DDSCB 23: Small Town Boy

[Wayne23]

1/17: At 8-7, 2-2 American next. We think we’re the better team but they’re tough at home and they have a very good C.

1/18: It’s close early. Up by 2 after 10. It stays close with lots of lead changes.

34-30 at halftime. Pick is in foul trouble again.

We score the first 7 in the 2nd and lead by 12 after 10. They fight back but never get closer than 5.

76-67. 20, 4, 5 for Garr, 18, 9 for Phil. +12 in the paint and +8 on 2nd chances despite Pick’s foul trouble.

Costly win. Wade Lane strained a calf and will be on limited duty for a couple of weeks. Tago will start at the Point and Sons will move to SG. We’re showing the typical midseason bumps and bruises.

A day off would help but the games are coming close together and I just can’t give them one. When I can I hold a light practice but that’s all I can do.

8-8, 4-1 Loyola is here. They have a decent outside game but we think we’re better inside. They’re one of the three teams tied for 1st.

1/21: Back and forth early then we go on a run. Up 3 after 10. It stays close.

50-46 at the half. Our forwards are both in foul trouble but Pick is not and he’s having a great game.

Back and forth for 5 minutes then we go on a huge 18-3 run and break it open. They never get close after that.

98-75. 24, 5 for Pick, 18, 3, 6 for Sons in his first game at SG, 7, 17, 6 for Murl. +19 RBs.

We’re alone in 1st in the conference.

At 7-10, 1-5 Lafayette, alone in last place. On paper it’s no contest but a game like this always scares me a little. Will they play over their heads? Will we be overconfident?

1/25: It’s close early and stays that way. Down 3 after 10. We’re flat.

39-40 at the break. I’m not the “kick butt’ type but I kick some butt in the locker room.

“You’re making a lousy team look pretty good. Move without the ball on O, pick up the switches on D and show these guys we’re the first place team. You should be winning easily. Show us the real BU!”

We start fast and build a 13 point lead. Then we relax a little and we’re up 7 with 10 left to play. They get it to a one possession game several times but never tie or take the lead.

79-73. Too close but we’ll take the win! 12, 10, 4 for Phil, 13, 7 for Murl, 15 with 5 blocks for Pick, and 16 for Sons. Tago is doing a good job at the Point. We won this one inside but our guards played well.

10-8, 5-2, 2nd place Colgate is here. This is a good team, especially inside. We’ll need to play well and stay out of foul trouble. Lane is still not ready to come back but he will be after this game.

1/28: We start fast and open up a 10 point lead. Up 7 after 10.

41-38 at the half but Phil and Garr are in foul trouble, and we’re not winning the inside game.

They go on a 12-3 run to start the 2nd and we’re scrambling. Down 6 with 10 to go. They get the lead to 12.

81-91. I HATE to lose at home! 19, 5 for Pick, 18, 4 for garr, 16, 3, 3 for Sons, we didn’t get it done inside.

The loss drops us into a 2 way tie for 1st with Colgate, 1 ahead of 2 teams.

Lane is back. All of our recruits hit our SAT score.

At 8-11, 4-4 Navy. They have a very good C but not much else.

2/1: We fall behind early then fall farther behind. Down 11 after 10. We’re flat. Both Pick and Murl are sitting with 2 fouls. We’re trading baskets late.

37-47 at halftime. Both Pick and Murl have 3 fouls.

They extend the lead to 19 early. Down 15 with 10 to play. We’re getting killed inside.

70-86. This is as bad as we’ve looked all season. Both Pick and Murl fouled out. 16, 4 for Sons, 13 for soph forward Ly Curk. No one else did much.

Post game press conference, excerpts: “Coach, two bad losses in a row. Are the wheels falling off the bus?”

“No. Every team has ups and downs. Every team, at least once in the season, goes through a bad stretch. We’re going to do all we can to see to it that this bad stretch ends here. We’ll be back!”

17-6, 6-3, in a 2 way tie for 2nd, 1 back of Colgate, at the halfway point in conference play.

At Holy Crock next. They’re 9-11, 4-5. We won by 15 at our place but they can be tough at home.

[Wayne23]

2/4: Slow start again and we’re down 9 early on. Down 8 after 10.

