Jess Wynn, to do the impossible

[Wayne23]

Our first road game shapes up as a big challenge, at #13, 5-0 Wake Forest from the ACC. They are VERY tough to score on. Not many holes.

12/3: 29-26 after a tough first half.

They can play.

We can’t make a shot in the 2nd, 53-60. Skif and Herr had 41, the rest had 12 and shot 6-30.

-4, even, 33-42%, fouls were 4-15. I managed to get a T, which is unusual for me the calls were ridiculously one sided. We never went to the line in the entire game.

27, 5, 1, 1 for Skif, 14, 8, 1 for Herr, 6, 1, 8 for Brin.

Another tough one, at #14, 5-1 Temple from the A10. Their PG is very tough and they play very good D. BUT… they just lost to New Hampshire. It’s all about containing their PG.

12/7: Awful 1st half. Down 17 at one point and 26-40 at the break.

Not making shots again, 32%. Not taking care of the ball, 13 TOs. Their PG has 19, 5, 3. We talk about all of the above and I get on the guys for not working hard enough, which they weren’t.

We play much better in the second and it comes down to the wire. We close to down 5 with 1:07 left, closest since the early minutes of the game.

We bring it down and Skif hits a 3 with a hand in his face. Down 2, :42.

We’ve doubled their PG throughout the half and do here, and we block his shot and the ball goes out of bounds off them, :18.

We bring it down and their PG fouls Joad, 1 and 1, :07, and #5 for the PG. He hits the 1st. He hits the 2nd and it’s tied.

We steal the in bounds pass, work it to Fenn who hits a 6 footer. They don’t get a shot off and the final is 60-58. Great comeback!

+10, -1 (only 5 TOs in the 2nd), 44-38% (56% in the 2nd).

13, 8, 4, 2 for Skif, 12, 7 for Fenn, 12, 1, 6, 2 for Brin, 10, 5, 1, 1 for Herr, 7, 8, 1, 2 for Joad.

We held their PG to 6, 2, 2 in the 2nd, great job by Brin and Skif.

Yet another tough road game, at 3-3 Utah from the Pac 12. 1 good win, 1 bad loss. These guys aren’t as good as the teams we’ve been playing but it’s a road game and they aren’t bad.

12/10: Another battle. We go down 7 but battle back to 31-33 at the half.

I tell the guys I like the way they fought back. We need to stop their PG who has 5 threes and 17 points, and we need to take care of the ball, (11 TOs).

Another down to the wire game, the last 5 minutes are back and forth. With :55 left it’s tied.

We foul their C who hits the first and misses the 2nd, down 1, :33.

We come down, work it to Fenn who gets fouled and hits both. Up 1, :17.

They bring it down, try to get it to their SG but Skif steals with :06 left and takes it all the way for a layup with :02 left. They never get a shot off, 71-68.

+9, +2 (4 TOs in the 2nd), 46-42%, fouls 11-21.

16, 5, 2, 1 for Skif, 13, 5, for Fenn, 8, 6, 3 for Brin, 7, 10, 2 for Herr, 5, 5, 5, 1 for Joad, 10, 3, 2 for Bard from the bench, and 5 each for Price and Whit.

Most we’ve gotten from the bench all year.

Held their SG to 3 points in the 2nd.

We’re 7-2 against a strong schedule.

[Wayne23]

3-4 Mississippi State, SEC is in. 1-3 vs. ranked teams and they lost to Utah. SG and C are all they have.

12/14: 38-19 at the half.

Great D and very efficient O. 3 TOs.

More of the same on O. The D slipped a bit but it didn’t matter, 82-54.

+3, +9 (6 TOs for the game), 50-32%.

16, 8, 1 for Fenn, 14, 3, 2, 1, 1 for Skif, 9, 9, 1, 1, 1 for Joad, 9, 2, 6, 1 for Brin, 10, 3, 2, 1, 2 for Jose from the bench.

