Hereafter

[Wayne23]

2/23: 80-63 at Penn ST. They led by 11 early, by 1 at the half. 46-28 in the 2nd. 27, 2, 2, 7 steals for Dean. 21, 10 for Rhod, 16, 8 for Marn. +28 in the paint.

87-61 over Northwestern here. It was never a game. 18, 4, 11 for Wamp, 18, 6 for Dean. +17 RBs, 10 TOs.

73-55 over Nebraska here. 35-19 at the half. 20, 4, 1, 3 for Dean.

75-62 at #12 Illinois. Down 7 early, down 1 at the half, then we took over. 20, 5, 4 for Wamp, 15, 11 for Rhod, 15, 8 for Zinn. Big edge inside.

Mal Wamp is #6, Ed Dean #8 on the Norton list.

26-1, 16-0, 3 up on #4 Wisconsin with 4 to play. Everyone else is out of it. #1, NET #1.

Seeing the object in the distance. It definitely seems to be some sort of satellite. Whatever it is, it's artificial, made by an intelligent species. Looking forward to getting closer.

[Wayne23]

3/4: 84-80 in a real battle at #24 Indiana. We made our free throws late. 20 for Dean, 11, 14, 5, 3 for Zinn. We had to work for this one, which I am happy about; my guys need to be challenged.

73- 49 over Minnesota at home. No challenge in this one, 42-18 at halftime. 25, 4, 2, 6 for Dean, 10, 4, 11 for Wamp. +17 RBs.

78-48 over Michigan here. No contest again. 20 and 7 for Dean, 12, 8, 6, 4 for Zinn, 15, 6, 7 for Wamp. +18 down low.

We end the regular season with a 72-60 win at Northeastern. Tied at the half. We didn't play well. 17, 7, 3 for Dean, 16, 10 for Rhod. Dominated inside.

We end the regular season at 30-1, 20-0, 4 up on Wisconsin, 7 or more on the rest. #1, NET #1.

+17 PPG, #1 in points and margin. +9.7 RBs, #1 in RBs. -5.2 TOs, but an awful 13.9. +5.6 assists. #1 in assists, #1 in steals, #5 in blocks.

Dean leads in scoring with 18.5. 8.2 RBs for Zinn. An impressive 7.9 assists for Wamp, #1 in the nation. 2.5 steals for Dean.

We've arrived at the satellite. Sending robots to investigate.

3/5: We lose Dean, Wamp, and Davy to the draft. Ouch! Dean is #7 on the Norton list.

We offer to a PF and a PG.

The satellite is definitely something made by an intelligent race. There is an attempt to communicate or maybe to provide info. The robots and the geeks are trying to decipher it.

[Wayne23]

3/8: We play #8 seed Michigan, 21-11, 10-10, in the quarter finals. Beat them by 30 at our place. We should win easily.

3/9: We score the first 22 points! Up 25 after 10 minutes. 48-30 at the half. 13 for inn, 11 for Rhod. Up only 8 with 10 to go; we've fallen asleep in the 2nd half!

83-58. A late run put it away. 17, 7, 9, 6 for Wamp, 21, 5 for Zinn. 7 TOs.

The robots and geeks are still working on deciphering what they are finding on the satellite. No breakthroughs yet.

[Wayne23]

3/9: #4 seed Indiana, 23-9, 13-7, in the semis. We won by 16 at home but only by 4 there. We're highly favored. Their strength is outside.

Game time: Close early. Down 6 after 10. 39-42 at the half. Our D is awful, we're not doing enough inside, 6 more TOs. 3 fouls for Zinn and for his opponent. -6 from the line. Down 2 with 10 to play.

79-72 but we had to work for it! We shot better but they took 7 more shots, which is unusual in our games. Balanced scoring for us. We really didn't play very well.

[Wayne23]

3/10: #3 seed, #13 ranked Illinois, 23-11, 13-7, for the title. We won by 28 at our place, 13 there. If we actually play we should be fine.

Game time: They take a quick lead. We come back. Down 1 after 10. 40-39 at halftime. Lots of lead changes and ties so far. 13 for Dean.,
13 for their PG. +12 in the paint. This one is up for grabs right now. Quick start to the 2nd but they come back. Tied with 10 to go.

71-78. Disappointing. We had a lousy Big 10 tournament. We will need to do MUCH better if we are to successfully defend our national title.

They beat us outside, with their starting guards getting 39 to our 22.