45-52 at the half. We’re not playing good D.

They get the lead back to 9 early then we finally wake up a little. Down 5 with 10 left to play. Down 2 with 59 seconds left.

79-76. Whew! Wade Lane hit two threes in the final minute, including the game winner as the buzzer sounded, and we survived. 21, 6, 2, 3, 4 for Lane, 15 in the second half. 16, 4 for Garr. Our starters
were much better than theirs but their bench killed ours. This was a real war, and it was a good one to win, especially since we’d lost our last 2.

12-9, 6-4 Army is here next. They beat us in double OT at their place. We had a LOT of trouble with both their C and their PG.

2/8: They take an early lead but we come back quickly. Up 3 after 10. The two Centers are really battling. Both are playing well.

51-43 at the break. Our 5 starters and Murl are all looking good. Both teams are shooting better than 55%.

It’s back and forth early but we’re holding our lead. Up 7 with 10 to go.

100-89. 23, 5 for Pick, 15, 5, 7, 4 for Lane, 19, 5 for Garr, 14, 7 for Phil, and 10 assists for Sons. +18 in the paint.

We’re now in a 3 way tie for 1st with Colgate and Bucknell, both of whom we play later.

Our 3rd sellout crowd. The support helped.

At 4-18, 2-9 Lehigh next. They gave us some trouble at our place before we won by 8. They give up 9 more than they score but that was true last time we played.

2/11: They score the first 9 points. Down 12 after 10 and we look terrible. We’re not hitting shots and not playing much D.

31-46 at halftime. I raise a little hell in the locker room then tell them what they need to do to fix it.

“It’s not too late. You can win this game!”

We start fast and cut the lead to 4, then they go on an 8-0 run. Down 13 with 10 to play.

70-85. 17, 5 for Lane, 14, 6 for Pick, but no one else did much and we let them shoot 52.5%. The inside game was even, This is not a team we should have lost to.

We’re now tied with Bucknell for 2nd, 1 back of Colgate, 1 up on American, with 6 to play. One thing in our favor is 4 of our last 6 are at home.

12-12, 8-4 Bucknell is here. This is the battle for 2nd place. We won by 3 there in a really tight game. Lane and Phil and good bench play won it for us. Their SF and C gave us fits.

2/15: Back and forth early. Neither team is shooting well. Up by 2 after 10. It stays close.

32-28 at the break. We have some guys in foul trouble but we’re holding them to under 35% shooting. We’re shooting barely 35%.

Poor shooting by both teams continues in the early going. Then we go on a run and get the lead to 16 with 10 to go. They chip away at the lead. 1:02 left and we’re up by 2.

63-59. This was just a weird game. Nobody could make shots. We won it inside, +13 RBs, +10 in the paint. Our bench was +7. We held their SF and C in check but again, no one was hitting shots. We’ll take the win.

I’d be okay not playing these guys in the conference tourney!

We’re alone in 2nd, 1 back of Colgate.

Post game press conference, excerpts: “Coach, you’re 20-7. Did you honestly think you’d get 20 wins at the start of the season?”

“My goal was to finish above .500 and contend for the Patriot League title. I never thought in terms of number of wins, but 20 is great. Hopefully we have a few more along the way.”

“Do you think you’re doing enough to make it to the NCAAs even if you don’t win the conference tourney?”

“I’m not even thinking about that. We have 5 more games before the post season and that’s where my focus is.”

14-10, 8-5 American is here. They’re just one game in back of us so this is another big game. We won by 9 there on good inside play.

[Wayne23]

2/18: It’s close early. Then they go on a mini-run and take a 7 point lead. We come back and trail by 1 after 10. Then we go on a run.

44-38 at halftime. Garr is red hot, 19 points.

We open with a run and get the lead to 14. Up 11 with 10 to go. We’re holding the lead late.

82-74. 30 and 6 for Garr in his best game of the season. Tago had 11 assists from the bench. A good home win!

We’re still 1 back of Colgate but now we’re 2 up on 3rd place with 4 to play.

At 10-15, 6-8 Loyola next. We won by 23 at our place. We’ve lost 2 of our last 3 road games though so we’re not counting this chicken until it hatches.

