Jess Wynn, to do the impossible

[Wayne23]

First real test, #5 Maryland, 4-1, is here. Their 2 can score. I think our inside game is way stronger than theirs.

11/25: 72-34. The D is BACK!

+13, +10, 42-25%. I called it on the inside game our 3, 4, 5 had 40 and 32, theirs had 3 and 17.

23, 8, 3, 2, 4 for Mack, 13, 13, 2, 1, 1 for Garr, 11 RBs for Day, 9, 5, 1 for Call.

#11, RPI #3.

Finally on the road and this should be a real test, #14, 4-1 Duke. They lost to MD by 6 and haven’t played anyone else. They probably have the best inside game we’ve seen but I don’t think it’s as good as ours. Still, it’s a road game.

11/29: 72-52.

+18, -3, 42-28%. Our inside game is scary good but all 5 starters played really well tonight.

22, 11, 2, 2, 1 for Mack, 15, 10, for Garr, 9, 10, 3, 2 for Wilk, 7, 3, 7, 0, 5 for Brown, 7, 7, 3, 2 for Day.

At 2-3 UConn. Not the usual UConn team. Three guys who can play a little.

12/2: 59-51, closest game of the season. They never led after the first few minutes but we couldn’t break it open, mostly because except for Mack no one could hit a shot. As usual he pulled us through.

+17, -6 (Awful BH, 25 TOs), 42-38%.

34, 6, 4, 3 for Mack, 15, 5, 6, 2 for Brown, 11 RBs for Garr.

[Wayne23]

At 3-2 Texas. Some talent in the backcourt but not much inside and they can be sloppy.

12/6: 66-55. Didn’t look good for quite some time. We were down 14 early in the 2nd half. Then we finally started to hit some shots, and we stopped turning the ball over.

+11, -1, 42-38%, fouls 9-20.

21, 13, 2, 1 for Mack, 10, 12, 1 for Day, 14, 6, 2, 2, 1 for Garr, 7, 3, 7, 2, 1 but 7 TOs for Brown.

Off to the Sunshine Shootout. First up is 1-5 Iowa State, After being beat up by all kinds of bad teams they somehow beat #3 Illinois. Strange. Starting PG is hurt.

12/9: 71-44. Like our last game it took us some time. They were up 7 early in the 2nd. From then on we outscored them 42-8.

+13, +3, 38-29%, fouls 8-19.

38, 6, 1 for Mack, 12, 11 for Day, 10, 8 for Garr. Brown had 12 assists.

#7 seed Rutgers, 6-2, upset the #2 seed. They don’t stay with the good teams.

12/10: 74-53. For once we jumped out early. They never threatened us.
+5, +6, 44-38%, fouls 11-19.

28, 8, 2 for Mack, 16, 4, 6 for Wilk, 14 for Day, 10 RBs for Garr, 8, 2, 6, 1, 3 for Brown.

#7, RPI #4.

#1 seed, 5-3 Texas for the title. We beat them by 11 at their place, our bigs dominated. They have some talent.

12/11: Whew! 75-72. They never led by more than 2 but they never went away. We built a 12 point lead but with 3 minutes left they went on a tear and almost caught us. They missed a three at the buzzer.

+16, -2, 41-50%, fouls were 13-26, and we were +21 from the line but they couldn’t contain our bigs and had to keep fouling them. We let them hit 11 threes.

27, 6, 2, 1, 2 for Mack, 16, 9 for Garr, 9, 4, 3, 2, 2 for Day, 13, 5, 4 for Brown, 9, 7, 1 for Wilk.

We're 10-0.

[Wayne23]

3-5 Gonzaga is in. 2-2 vs. ranked teams but some bad losses. They have a strong inside game but are weak at guard. I think our bigs can handle them.

12/13: 68-34. Never a game and their bigs couldn’t compete.

+4, +1, 55-26%.

20, 5, 2, 3 for Mack, 10, 9 for Garr, 11, 2, 2 for Wilk, 6, 5, 9 for Brown.

At #17, 7-2 Indiana. 2, 3, 5 can play but that’s about it.

12/16: 78-70. This one stayed close for 35 minutes. At that point Mack put on a clinic, scoring inside, outside and at the line.

+11, -4 (19 TOs), 50-49%, fouls were 8-28 and we were +15 from the line. Their 2 almost matched Mack, getting 29.

35, 8, 3, 1 for Mack, 15, 6 for Day, 10, 5, 7, 0, 3 for Brown.

#5, RPI #2.

Last pre-conf. game is with Mississippi State, 6-3, here. They’ve played no ranked teams. If we play we’ll be fine.