At #23 Oregon, 6-3, Pac 12. They haven’t beaten the good teams but they have some very good players. This could be a challenge.

12/17: We again fall behind early but we’re up 35-28 at the half.

They’re killing us on the boards which is unusual for us. Our D is saving us. We seem to have a hand in the shooter’s face on every shot. We need to stop their inside game.

And we do. We build the lead to 12 and hang on. They get it to 4 twice but no closer. 66-58 at the end.

-11, -1, 42-30%. D did it for us.

23, 4 for Skif.

At 5-5 UNLV for our last pre-conf. game. Weak schedule. Their PG can play but they are loose with the ball.

12/21: Great 1st half, 44-25.

Found the open man on O and snagged about every RB. Need to contain the PG but that’s about it.

No threat in the 2nd, 77-59 is the final.

+28, +1, 39-39%.

26, 4, 1 for Skif, 18, 6, 1 for Fenn, 10, 15, 2, 1 for Joad, 2, 4, 9, 1, 1 for Brin and 10 RBs for Herr. Good work form the bench.

Can’t believe we aren’t ranked, RPI #12 and some great wins over ranked teams. 10-2 going into conf. play.

[Wayne23]

Mom and dad get here on 12/29. Here for a couple of months again.

6-5 Ark.-Pine Bluff is in to start conf. play. Mediocre record vs. a mediocre schedule. 2 starters out with major injuries.

12/31: 41-20 at the half.

Skif is making lots of shots and we’re getting lots of rebounds.

More of the same in the 2nd, 79-50.

+25, +5, 45-39%.

33, 3 for Skif, 9, 12, 2 for Joad, 8, 9, 2 for Fenn, 7, 9, 4, 4 for Herr, 6, 4, 7 for Brin. Everybody played.

At Alabama A & M, 9-3, 0-1. They beat 2 ranked teams so we’re taking this one seriously.

1/4: Great start, 31-16 at the half.

Our D wouldn’t let them do anything, and all 5 of our starters were playing well on both ends.

2nd half very different from the 1st. Our D went out the window. They never quite caught us but they came close a few times, 64-57. We got terribly sloppy.

+23, -8 (20 TOs), 39-40%, 7 fouls to 17, which was the difference.

18, 7, 2, 2 for Fenn11, 7, 5 but 7 TOs for Brin, 6, 16, 4 for Joad, 13, 5, 3, 2, 1 for Herr, 10, 4 for Skif. I don’t like sloppy play so we’ll work on that.

9-4, 2-0 Jackson State is in. Won 7 of 8. Their 2 can play.

1/7: 46-40 at the half.

A real shoot out. We need to stop their back court.

We do, 76-63.

+5, +2, 46-42%.

19, 3 for Skif, 13, 6 for Joad, 7, 6, 1, 1, 2 for Bard from the bench, and 6, 2, 4 for Whit. 30, 9, 7 from the bench made the difference.

Finally ranked, #24, RPI #6.

[Wayne23]

5-9, 1-2 Grambling is in. Awful with the ball and they don’t play D.
1/11: 47-26 at the half.

No contest. Their C is playing a little but no one else is. We’re playing great ball.

73-43.

+20, +11 (50 RBs, 7 TOs), 37-34%.

29, 1, 1 for Skif, 13, 11 for Joad, 7, 8 for Fenn, 8, 6 for Whit, 4, 6, 7, 2, 1 for Skif. Everyone played.

At 5-10, 1-3 Alabama State. Somehow beat Seton Hall. Lost 5 of last 6. No D, starting PF is out with an injury.

1/14: 36-26 at the half.

We’re flat.

We stay flat, 71-60.

Their back court scored too easily.

+6, -1 (12 TOs), 42-37%.

28, 8 for Skif, 14, 7, 1 for Fenn, 9, 4, 7 for Brin.

#20, RPI #11.

8-8, 3-2 New Orleans is in. Starting SF flunked off the team. No D.