2/22: Pick has a minor calf injury but he’ll start.

It’s close early and stays close. Tied after 10. Still close late. 37-39 at the half. We have some foul trouble but so have they. Lane has a hot hand.

They score the first 6 then we go on a huge 19-4 run and take charge. Up 20 with 10 to go.

91-69. 26, 7 for Lane, 19, 6 for Pick, 10, 3, 10 for Sons.

Still 1 behind Colgate, 2 up on 3rd place, with 3 to play. It will come down to the game at Colgate.

13-13, 7-8 Lafayette is here. We won by 6 there. They have a very good C.

2/25: Back and forth early. Down 2 after 10. It stays close.

43-41 at the break. We need to play better inside.

We start fast and soon have a 12 point lead. A run puts us up 22 with 10 to play.

92-66. 24, 12 for Phil. All starters in double figures. Sons fouled out but Tago played well in his place.

We have now clinched 2nd place.

Next is the big one, at 18-9, 13-3 Colgate. The battle for 1st place. They won by 10 at our place, beating us in the backcourt. It was even inside. So our guards need to do better.

3/1: We open with a three then they score 8 points. Down 6 after 10. Sons picks up his 3rd foul late.

43-51 at the half. They’re outplaying us outside and on the bench. Pick and Garr are playing very well but it’s not enough, at least so far.

We tie the game after 5, then fall back. Down 7 with 10 to go. We can’t get closer than 4.

85-97. 27, 5 for Pick, 20, 4 for Garr, but Sons fouled out again and their backcourt outscored ours. They out rebounded us as well.

One game to play and we’ll finish 2nd in the conference.

13-15, 9-8 Navy is here. They crushed us by 16 at their place, beating us badly inside.

3/4: We start fast. Up 9 after 10.

36-28 at the half. Our inside players are doing much better than they did last time we played Navy.

7-0 run to start the 2nd. We’re up by 22 with 10 to go.

76-61. We never trailed. 18, 6 for Garr, 14, 11 for Phil, 14, 6 for Pick. +19 RBs, +14 in the paint.

3/5: We end the regular season at 24-8, 13-5, 1 back of Colgate, 3 up on 3rd place.

+7.7 PPG, +6.8 RBs, -2.5 TOs but 13.2 a game is too many.

Garr leads us in scoring with 14.2. All 5 starters get at least 10.4 and Murl gets 7.9, 6.8 RBs. Phil leads in RBs with 8.7. Sons gets 5.0 assists.

Post game press conference, excerpts: “Coach, 24-8, 2nd in the Patriot. BU hasn’t done this well in a very long time.”

“Positives work. We got our guys believing in themselves and playing together and good things happened.”

“Can you beat Colgate and win the tourney?”

“Well, we’ve got 2 games before that and we need to win both of them, so we’re not thinking about Colgate yet.

“Your NET is #42. Is that good enough to make the NCAAs even if you don’t win the conference?”

“I think if we get to the title game we’ll play in a tournament. Not sure which one.”

[Wayne23]

3/6: It’s 15-15, 8-10 Lafayette in the quarter finals. They finished tied for 6th in the conference. We beat them by 6, then by 26, in the regular season.

3/7: Back and forth early. They lead by 4 after 10. We’re winning inside but we’re not hitting shots.

38-41 at the half. Lots of lead changes. We’re not playing our best.

Down 9 early. Down 7 with 10 to play. We get it to 2 with 45 seconds left. We miss three late threes.

74-79. 20, 6, 6 for Sons, 11, 11, 2, 3, 3 for Phil, 13, 7, 4 for Garr. +14 RBs, +8 in the paint but we shot 37% to their 46%.

Post game press conference, excerpts: “Disappointing loss.”

“Very. We just didn’t play very well.”

“What does this do to your chances of playing in a post season tournament?”

“I think we did enough this season to be invited to one of the tourneys.”

3/12: Colgate wins the Patriot League tourney.

Our NET is 47. Let’s see what happens.

#11 seed in the big dance. We play #6 Dayton, 25-8. As usual, if we play well it will be our inside game vs. their outside game.

3/17: We take an early lead, going up by 6 after 2 ½ minutes. They come back then go on a run. Down 5 after 10. Both of our starting guards have 2 fouls.

