At times against Stanislaus, the Aggies looked poised and confident as a team. Capable of keeping a comfortable lead with any lineup, Davis buried the Warriors 74-55, and UCD head coach Brian Fogel went to the bench with confidence throughout the game.

Earlier in the season, the Aggies let lesser opponents linger throughout the game. Against teams like New Mexico Highlands, Davis relied heavily on its starters and late-game runs to finish off foes that should have been buried by halftime.

But now, the Aggies have no problem dispatching weaker opponents. As such, Fogel is now more confident than he was at the start of the season to go to his bench.

"I would have been leery (to go to my bench early)" Fogel said. "It's a credit to the younger players. They have done such a good job and come a long way. And they are getting better and better. At this point in the season, they are a little bit better than what I hoped for, which I'm obviously very pleased with."

Freshman post Jordan Moss tallied 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds against Stanislaus and must have known that he would get his name in the paper.

"I feel really good out there," Moss said. "I'm starting to understand our offense and figure out where I fit in. At first it was a struggle a little bit, to know what goes where.

"This is where I want to be," he added. "I wanted to get myself in a position where I could start a couple of games and contribute. That is the main thing - to contribute. I realize that I'm not going to be the one out there scoring all the points, but if I can get a rebound here or there and setting screens, whatever needs to be done."

However, against a tough Bakersfield squad, Fogel was reluctant to go to his bench as UCD was buried by the Roadrunners 73-61 in a game that was never really close. This is a marked contrast to last season, when then-coach Bob Williams could go to his bench without worrying about lowering the level of his team's play.

On a team that lost six key players to graduation, new faces are burdened with the responsibility of maintaining a level of excellence unprecedented by any other UCD basketball team.

"There is some pressure," Moss said. "Everyone always talks about Justis Durkee - he was a huge loss as far as rebounding goes. People worried about him so much on defense that it made it easier on Jason Cox, and others, to get some looks."

"People make comments like, 'They've got their freshman team in,' and they get upset when we do well against them," he added. "But I think it's great for us to be out there."

One player who returned to this year's squad is guard Dante Ross, who was instrumental in Davis' National Championship run. Despite the daunting rebuilding process his team faced at the beginning of the season, Ross remains confident about his team's future and pleased with it's progress despite a difficult weekend.

"They are coming along," Ross said. "Our younger players are doing a good job of maturing. It looks good for the rest of the season and the future.