by Wayne23 » Sat Mar 17, 2018 3:42 pm
3/7: We play #8 seed Illinois, 17-13, 9-9, first. We won by 14 there.
3/8: 78-73. We never trailed, and I played the bench for the last 10 minutes. It wasn’t as close as the final score. 20, 9 for Rido, 16 for Boxx, 14 for Abny.
#5 seed Michigan ST, 17-12, 10-8, in the semis. They won by 14, there, in our only meeting.
3/9: 71-58. Again, we never trailed. We led by as many as 22. 16, 8 for Rido, 11, 11 for Hays, 14, 8 for Boxx.
#2 seed, #15 ranked Maryland, 24-7, 13-5, for the title. We crushed them by 32 in our only meeting. It won’t be anywhere near that easy this time, I’m sure, but we feel like we can win if we play our game.
3/10: 83-65. I’m amazed to say we never trailed at any time in this tournament. 22, 10 for Rido, 11, 4, 10 for Boxx, 18 for Abny.
26-5, 14-4, #7, RPI #2. Looking for a #1 seed!
#1 West. A great bracket. We feel we should get to the Final Four from this bracket. We play 10-22 Columbia first. They had a dreadful season and then won their tournament, somehow.
3/17: 93-56. 31, 7, 6 for Abny, 17, 8, 6, 5 for Rido. A walk in the park, but we kept the focus we showed in the Big 10 tourney, and that’s what I’m looking for.
#8 seed Kansas ST, 21-10, next.
3/19: 87-72. This one was close for 30 minutes, and that’s probably good for us. We worked for it and came out on top. Balanced scoring by all 7 of our guys.
#5 seed, #19 ranked Stanford, 24-10, in the Sweet Sixteen. They score a lot of points.
3/24: 83-65. We never trailed, led by as many as 26. 19 for Boxx, 14, 17 for Hays, 14, 12 for Rido. 28 for the bench. We’re really playing well. Keep on doing it!
Our old nemesis #3 seed, #9 ranked Creighton, 30-6, in the Elite Eight. They have a VERY good PF, and two good guards.
3/26: 71-68 and the Final Four!!! This was our first post season challenge. 17 lead changes, 5 ties. We scored the last 6 points for a come from behind win. 21, 7, 9 for Abny, 19, 5, 3 for Boxx, but the real hero was PF Jess Hays who matched numbers with their superstar, and scored 4 of the last 6 points, 2 on free throws and 2 on a put back. He also blocked the superstar’s shot in the last minute- twice!
#1 seed, #3 ranked Kentucky, 32-5, in the national semifinal. We’ve been drinking in the atmosphere of the Final Four here in New Orleans, and it’s been great.
We’ve also been working hard to try to be ready for a very solid team. They’re strong across the board, but especially at SF and C. We’ll need to play solid D to have a chance.
4/1: 75-79. We did something we hadn’t done in the post season- we fell behind early. We were down 8 at the half. We quickly turned that around and took the lead, and it was back and forth throughout the second. When Jess Hays fouled out with a little less than 2 minutes left, that hurt. In the end they were better, but not by much. 25, 15 for Rido, 15, 6, 6 for Abny, 12 each for Hays and sub forward Erik Bark.
Great season! Let’s see if we can win it all next year!
4/3: #1 Texas is the champ. They beat KY by 18.
4/4: Awards: Frosh Adam Rido is a 1st team All American. In conf., Rido is POY, Frosh OY, and 1st team. Abny and Boixx make the 2nd team. Abny should have been
1st. I get Conf. COY.
4/9: I extend the contracts of my #1 and #2 assistants.
4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade. No.
30-6, 14-4. Final Four. Overall, 312-90, .776.