38-46 at the half. We’re not playing good D and not controlling the inside.

Dayton scores the first 7 and we’re down 15. Down 17 with 10 to play. It’s not happening late.

76-89. 27, 6 for Garr. No one else did much. Phil fouled out and both guards had 4 fouls. -9 RBs, -12 in the paint, -18 for the bench.

Post game press conference, excerpts: “Coach, a disappointing post season.”

“Absolutely. I’m more than proud of what my guys did during the season but we didn’t play well in the post season. I’m disappointed, but again, proud of my guys. We’re going to miss Lane, Sons, Phil, and Murl, but we have some good looking young guys coming in.”

“Do you think you’ll lose anyone in the transfer pool?”

“That’s the great unknown. No one has expressed any real unhappiness so we’re hopeful, but let’s see what happens.”

[Wayne23]

4/3: Colgate upset #11 ranked Duke in the first round then lost to Dayton in the 2nd.

#2 ranked North Carolina is the national champ.

4/4: Awards: Wade Lane is Def. POY in the Patriot. Dave Pick is Frosh OY, and I get the coaching award. Quite and honor for a first year coach! Lane and Garr make the first team,

Del Phil makes the second.

4/9: I get phone calls from some pretty impressive schools but I’m not going anywhere.

4/23: I ask Len Pye for a facilities upgrade.

“We’re going to make that happen, Will. You guys had a great season and we significantly increased attendance so there’s money to upgrade.”

I’m thrilled. I’d say our facilities will climb from about C level to maybe B.

24-10, 2nd in the Patriot, went to the NCAA tourney. Pretty good season, the best for BU in a very long time.

Pick, Garr, Tago, and Curk are coming back and we have some great freshmen coming in. The future looks bright!

[Wayne23]

5/1: #31 recruiting class.

We can’t meet the Expected to Spend level. Simply don’t have the $. I’ll ask for money at the end of the season.

5/29: We lose Tago and forward Jeff Stan. Tago might have started at the Point. Stan didn’t figure to play much. We’ll try to pick up a good guard and a big guy in the transfer pool.

I’m talking with several transfers who could definitely make us better.

6/5: We offer to 2 seniors, a PG and a C. We get the PG.

6/9: We offer to a C. Got him! We’re definitely deeper!

6/26: 4 scholarships. We want 2 and 2.

We’re going to the Big Apple Camp again.

Looking at some good players, most of whom are showing interest.

My personal life is still nothing much to talk about. I’m not dating or seeing anyone.

7/31: We offer to 2 PGs, a PF, and a C. The C is a long shot but we think we have a real shot at the others.

9/4: Recruiting hard, both with the guys we’ve offered to and with some we haven’t.

9/11: The iffy guy said no. We offer to a C.

9/18: We get 3, lose 1. We get our #1, a PG, #96. A C, #291, and a PF, #327. Chasing a PG.

We beef up the schedule a bit. We’re back in the Coaches Classic.

9/25: We get the PG. All 4 recruits are good students and they should hit our SAT score.

10/2: First day of practice. Different this year. Last year it was all brand new. This year I come in with a strong knowledge base.

11/12: Press Conference (Excerpts): “Coach, you has a very successful first season here at BU but 4 of your top 6 players graduated and #7 transferred out. Are we in trouble this season?”

“I think we’re stronger than we were last season. We have some great freshmen and we managed to grab 2 transfers, both of whom will start. We’ll be fine.”

Here’s our lineup:

Senior transfer Jerry Reys is at PG. He may be our best player, an outstanding defender, very good passer, and a solid shooter.

Senior Mike Smit is at SG. He’s a very good passer and could play the Point.

#3 guard is frosh Ger Phil, a solid defender and a good passer. Our guards can all dish. Frosh Mike Hamm is next and has the same skills as Phil. Frosh Shay Rank will have a tough time getting minutes.

Senior Nate Garr is back at SF. He does most things well.

Soph Dave Pick moves from C to PF. We think this is a better position for him.

Senior transfer Evan Holt is at C. We have high expectations for him.

