Way Back When

[Wayne23]

11/21: We play #2 seed NC ST, 1-1 in the first round of the Fallen Heroes tournament. We're the #7 seed. I think we're better. Their C has averaged 21.5, 1.0 in their first 2 games. Deon Daws will have his hands full!

Game time: We take an early lead. Up 12 after 10. 59-44. We're scoring on almost every possession. Our D isn't very good but theirs is nonexistent; we're shooting 62.5% to 55.2%. 16 for Mass, 14 for Grun. Arch has 3 fouls, as does their C, who has not impressed us. Only 3 turnovers. We get the lead to 20.

103-86. 7 players with 10 or more led by Dan Mass with 20, 9, 4, and Kurt Grun with 18, 4, 3. 10 TOs. We held their C to 9 and 4.

[Wayne23]

11/22: #3 seed Wake Forest, 2-1 in the semifinal. We think we're the better team. They can score, especially outside.

Game time: Very slow start for both teams. We miss our first 8 shots. Up- 2 after 10, but both teams are shooting horribly. Then we start to hit and open up a lead. 38-24 at halftime. 7 and 13 for Grun, 13 for Dori, 10 for PG Tom Laws. Both Dori and C Deon Daws have 3 fouls. They are shooting 21.2%. +24 in the paint. They get back into it. We're not playing well in the 2nd. Down 7 with 10 left. Tied with 4 to go. OT!

91-73 in OT. We were incredible in OT, 22-4. We blew a 16 point lead in regulation then came back to tie it at the end. 22, 7 for Dori, and the staff is going to look at the lineup. 17, 16 for Grun, 14, 2, 7, 3 for sub guard Colt Reed, 13, 2, 3 for Laws. +30 for the bench. +30 in the paint.

We're giving Dori more minutes but we're not starting him. We like the spark he gives us from the bench.

[Wayne23]

11/23: #5 seed Missouri, 2-2, in the title game. They score 30 fewer a game than we do.

Game time: Down 1 after 10. 27-23 after a low scoring 1st half. 9 and 6 for Grun. Up 8 with 10 to play.

65-54 and the title. Very good defense. 16, 13 for tournament MOP Carl Dori. 16, 9 for Grun, 12 for Arch. +15 for the bench. +14 down low.

It took 8 years to get invited to an in season tournament and we won it.

There are lots of operatic type songs being sung these days. “O Sole Mio” is my favorite.

[Wayne23]

12/6: 4 home games. We win all 4.

Big win over Louisville, 88-64. Our back court couldn't miss, 22, 2, 4 for Arch, 19, 3, 5 for Laws, 9 for #3 guard Snee. +18 RBs, only 9 TOs.

That win put us in the Top 25 at #24.

Then it was 90-71 over Rutgers. 16, 9, 5 for Daws, 12, 12 for Dori. 38 for the bench. +16 in the paint and only 9 TOs again.

A ridiculous score of 80-41 over Vermont. 13, 10 for Grun, 12, 7, 3 for Arch. 14, 5 for sub F/C Jam Sear in only 12 minutes. +21 RBs, 6 TOs.

Finally, it was 91-62 over Kent ST. 24 for sub guard Aki Snee, 17, 4 for Dori. 56 points for the bench. 10 TOs.

We're 8-1 after the OT loss in our opener.

Mrs. O'Brien asked if I was lonely. Honestly, I'm not. I'm busy every minute, and I'm quite content with my life!

[Wayne23]

1/3/1909: 4 more wins as we come to the end of pre-conference play.

92-72 at Auburn. 20, 5 for Arch, 17, 6, 3 for Dori, 13, 6, 3 for Grun. +18 RBs.

Back home and a 67-52 win over Murray ST. 15, 5 for Dori.

93-64 over Northeastern at home. 20, 3, 4 for Grun, 19, 1, 4, 4 for Mass, 16, 9, 3 for Daws. +40 in the paint, +16 RBs, 11 TOs.

Finally, it was 88-73 over Oklahoma ST here. 10, 11, 7, 3 blocks for Daws.

We're 12-1, 12 game win streak. Interestingly enough we have dropped out of the Top 25 despite a NET of 7.

+19.6 PPG, #1 in points and margin, +12.4 RBs, -4.7 TOs, +6.4 assists.

Sub Carl Dori leads us in scoring with 14.2. Arch gets 12.4, Grun 12.0. Grun leads in rebounding with 7.8, Dori gets 7.2, Daws 6.8.

The question is whether we can have this kind of success in Conference C.

Something weird seems to have happened way out in the wilds of Siberia. It seems that thousands of trees are knocked down and everything for miles is just knocked flat. I don't think anyone knows what caused this. Doesn't seem like an earthquake.

[Wayne23]

1/20: We started with 2 ranked teams.

69-50 over #24 Memphis here. 18, 2, 3 for #3 guard Aki Snee. 11, 14 for Daws, 14, 4 for Arch. We led all the way. Good inside work.

