drexel | FIU | Green Bay | Cornell | Iona | Buffalo | Hampton | Evansville | Fresno St. | Fairleigh Dickinson | Eastern Illinois | Boston | ETSU | Houston Baptist | Alcorn St. | Coastal Carolina | Nebraska Omaha | Loyola Marymount | Grand Canyon | |
Maine | Fordham | Lipscomb | Montana (1) | High Point | Hawaii | Elon | Louisiana Tech | IUPUI | Dartmouth | Manhattan | Kent State | Howard | Illinois St. | Colorado St. | LIU Brooklyn | Eastern Kentucky | Bucknell | Furman | Incarnate Word | Jackson St. | Georgia Southern (1) | No. Dakota St. | Pacific | UMKC | |
UMBC | George Mason | NJIT | Montana St. | Liberty (1) | Long Beach St. | Hofstra | Marshall | Milwaukee (1) | Harvard | Marist | Miami OH (1) | Maryland Eastern Shore | Indiana St. (1) | Nevada | Mount St. Mary's | Jacksonville St. (1) | Colgate | Mercer | Lamar (1) | Mississippi Valley St. | Georgia St. | Oral Roberts | Pepperdine | New Mexico St. | |
UMass-Lowell | George Washington | North Florida | N. Dakota | Longwood | UC Davis (1) | James Madison | MTSU | No. Kentucky | Penn | Monmouth | Ohio | Morgan St. (1) | Loyola (IL) | UNLV | Robert Morris | Morehead St. | Holy Cross | Samford | McNeese St. | Arkansas Pine Bluff | Little Rock | South Dakota | Portland | Seattle | |
New Hampshire | La Salle | So. Car. Upstate | N. Arizona | Presbyterian | UC Irvine | Northeastern | Charlotte | Oakland | Princeton | Niagara | Ball State | Norfolk St. | Missouri St. | New Mexico | Sacred Heart | Murray St. | Lafayette | UNC Greensboro | New Orleans | Grambling St. (1) | Louisiana Lafayette | S. Dakota St. (1) | St. Mary's | UTRGV | |
Stony Brook | UMass | Stetson | N. Colorado | Radford (1) | UC Riverside (1) | Towson | North Texas | UIC | Yale | Quinnipiac | Central Michigan | Bethune-Cookman | Northern Iowa | San Diego St. | St. Francis Brooklyn | SE Missouri St. | Lehigh | VMI | Nicholls St. | Prairie View A&M | Lousiana Monroe | Western Illinois | San Diego (1) | Utah Valley | |
Vermont (1) | Rhode Island | Portland St. | UNC Asheville | UC Santa Barbara | UNC Wilmington | Old Dominion | Wright St. | Rider (1) | Eastern Michigan | Florida A&M | So. Illinois | San Jose St. | St. Francis | SIUE | Loyola (Maryland) | W. Carolina | Northwestern St. | Southern | So. Alabama | San Francisco | |||||
Richmond | Sacramento St. | Winthrop | William & Mary | Rice | Youngstown St. | St. Peter's | Northern Illinois | NC A&T (1) | Valparaiso | Utah St. | Wagner | Tennessee St. | Navy | Wofford | Sam Houston St. | Texas Southern | Texas St. | Santa Clara | |||||||
St. Bonaventure | S. Utah | So. Miss | Siena | Toledo | Savannah St. | Wyoming | Tennessee Tech | SE Louisiana | UT Arlington | ||||||||||||||||
St. Joseph's | Weber St. | UTEP | Western Michigan (1) | So. Carolina St. | UT Martin | Stephen F. Austin | Troy | ||||||||||||||||||
Saint Louis | UTSA | TAMU Corpus Christi | |||||||||||||||||||||||
VCU | Western Kentucky |