First big man off the bench is Junior Ly Curk. Curk is a top flight rebounder and can score. Soph Bob Shef is next on the depth chart and we hope we won’t need to play him much. We’re not deep inside. Bri Simm, a freshman, is next. He’s not ready for prime time. Injuries up front would really hurt.

We start at the Coaches Classic with #16 ranked, #3 seed Xavier. We’re #14 seed. Xavier looks very solid outside. We’ll need to play the game in the paint as much as possible to have a chance.

[Wayne23]

11/13: We start with a win! 92-84. We took an early lead then it went back and forth. They led by as many as 6 fairly early on. Then we took the lead and were up 6 at halftime. Garr got in foul trouble but our transfers, Reys and Holt, played really well.

In the 2nd we held the lead, and expanded it to 15 on three occasions. In the late going they never got closer than 4.

24, 2, 5 for PG Jerry Reys, with only 1 TO. 18, 14 for Holt, 19, 4 for Pick. Shef and Simm exceeded expectations from the bench. We were better inside and we held their guards down. Their SF had 34 but it didn’t matter.

#6 seed San Diego ST in the quarter finals. They beat the #11 seed by 15. Their SG and C both looked very, very good.

11/15: Another win, 68-56. We started fast and built a big lead early, going up by 20 with 10 to play. It was 38-21 at the half. We did the damage inside, dominating in the paint.

They battled back in the 2nd but never got closer than 7 points. 19, 10 for Garr, 16, 14 for Holt, 14, 7 for Pick. Reys did not play well, 6 TOs. +16 RBs, +12 in the paint.

#15 seed Old Dominion beat #2, then #7 to reach the semis. We think we have a big edge inside.

We made it to the finals last season. We’d sure like to do it again!

11/17: 85-67 and we’re in the title game! We jumped out to a quick lead and held it. We were up 12 after 10 but Holt picked up 2 fouls in the first 3 minutes. The bench came through though. Up 14 at the break.

We started strong in the 2nd, taking the lead to 22. We really never looked back from that point on.

14, 5, 3, 4 for Garr. 15 for Holt but he fouled out in only 10 minutes, not good. 13, 3, 5 for Reys, who looked good, 10, 7 for Pick. Sub F/C Bob Shef continues to impress; he had 14. +11 RBs+20 in the paint. Mike Smit isn’t getting it done at SG. We’re not ready to make a move but Ger Phil may get more minutes if this continues.

#1 seed, #6 ranked Illinois for the title. On paper we’re badly overmatched. We’ll play our game and do our best.

11/19: 54-65 in a defensive struggle. We played very good D but couldn’t score against their excellent D. It was close throughout the first half and we went into the locker room down 2.

They took over in the second when we continued to shoot poorly. 12, 6 for Garr, 11, 3, 4 for Reys, 13 for #3 guard Ger Phil, who will get more minutes. -16 RBs hurt.

Ranked! #17.

[Wayne23]

11/20: Northeastern, 1-2, is here. This is a team we should beat, especially at home.

11/21: 94-79. It was never a game. We took a lead immediately and got it to 10 quickly. Up 14 after 10. Up 19 at the half.

We got the lead to 25 early in the 2nd and coasted home from there.

94-79. 24, 1, 5 for Reys, 19, 7 for Garr, 16, 6, 4 for Pick, 13 for sub Ly Curk. Big edge inside, and +11 from the line. We shot 52.4%.

1-2 North Texas is here next. This is another team we should beat easily.

11/24: 84-53. And once again, it was never a game. We started fast and led by a dozen after 10, by 19 at halftime.

We coasted in the 2nd. 21 for Reys, who has a hot hand right now. 14, 9, 3 for Garr, 10, 11, 3, 2, 3 for Pick, 14, 6, 3 for Holt. We owned the paint.

Charleston, 1-4, is here. They give up 9 more than they score and we look much stronger inside.

11/28: 91-81. They never led. We took a quick 10 point lead, made it 15 after 10. Up 12 at the break.

We got the lead to 20 several times in the 2nd. I let the subs play and the final score was as close as it got. 27, 11 for Holt, his best game with us so far. 15, 4 for Curk, 12, 5, 5 for Phil, as the bench played well. +18 RBs, +30 in the paint.

We fall to #21 in the latest poll due to our weak schedule.

