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[Wayne23]

1/16: It doesn't get easier, at #10 ST Johns, 17-1, 2-1. They do their damage outside. We think we're better but the stats are pretty even.
They're 2-1 vs. Top 25 teams.

1/17: They score the first 9. We come back. Up 1 after 10. Up 4 at the half. 8 each for Thom and Witt. 3 fouls for Cole. This one is up for grabs. Up 2 with 10 left.

70-84. It was tied with 3:40 left and then we fell apart.

17 for Thom. Our inside game let us down for the 2nd game in a row; -7 points, -16 in the paint, way too many fouls.

2 losses in a row.

"What's happening!"

"We're in a down slide. We'll turn it around. These things happen."

[Wayne23]

1/19: 11-6, 2-2 Villanova is here. We're a big favorite. If we play our game we'll be fine. Time to turn it around!

1/20: Close early. Up 7 after 10. Up 14 at the break. +9 RBs, 5 TOs. Up 13 with 10 left.

83-65. Never challenged in the 2nd half.

23, 4, 5 for Thom, 11, 13, 4 for Savo, 11, 8 for Brad, 10, 12 for Miri.

+15 RBs, 7 TOs.

2nd big off the bench, Will Kili, broke his wrist. Our until late March.

[Wayne23]

1/23: At 12-6, 2-3 Butler. We're a big favorite. They have a very good C.

1/24: Early lead. Up 10 after 10. Up 10 at the half. 16, 3, 4 for Brad. Savo and Cole both have 3 fouls. Our guards aren't doing much. Up 15 with 10 to play.

95-72. Their highly touted C got 22 and 7 but SF Lon Brad had 29 and 4. 16, 5 for Savo, 11, 6, 4 for Miri.

+7 RBs. Sloppy game with too many whistles.

"I'm going to miss this."

"Me too, Jess. But it's for the best."

"You're sure you won't be resentful?"

"I want to be a major part of my kids' lives as they grow up. If I feel like I want to coach again I'll do it when the last one hits age 18."

[Wayne23]

1/26: At #20 Creighton, 14-5, 3-3. They look good on paper. We're slight favorites.

1/27: They take an early lead. Down 7 after 10. Up 7 at halftime. 11 for Thom. Up 10 with 10 to go.

85-69. 19, 2, 4, 4 for Thom, 16 for Witt, 13, 6 for Suli. +6 RBs, 11 fewer TOs.

1/29: All of our recruits hit our SAT Score.

Thom is #12, Suli #29 on the Norton list.

20-2, 5-2, tied for 2nd, 2 back of 1st.

[Wayne23]

2/2: 9-12, 3-5 DePaul is here. They give up 3.6 more than they score.

2/3: We score the first 15. Up 13 after 10. 46-22 at the half. Thom's hot hand continues; he has 17. +11 RBs, 3 TOs, +10 in the paint. Up 25 with 10 left.

81-46. Amazing D. 25 for Thom, 12, 12 for Miri, 11, 10 for Suli. +14 RBs, +20 in the paint. 8 TOs.

[Wayne23]

2/6: Xavier and ST Johns both lost so we're alone in 2nd, 1 back of first as we head for #9 Xavier, 19-5, 8-1. We're a slight favorite. We rebound better and they can be turned over. But they're 4-1 vs. ranked teams, 14-3 at home.

We're still ranked #1, NET #1.

2/7: Back and forth early. Up 2 after 10. Up 8 at the half. 13 for Thom, 11 for Savo. +6 RBs, 5 TOs. Up 11 with 10 to play.

81-74 and we're tied for 1st in the Big East. 26 for Thom who has been a scoring machine lately. 15, 9 for Brad, 16, 4 for Savo, 10 assists for Cole.

+10 RBs. Big win!

"Are you enjoying your last season, presumably, as a coach?"

"I am, Jess. I'm trying to savor it. But at the same time, every time we hit the road I miss you and Russell."

"Well, not much road left, and Russell and I are coming with you for the post season games."

[Wayne23]

2/9: 11-12, 4-6 Marquette is here. Their starting PG has a sprained toe. He's missed the last 3 games and will likely miss this one. They score 20 a game less than we do.

2/10: Early lead. Up 13 after 10. Up 42-23 at the half. 12, 3 for Brad, 11, 2, 3 for Thom, 9 for Cole. 4 TOs. Up 25 with 10 to go.

80-48. Yet another blowout. 21, 2, 3 for Thom who has scored more than 20 for 4 games in a row. 19, 5 for Brad, 12, 0, 5 for Cole. 7 TOs to 22.

Xavier lost again. We're 1 up on them and ST Johns.

Our home crowd has been great. We've sold out every home game.

[Wayne23]

2/13: At 14-11, 4-7 UConn. We won by 21 at home. They're an outside team, but they're struggling this season.

Earl Thom is #10 and climbing on the Norton list.

2/14: They score the 1st 8. We come back. Up 1 after 10. Up 4 at the half. Balanced scoring. The stats are very even. +7 from the line. Up 3 with 10 to go; too close! OT! Double OT!

80-77 in double OT! Will Witt hit a three with 3.6 left for the win. Whew!

18, 6, 6 for Witt, 15, 11, 3 for Miri, so the bench won it for us,. And I played those 2 guys for most of the 2 OT sessions. 12, 9 for Suli. 10 TOs to 27. +10 in the paint.

"That was so exciting, even on television."

"Too exciting! I'll miss the excitement but I won't miss the incredible stress. I'm amazed more coaches don't drop dead during these kinds of games."

"Stop!"

[Wayne23]

2/16: 4 games left in the regular season. We now have a 2 game lead.

13-12, 4-8 Seton Hall is here. We won by 11 there. This is a game we should win easily.

2/17: Slow start for both teams. Up 4 after 10. Down 4 at the half and I am NOT happy. We're shooting 28.6%. Up 5 with 10 left but we still look lousy.

73-51. We woke up very late. 47-21 in the 2nd half. 25, 5, 2, 3 for Thom. Held them to 30.4%. Not one of our better games. That's two in a row where we really didn't play well and the last 3 are all going to be challenging. We'd better wake up!

[Wayne23]

2/20: At #13 Georgetown, 21-8, 8-5; they're in 4th place. They beat us by 17 at our place; our worst loss of the season. They totally overpowered us inside last time and that's what we need to fix. We're usually stronger than our opponents inside. Let's see what we can do this time.

2/21: Close ear. Down 4 after 10 and their bigs are dominating ours again. Tied at the half. We played better inside for the last 10 minutes but Savo has 3 fouls. Miri is playing well behind him but their C has 16. Our bench is +8, keeping us in it. They're shooting 55.6% to our 46.7%. Up 2 with 10 left; it's a war!

85-76. Great win! A late run did it. 15, 7, 3 for SF Lon Brad, 12, 11 for Miri. 12. 3. 2. 3 for Thom.

8 fewer TOs, and +22 in the paint. Their inside starters only scored 5 more than ours, and our bench was +10 which more than made up for that. +9 from the line.

Up 3 with 2 to play so we've clinched the regular season Big East title.

A very costly win, #1 big man off the bench, Fero Miri sprained his wrist and is out for our last two regular season games. That means our first two bigs off the bench are out. Not good. We'll go with a three guard set up.