1/18: 40-20 at the half.

They’re awful.

They’re still awful, 73-43.

25, 3, 1 for Skif, 25, 5, 1, 1, 2 for Fenn,6, 12, 1 for Joad.

2 games up on the conf. 16-2, 6-0.

Dad says it’s time to leave this school. There’s no challenge in the conf. and I won’t grow as a coach unless I have to overcome challenges. I agree. Hope I get some decent offers in April.

Dad is helping at practice but he isn’t here every day and he isn’t coming to road games. Part of that is his age but a bigger part is the no challenge thing.

[Wayne23]

At 6-11, 4-2 Texas Southern.

1/21: Surprised in the 1st, It’s close all the way. Down 38-39 at the half.

Not taking care of the ball and not getting out on the three, they’ve hit 5 of them. Whenever we start to pull away they hit a three.

Same story in the 2nd, 72-72 and it’s OT.

They get 5 more threes in the 2nd. I am not happy with the D and with the ball handling.

The OT is the same story. They’re up 2 with 1:01 left.

We bring it down and work it to Fenn inside for a lay up to tie it with :40 left.

They work the clock and take a 14 footer which misses.

Joad gets the RB with :08 left. We bring it down, try to work it inside but can’t get it there. Skif takes a 15 footer which goes in at the buzzer, 81-79. We got a little lucky in this one.

+15, -1 (16 TOs), 45-48%, fouls were 15-22.

It’s good that we were challenged but we shouldn’t have been by this team. Dad says it was just an off night but we shouldn’t have played this poorly. We never adjusted, never solved the problem with the threes, never improved our ball handling. We’ll work on all of that at practice.

#17, RPI #11.

At 7-11, 2-5 Southern. They’re streaky. Just won after 5 losses after 5 wins. No D. Sloppy. Let’s see if we can play better on the road than we did last game.

1/25: 30-19 at the half. No complaints about the D.

Same story in the 2nd, 64-39.

Great D, good work by the starting 5.

+21, +6 (10 TOs), 38-36%.

19, 3 for Skif, 10, 11, 2, 1, 1 for Joad, 10, 5, 6 for Brin, 9, 7, 2, 5, 1 for Herr, 4, 9, 3 for Fenn.

Back home with 8-11, 3-5 Prairie View. They haven’t won on the road all season.

1/28: 36-19 at the half.

The great D continues.

64-51.

They doubled Skif for the whole game but Fenn, as well as Bard and Jose from the bench took over. Brin was in foul trouble most of the way and we were sloppy as a result. Joad had a poor game.

+22, -4 (18 TOs), 40-39%.

20, 13, 1 for Fenn, 12, 7, 5 for Jose, 12, 7 for Bard.

3 game lead with 7 to play. #16, RPI #9. 19-2, 9-0.

[Wayne23]

At 12-8, 5-4 Mississippi Valley State. Lots of holes but this could be a tough road game.

2/1: Down as many as 14 in the 1st, 24-35 at the half.

13 TOs, not playing much D, standing around on O. Worse than all of that, Brin and Skif both got in early foul trouble on bad calls.

We play catch up all the way and never quite get there the closest we come is 4, and that’s on a 3 at the buzzer, 62-66. We didn’t play well but the refs really did us in. Brin fouled out in 24 min., and Skif played 16 due to fouls. 3 bad calls against Skif and 2 against Brin. I got T’d up and very nearly got a 2nd.

+17, -5, 41-47%.

13, 7, 3 for Jose (who also had 4 fouls), 10, 11 for Joad, 14, 6, 1, 1 for Fenn. Just an awful night.

The aim is to bounce back and we’ll try to do it at home vs. 2nd place East Tennessee State, 11-10, 7-3. They’ve won 6 of 7. They don’t play much D and their strength is inside.

2/4: 25-20 at the half.

Great D but not much O. We’re doing a lot right on O but missing open shots.