The 3 game home stand ends and we’re at 1-4 Alcorn ST. We should romp against this team but the road can trip you up. They’re banged up with a starter out and their SG with a bad leg.

12/1: 71-63. They gave us a lot of trouble, especially in the 1st half. They led by as many as 7, and were up by 2 at the break. Holt and Pick both had 3 fouls in the half.

We woke up in the 2nd but never led by more than the final margin. Alcorn ST was pesky.

Nobody had more than 11 points for us and that was sub Bob Shef. +22 in the paint saved us.

I met someone the other day. I like museums and go to them almost as often as I go to the library. Anyway, I got chatting with a guide at the Science museum . We really seemed to hit it off and we’re going to lunch day after tomorrow.

We’re 7-1, no longer ranked, NET #53.

[Wayne23]

Next up is 3-2 Weber ST here. They look solid and they’ve already played 2 ranked teams.

12/5: 106-83. We were on fire all night, shooting 62.3%. They stayed with us for most of the first half, but we pulled away in the 2nd. 27, 13 for Holt, 13, 0, 3, 4 for Reys, 14, 4 for Pick. +15 for the bench. +32 in the paint.

Our next 3 are away. Texas Southern is 1-5. They have a pretty strong inside game.

12/8: 93-100 in OT. We just didn’t play D and they went to the line 50 times! The officiating was ridiculous. We only went to the line 23 times. I picked up my first career technical.

We blew a 12 point lead in the second and a very late bad call allowed them to tie it at the line with 1.1 to play in regulation. In OT they had 13 to our 6; 9 of the 13 were from the line.

21, 4 for Holt, 17, 4, 3, 3 for Reys, 14, 3, 7, 3 for Phil, who is going to start at SG. No one fouled out for us but 6 guys ended with 4.

When asked about the officiating after the game I said, “I try not to talk about officiating, but it was spectacularly awful tonight. That’s all I’ll say.”

At 1-8 Chicago ST next. They give up 12.5 more than they score. Zwe have a big edge inside.

12/12: 80-73. I wasn’t happy with the way we played. We led all the way but we weren’t sharp.

25, 15 for Holt who was definitely sharp. 15, 3 for Garr, 11, 6 for Pick. +20 in the paint, +9 RBs. Ger Phil was adequate in his first start.

At 2-5 Northern Illinois. On paper we’re a big favorite but the road is rarely easy.

12/15: 93-75. We started fast and built a big early lead. We never trailed, and we led by as many as 26. 22, 8 for Pick, 22, 4 for Holt, 15, 1, 4 for Reys, 13, 4, 3 for Phil. An easy road win.

4-4 Southern Illinois is here. They have trouble scoring but they defend well.

12/19: 84-65. We started fast again, and like last game we never trailed. We led by as many as 28. 19, 5 for Garr, 21, 2, 3, 5 for #3 guard Mike Smit, who played a lot due to Ger Phil’s foul trouble. 15,
6, 4, 3 for Pick, 13, 3, 4 for Reys. We had a great deal of foul trouble but it didn’t affect the outcome.

Our final pre-conf. game is against #18 Texas Tech, 10-2. This is a very good team and we’ll have our hands full. They’re probably the best inside team we’ve faced all season.

12/26: 84-81. Hell of a game! It was close all the way. We led by 3 after 10 and by 6 at the half. They came back and took the lead early in the second, then we came back. We led by 7 with 1:03 to go and made our free throws at the end to hold the lead. Major foul trouble again, Phil and Holt both fouled out, Pick and Garr both wound up with 4.

12, 7, 7, 3 for Smit, 15, 6 for Holt, 17, 1, 3 for Garr, 13, 6, 4 for Reys. Our bench saved us.

1/1/2025: We end pre-conference play at 12-2, NET #24. Not ranked but close.

+11.0 PPG, +4.2 RBs, -5 TOs, with a very good 11.4.

Evan Holt leads us with 16.5 PPG, 7.8 RBs. Jerry Reys gets 13.6, with 3.9 assists. 12.4, 6.3 RBs for Pick, 12.3, 4.9 for Garr.

We’re picked to win the Patriot and we really want to do that this year.

First up in league play is 2-9 Lehigh, here. This is a team we should beat.