[Wayne23]

3/12: #1 East and overall. We play #16, play in winner Oregon, 16-18.

3/16: Close early. Up 3 after 10. 32-27 at the half. We're shooting a dismal 31%. Inside game is not getting it done. Big run puts us up 16 with 10 to play.

77-55. We played good D. The guards did it, 25, 3 for Dean, 15, 3, 8 for Wamp. 11 TOs. Inside game wasn't very good tonight.

3/17: #9 seed Temple, 25-10, in the 2nd round. Their starting PF is out with a broken elbow. We should beat this team.

3/18: Early lead. Up 13 after 10. 41-22 at halftime. We're blowing them out. 14, 7 for Rhod. Very good inside play. Up 20 with 10 to go.

82-60. They never challenged us. 28, 3, 2, 5 for Dean, 19, 11 for Rhod, 11, 3, 10, 3 for Wamp. +18 inside.

The satellite is definitely one that was trying to send a message. It's not quite clear what the message was yet but the geeks are starting to crack the code.

[Wayne23]

3/22: #4 seed, #20 ranked Seton Hall, 26-9, in the Sweet 16. We should have a big advantage over this team, especially inside.

3/23: Both teams shooting poorly early. Tied after 10. Big late run. Up 45-31 at the half. 14, 8 for Zinn. Dean has 3 fouls as do 2 of their starters. +10 RBs. Up 20 with 10 left.

83-65. Took awhile but we took over and won easily. 17, 4, 4, 6 for sub guard Isi Mila, 16, 9 for Zinn, 16, 4 for Dean. 11 TOs to 22.

“This satellite was sent as a call for help. Their civilization is dead ahead but there's no way to know how far. We can't translate their distance measurements. They are, or were, under attack and losing badly.”

The Council voted unanimously to head for the system at max speed.

[Wayne23]

3/24: #3 seed, #7 ranked Villanova, 25-9, in the Elite 8. We beat them by 19 at our place early in the season. Their SF is an All American and they have a good Center. We should have a big edge outside and we score 10.6 more per game.

3/25: Early lead. Up 12 after 10. 52-29 at the half. Scoring easily. Shooting 58.6% to 31.3%. Up 15 with 10 to go.

82-78. That was as close as they got but we couldn't stop their SF, 36 points. We played lousy ball in the 2nd half, 30-49. 17, 6, 6 for Wamp,
19, 4, 3 for Dean. We were outplayed inside. We shot better and were +7 from the line.

[Wayne23]

Final Four! We play #2 seed, #10 ranked UConn, 28-9, in the national semifinal. We're a big favorite. They're 6-4 against ranked teams and strong inside.

In the other game it's #2 Kentucky vs. #6 Xavier, one of two teams to beat us so far this season.

4/1: We take the lead quickly. Up 10 after 10. 39-25 at the half. Great D! We turned them over 16 times! +12 RBs. Zinn has 3 fouls. Up 19 with 10 to play.

68-52. Defense brought this one home. Turned them over 24 times, to our 10. +12 in the paint.16, 5, 6, 6 for Wamp, 14, 10 for Rhod. Zinn was in foul trouble all night and was ineffective.

One win away from a threepeat!

[Wayne23]

4/2: We play #1 seed, #2 ranked, #2 NET Kentucky, 34-3. This one looks close. We're favored by 1 ½ but it won't be easy. Interestingly enough they've only played 5 ranked teams and they're 4-1, losing to UConn. Statistically there's not much to choose. They have an excellent PG and a very good outside game, and they rebound.

4/3: We take the lead. Up 7 after 10. They can play. 46-37 at halftime. A good lead but it's far from over! 15, 1, 5 for Wamp, over their best player, who has 7, 0, 2. 10 fewer TOs. Pretty even inside.

“Keep playing hard. 20 minutes to go!”

Up 6 with 10 left. They tied it at one point. I'm going to full time full court press. It's working! Big run!

96-82, a threepeat, and my 11th title! 19, 4, 11 for Wamp, who was great in both games. 22, 4, 9, 4 for Dean, 19, 7 for Zinn. +12 in the paint, 11 TOs.

“I'm rethinking this.”

“Rethinking what, Mick?”

“We shouldn't go to the planet. Suppose we run into some really bad people. We're not a warship. They could destroy us.”

“That message could have been sent a thousand years ago.”

“Yes, and it could have been sent last week.”

There was a long debate and the Council voted 9-3 to proceed to the planet.