82-56 at #23 Oklahoma, another one that we led all the way. 23, 2, 3 for Arch, 17, 6 for 1st big off the bench, Carl Dori, 11, 3, 6 for Laws. +14 in the paint. Our guards completely outplayed theirs.

Then our first loss since the season opener, 61-77 at Nevada. Down 1 at the half but we were completely ineffective in the 2nd. 13, 17 for Daws, 11, 5 for Sear. No one else did much of anything. We shot 28.2%, 3-18 on threes, which explains the loss.

I expect the occasional off night and when the shots are not dropping it is difficult to win.

We bounced back with a road win at UCLA, 77-63. We led all the way. 13, 2, 7 for both Laws and Snee, 10, 12 for Daws, 12, 7 for Grun.+16 inside, +14 RBs.

A lovely new song, “I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now.” I still love music and go to every concert I can.

[Wayne23]

2/5: 83-67 over Mississippi ST here. 20, 10 for Dori, 16, 9, 3 blocks for Grun, 13, 3, 3 for Laws. Big edge inside.

Next came a real battle, 70-65 at Arizona. They led by 12 at the half, and by as many as 20. It was a LONG way back; we held them to 24 in the 2nd half. 21, 1, 2, 4 for Arch, 13, 8 for Dori. They committed lots of fouls, we were +16 from the line. Once again we controlled the paint.

Then came an easy home win over AZ ST, 83-56. 25, 11, 3, 4 blocks for Grun. Only 6 TOs and strong inside play.

81-51 over Iowa ST here. 16, 4, 3, 3 for Mass, 18, 3 for Dori, 10, 3, 7, 3 for Arch, 11 each for Grun and Sear.

We're 19-2, 7-1, tied with #19 Michigan for 1st place. We're ranked #10, #8 NET.

I still enjoy walking whenever the weather allows. It has been a very snowy winter so it has not been possible to walk all that often and I miss it.

[Wayne23]

2/19: 4 more wins, but the 4th is costly. More on that later.

First was an easy road win, 83-57 at Marquette. Our guards cam up big, 18, 1,6 for Laws, but 7 turnovers, 17, 1, 3 for Arch. We owned the inside.

75-65 over Clemson here, our closest game of these four, but we led by 22 at the half and the final was as close as it got in the second half. 16, 12 for Dori, 14, 5 for Mass, 11, 7, 3 for Grun. +14 RBs, +20 in the paint. 11 turnovers.

89-72 at Houston. Up by only 4 at halftime. 20, 1, 4, 4 for Arch, 17, 6, 3 for Grun.

Finally, it was 89-54 at Seton Hall, a game we led all the way. 14, 6 for Grun, 14, 5 for Dori. +28 in the paint. 10 turnovers.

Midway through the 2nd half Carl Dori strained a hamstring. He will miss our next 3 games. Jam Sear will get his minutes.

“Put on your old Grey Bonnet” is the newest hit song.

[Wayne23]

3/5: 63-55 in a close win over Brigham Young here. We led by only 1 at the half, and the outcome wasn't sewn up until there were about 2 minutes left in the game. 12 and 12 for Grun, 12, 5 for Sear. It was a poor shooting night.

Our worst loss of the year T #22 Memphis, 61-86. We shot 34.9% to their 50.8%. It was even inside. The only thing we did well was to take care of the ball, only 8 turnovers. -10 for the bench, 2 threes to 8. We beat them by 19 at home but not tonight!

67-57 over #25 Oklahoma in Smithfield. We took an immediate lead and got it to 20, then never let them get close. 17, 3, 4, 5 for Arch, 12, 6, 4 for Mass.

In our final regular season game Carl Dori returned from the injured list and we beat Nevada, 81-63 at home. 15, 9, 3, 3 for Grun, 14m 5 for Dori, 13, 3 for Sear. Very good inside play.

We finish at 26-3, 14-2, a 1 game lead over #12 Michigan in Conference C, 4 or more over the rest of the field. We showed we can be beaten though, losing twice badly in conference.

+16.8 PPG, #1 in points and margin. +9.3 RBs, -5.6 turnovers but 13.1 which is too many. +5.5 assists.

Ric Arch led us in scoring but with only 12.7. Dori had 11.9, Grun 11.8. Grun led in rebounds with 7.7, Daws got 7.4.

We head for the post season!

[Wayne23]

3/9: We play #9 seed Oklahoma, 19-11, 8-8, in the quarter finals. We won by 26 there and then only by 10 here last week. We have not been playing well lately. If we right the ship we should have no trouble!

3/10: We take an early lead but it's close. Down 2 after 10. They go on a run. We come back. 35-32 after a raucous first half. Statistics are quite even in all categories. Down 2 with 10 to play. We take the lead late and finally stretch it out.

83-65 but it was close until the final few minutes. 16, 4, 4 for #3 guard Aki Sne, 14, 7 for sub F/C Carl Dori, 13, 2, 5, 3 for Arch. We outplayed them inside. 21 turnovers but they had 22.