12/20: 70-52.

+16, -3, 50-31%.

They doubled Mack so Garr went crazy, 25, 13, 1. Mack had 17, 6, 3, 3, 1 despite the double. 10, 7, 1, 1 for day, 8, 5, 5, 1, 1 for Wilk.

13-0 for the pre-conf, #5, #2 RPI.

[Wayne23]

We open at #2, 11-1 UCLA. Only loss was to #11 Louisville early. They are very good, esp. outside, and they play D. This will be our toughest test so far. Thankfully we play them at our place later.

12/30: 40-53. They completely shut us down. I’ll give up 53 points any time, we should be able to score more than that.

-10, +2, 31-25%. Can’t believe the RB numbers, but they are a little misleading. They outrebounded us because their starting guards got 14. Our bigs had 30 and 24 while theirs had 19 and 23. Our starting guards were crushed, 7, 10, 6 to 30, 14, 7.

10, 12 for Day, 13, 6, 1, 1 for Mack.

1/1/2028: Good news! Dan Kern, the PG we’ve been chasing, said yes.

5-7, 0-1 Utah is here. They won 3 of the 1st 4 and then everything fell apart.

1/3: 82-45.

+17, +7, 55-39%.

41, 3 for Mack, 9, 1, 9, 3, 1 for Brown, 10 RBs each for Day and Garr.

At #22, 9-5, 1-1 Arizona. Some talent inside but weak at guard. Not as good as they were last year.

1/6: 70-62. We exploded out of the gate and it was never as close as the final score makes it seem.

+11, +6, 39-48%, fouls 15-22. We were +12 from the line.

27, 10, 4, 2 for Mack, 16, 10, 2, 2 for Garr, 12, 6, 1 for Day.

#4, RPI #3.

[Wayne23]

7-7, 2-1 USC is in. 2-4 vs. ranked teams.

1/10: 68-59. 23 lead changes, 11 ties. We finally went on a run with about 3 ½ minutes left.

+8, +1, 44-44%.

23, 11, 1 for Garr, 19, 7, 2, 2 for Mack, 6, 0, 12, 3, 4 for Brown, 11, 4, 3 for Wilk.

At 11-6, 2-2 Washington State. They’ve played two ranked teams and been throttled by both.

1/13: Whew! We just could not break this one open- correction, we did, built a 13 point lead, but then they came back. With 1:23 left they were up 2.

We got it to Mack and he hit his 11th three to put us up 1 with 1:02 left.

They hit a layup. We hit a layup. They hit an 8 footer.

Our ball, :07, down 1. We brought it down, got it to Mack, and he hit his 12th three for the win, 75-73. This guy is unbelievable at times.

-1, -4, 44-45%. We hit 19 threes!

44 and 6 for Mack, 15, 2, 11, 1, 2 for Brown, 9, 7, 3 for Wilk, 5, 10, 1 for Garr. A win is a win I guess.

#3, RPI #2.

7-10, 3-2 California is in. 0-3 vs. ranked teams and some bad losses.

1/17: 61-43. We gave up 12 points in the 1st half.

+12, +1, 41-29%.

27, 12, 2, 1 for Mack, 12, 11, 4, 1, 4 for Garr, 13, 3, 2, 1, 1 for Wilk, 9 assists for Brown.

18-1, 5-1.

[Wayne23]

At 5-13, 1-5 Colorado.

1/20: 76-52. 53-18 at the half so we had all we needed at halftime.

+14, +7, 46-44%.

33, 6, 3, 3, 1 for Mack, 12, 7, 2, 1, 2 for Day, 6, 14, 4, 1, 2 for Garr.

10-8, 4-3 Oregon is in. 1-3 in the last 4. They have a decent backcourt but no inside game.

1/24: 72-46.

-4, +13, 44-35%.

37, 2, 2 for Mack, 15, 11, 2 for Garr.

At 7-12, 2-6 Oregon State. Mismatch.

1/27: 62-50. They stayed close for a long time.

-1, +5, 42-41%.

20, 10, 5, 4 for Mack, 10 each for Wilk and Mury. They played us tough.

Mike Mack is #1 on the Norton List and Brian Brown is #26. Garr should be here, in the top 10.

#3, RPI #3, 21-1, 8-1.

[Wayne23]

#11, 17-3, 8-1 Stanford is in. This one is for 2nd place. 2 bad early losses but they’ve lost only to UCLA in the conf., and that by only 3 on the road.

They are for real and they don’t give up many points.

1/31: 58-38. Great D! +1, +10 (we forced 25 TOs), 39-39%.

31, 4, 3, 4 for Mack, and what a season he’s having! Leading the country in scoring.

