Re: Ballin' With The Bulldogs: The Dale Connover Story
Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2023 1:39 pm
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Date Rank Opponent Score W/L Record Leaders
11/14 #3 (n) Oral Roberts L 77-84 (OT) 0-1 D. Arnold (14 pts 12 reb 3 blk) S. Feeley (13 pts 16 reb 5 ast)
11/21 #23 #12 Cincinnati W 73-51 1-1 D. Arnold (29 pts 10 reb 7 blk) P. Walker (12 pts 3 reb 4 ast)
11/24 #23 #5 Arizona L 73-94 1-2 D. Arnold (16 pts 7 reb 3 blk) B. Moravec (16 pts 3 reb 7 ast)
11/28 @ #2 Maryland L 63-85 1-3 K. Thomas (11 pts 4 reb 1 ast 1 stl) D. Arnold (10 pts 13 reb 4 ast)
12/1 Villanova W 78-54 2-3 D. Arnold (14 pts 10 reb 2 blk) J. Dillon (14 pts 9 reb 1 ast 2 stl)
12/5 Gonzaga W 62-56 3-3 D. Arnold (15 pts 12 reb 4 blk) S. Feeley (13 pts 10 reb 3 ast 4 stl)
12/8 #11 Xavier W 72-45 4-3 P. Walker (28 pts 6 reb 2 ast) D. Arnold (15 pts 12 reb 2 ast 6 blk)
12/12 #21 @ #23 Duke L 67-90 4-4 P. Walker (21 pts 1 reb) G. Mamoepa (11 pts 2 reb 2 ast)
12/19 #16 Kansas W 77-73 5-4 S. Feeley (16 pts 5 reb 2 ast 1 stl) B. Moravec (17 pts 2 reb 1 ast)
After the Arizona loss our home streak ended, as did our streak of weeks being nationally ranked (our last unranked game as a team was November 26, 2034, five entire seasons ago. But we knew this was going to be a team learning experience, and we can’t prepare ourselves for the Big Ten and later tournament grinds without playing the best teams. Cupcakes set you up for nothing but failure even when you win. Still, these kids are young, and I had to work extra hard during practice to ensure we weren’t getting down on ourselves or becoming demoralized. The Villanova win was vindicating, as we had six players in double figures and our bench outscored theirs 23-19 despite their having played 14 deep against our ten. And against Gonzaga we came back from down 20-29 at the half to win a hard-fought battle by six, which was another solid confidence booster. When we handed Xavier only their second loss of the year by a massive 27-point margin I knew we had a team that could fight and be as good as we want.
Heading into the Big Ten season we’re 5-4 but ranked 23rd in the NET. #15 Michigan leads the conference at 9-1 (#4 NET) while Wisconsin (8-2 #72 NET) and Purdue (7-2 #22 NET) are right behind. So far seven teams in the Big Ten are inside the top 100 NET.