We hit a few more in the 2nd, 61-48 at the end.

We weren’t great but we beat our #1 conf. rival.

+2, +8 (9 TOs), 39-34%.

28, 2 for Skif, 7, 19, 1, 1 for Joad, 7, 3, 10, 1, 2 for Brin.

#14, RPI #11, 20-3, 10-1, up 3 with 5 to play.

At 11-11, 5-6 Ark.-PB. Beat them by 29 at home. They’ve alternated wins and losses for the last 8 games. They won their last. Starting PG and 6th man both out with injuries. Some inside strength.

2/8: 38-33 at the half.

We never trailed in the 1st but we’re letting them score too easily. We’ll work on it.

We do, 71-58. As with our last game we didn’t play very well but we won.

+19, -7 (16 TOs), 44-41%.

26, 3, 1 for Skif, 11, 9, 1 for Joad, 10, 8 for Herr, 6, 6, 8 for Brin but 4 fouls again, 8, 5, 3 for Fenn.

[Wayne23]

17-6, 8-4 Alabama A & M is in. They are the only team 3 behind us, everyone else is 4 or more. A win would clinch 1st place. Won by only 7 there. They’ve won 5 straight, 6 of 7. Playing their best ball of the season.

2/11: 41-31 at the half.

Great O but we gave up 7 threes. I make a lot of noise about getting on the shooter.

We give up only 3 threes in the 2nd, 78-58.

-1, +8 (8 TOs), 54-38%, fouls 11-18.

21, 2, 4, 1 for Skif, 15, 4, 1 for Fenn, 15, 3 for Bard, 7, 2, 9, 2, 1 for Brin.

#11, RPI #9. Our highest rank ever.

Joad hurt a knee, out about a week. He’ll miss at least one game but we’ve clinched so not a big deal.

At 14-10, 7-6, Jackson State. We won by only 13 at home. They’ve been up and down. 2 and 4 can play.

2/15: 26-22 at the half.

Good D but missing shots and not moving without the ball.

We fix it, much better in the 2nd, 61-45.

+12, -1, 37-25%. D won this one.

10, 11 for Bard filling in at C, 11, 7, 1, 3 for Fenn. Our guards were not sharp and Brin had 4 fouls yet again.

Joad is 100%.

[Wayne23]

At 8-17, 4-10 Grambling, they’re alone in the cellar. 2-2 in their last 4 which is their best stretch of the season. They aren’t very good but right now they seem to be playing fairly well. We’d better be awake.

2/18: 29-24 at the half.

Good D but we’re flat and just going through the motions. I try to wake them up in the locker room.

All kinds of bad news in the 2nd. Herr strains a knee with about 4 minutes left and he’s out, probably for awhile. Immediately afterward Brin fouls out. A 5 point lead becomes a 7 point deficit and we can’t quite catch them. A 3 with :06 makes it 60-61 and that’s the way it ends.

+7, -2 (18 TOs), 38-44%.

18, 5, 2, 3 for Skif, 14, 5 for Herr before he got hurt, 8, 10, 2, 1 for Joad. I was not impressed tonight and they’ll know it at practice.

Herr is out about two weeks.

We close at home with 10-16, 6-9 Alabama State. We won by only 7 there. I make it clear that I expect us to be sharp tonight.

2/22: Solid O in the 1st but the D is only fair, 45-32.

Not a great 2nd, 73-61. Not pleased.

+5, -4 (16 TOs), 54-37%.

25, 3 for Skif, 13, 5, 4 , 1 for Fenn, 8, 2, 6, 1, 3 for Brin, 11 RBs for Joad. We need to be better than this if we hope to go anywhere in the post-season.

24-4, 14-2, #12, RPI #12 at the end of the regular season.

Herr will be back for the tourney.

[CoachC]

Get em rollin' in the conference tourney

[Wayne23]

Let's hope. They've been flat lately. Sometimes you can wake 'em up and sometimes you can't.