At 4-17, 2-8 Arizona State. This is a team in trouble.

2/3: 73-58.

+7, -2, 52-35%.

45, 9, 5, 2, 1 for Mack, 13, 3, 1 for Garr, 9 assists for Brown.

The battle for 1st place, #1, 22-1, 11-0 UCLA is in. They’ve won 20 straight and they don’t give up points. Beat us by 13 at their place holding Mack to a season low 13. It’s their outside vs. our inside.

2/7: 72-77. 19 lead changes, 8 ties. Wilk, Brown and Garr all had limited minutes due to fouls with Wilk and Brown fouling out. They went to the line 20 times more than we did.

+18, -12 (29 TOs!), 46-47%. Fouls and TOs killed us.

26, 8, 3 for Mack, 19, 3, 2, 2 for Day, 6, 14 for Garr but their 2 had 39 and the PG 18. So their back court did us in.

[Wayne23]

At 8-15, 3-9 Utah. We won by 37 at home.

2/10: 73-49.

+14, +8, 41-37%.

24, 3, 2, 1, 13, 6, 2, 1 for Wilk, 9, 11 for Garr, 8, 1, 6, 3, 4 for Brown, 8, 8, 1 for Call.

Mike Mack still #1 on the Norton List. Our RPI drops to #4 which makes no sense.

Mack is still #1 in the country in scoring and Brown #1 in assists.

17-8, 9-4 Arizona is in. We won by only 8 there. They’ve won 5 in a row, 8 of 9. Strength is inside.

2/14: 74-47.

+8, -8 (19 TOs), 58-30%.

45, 7, 3, 1, 3 for Mack, 11, 9, 1 for Garr.

[Wayne23]

At 12-13, 7-7 USC. Beat them by only 9 at our place. Their strength is outside.

2/17: 72-65. These guys know how to play us close.

+24, -3, 40-43%, fouls 13-22. Our bigs won this one for us, yet again.

29, 11, 2, 1 for Mack, 21, 10, 1 for Garr, 8, 12, 2, 1, 1 for Day.

Washington State, 15-13, 6-9, is here to close the regular season. We won by only 2 at their place and we need a win to clinch 2nd place. 3-6 in their last 9. This is a team we should beat.

2/21: 87-53. No doubt about this one!

+15, +7, 52-38%.

50, 9 for Mack, a career high. 11, 9, 1, 1, 2 for Garr, 11 assists for Brown, 9, 8, 1 for Day.

Mack leads the nation in PPG by 2.7, Brown leads in assists by .6 per game.

3/5: #3, RPI #4. 27-2, 14-2.

Mike Mack is still #1 on the Norton List and yes, he is the best player in the country. I wouldn’t trade him for anyone else.

[Wayne23]

3/9: Play in day. The favs all win. We’ll play #7 seed USC, 13-15, 7-9, a team which has given us all kinds of trouble both times we met. There’s no real reason why we’ve had so much trouble with them and I’m telling my guys I want to win by at least 20 this time.

3/10: 80-52, no contest.

+15, even, 54-34%, fouls 9-21. They decided to double Mack so other guys did the damage.

19, 6, 3, 3, 2 for Mack so they didn’t really stop him, 19, 9 for Garr, 15, 2, 5 for Wilk, 11, 7, 2, 2, 1 for day. Brown had 10 assists.

All the favs won again so #10 Stanford, 24-4, 14-2 in the semis. Beat them by 20 at home. They’ve won the last 7, 9 of 10. Only lost to us and UCLA since 12/2. Good inside and the SG can score. They can be sloppy. We need this to clinch a #1 seed.

3/11: We held them to 16 in the 1st and went in up by 15. The 2nd was even so we won 64-50.

-7, +2, 42-34%.

26, 11, 3, 1, 1 for Mack. 12 each fro Brown and Wilk.

UCLA was upset by Arizona so that’s who we’ll play for the title. They are unranked, 20-10, 10-6, finished 4th. We beat them by 8, then 27.Strength is inside and they’re sloppy. This would be big for us.

3/12: 68-55 for the title! It was a battle for a long time. They were up 8 with 14:22 to go. From that point on it was all us.

+11, +6, 32-34%, fouls were 16-25 and we were +13 from the line, but they needed to foul because we were quicker. They doubled Mack all night and held his points down but we looked to other guys. A double means someone has to be open and we found the open guy.

21, 13, 1 for Garr, 14, 3, 2, 2, 1 for Wilk, 12, 12, 3, 5 for Mack, who held his man to 5. 9 and 9 for Day.

30-2, 14-2.