Jess Wynn, to do the impossible

[Wayne23]

Dad’s been here for a few days. He turned 80 in May and he says he feels it. His energy isn’t the same and he just looks tired. This isn’t easy for me; he’s always been my best friend and my #1 advisor and that may be about to change since I’m not sure he’s going to be up to it this year. I love this guy so much.

At #3 UCLA, 11-0. The battle of the undefeateds. They’ve played only 2 ranked teams. They have 4 excellent players and one good one. Not much bench but they haven’t needed it. This is our biggest challenge so far (but Arizona is #1 in the country).

12/30: 31-34 at the half.

They led by 11 with 7:21 left, then we finally woke up. For the last 7 min. we outplayed them. In the locker room I simply told them to stay with the tight D that they played at the end, and to drive on their guards since both were in foul trouble.

The D was incredibly tight, we held them to 12 points in the 2nd. 55-46 at the end.

+8, +5, 29-30% (great D on both sides, ours was a little better), fouls were 7-29 so we won at the line, or pretty much, +8 on free throws.

19, 9, 5, 1, 3 for Tark who was immense in the 2nd, 12, 2, 1 for Lowe and the bigs rebounded- 12 for Qual and 8 each for Asp and Young. Great win!

#6 (which makes no sense), RPI #1. Happy 2024!

7-5, 1-0 Utah is in. 3 embarrassing losses, all recently.

1/3: 39-21 at halftime.

In complete control.

More of the same in the 2nd, 74-47.

+16, +3, 43-26%.

29, 6, 6, 1, 5 for Tark, 18, 2 for Lowe, 8 RBs each fro Asp, Qual, Young.
Now the big one, at #1, 16-0, 2-0 Arizona. Beat 6 ranked teams, don’t give up points, Incredible inside game. Guards are weak. This is our biggest challenge so far, esp. since it’s on the road. Good news is we play these guys at home later on. Home court advantage can be a big deal.

1/6: 26-28 at the half.

Qual picked up 2 fouls in less than 3 minutes. Their C is immense and the PF is nearly as good. We’re turning them over but we can’t compete on the boards.

Close all the way in the 2nd. We build a 6 point lead with 4:22 left.
They come back to tie the score and take a 3 point lead with 1:44 left, their biggest of the game. The lead changes hands three more times and with :11 left they have the ball down 1.

They work it around and get it into their C who scores the winning hoop, 42-43. Hell of a game. I thought he pushed off but nobody wants to hear it.

After the game I look at the video and the guy pushed off big time. Oh well.

-9, +12, 26-33%. A real defensive struggle. They didn’t let us score and we didn’t much let them.

12, 5, 1 for Lowe, 8, 4 for Sigg, our most effective big. Qual played 9 minutes. They are a tough, tough team, their C had 18 and 11 and their PF had 13 and 18. Still, we can beat them at our place if we play well.

[PointGuard]

Losing by just 1 point AT Arizona...nothing to be ashamed of. Kick there butts when they come to Seattle later this year. Nice win over UCLA, btw.

[Wayne23]

That's the plan, butt kicking at home. We'll see how that works out.

[Wayne23]

1/8: #2 in the polls. I agree, only Arizona is better. UCLA is #3 so our conf. is 1, 2, 3.

9-6, 1-2 USC is in. One quality win. I don’t think they have our talent.

1/10: It’s close all the way in the 1st, 31-34 at the end.

Too many tough games? I rally the troops at halftime.

We take control early in the 2nd and win 65-51.

+16, +7, 39-37%.

16, 5, 3 for Tark, 13, 2, 2, 1 for Lowe, 7, 10, 3 for Qual. Great bench play.

At 5-10, 0-4 Washington State. 7 losses in a row. Not much talent.

1/13: 38-43 at the half.

Didn’t expect this but then I expected my guys to play. In the locker room I tell them they deserve to be in this spot because they stood around expecting to win just by showing up. Tark and Qual both got themselves in foul trouble, which didn’t help. I tell the guys what we need to do to win and I tell them I expect maximum effort or THEY can expect to sit; they can see that I mean it.

Weird, weird half, we win it 24-9 to win the game 62-52. 9 points? Great D for sure but they simply couldn’t make a shot.

+12, +1, 42-31%.

15, 8 for Asp, 11, 1, 7 for Tark, 9, 2, 2 for Wyck, 6, 9, 1, 1, 3 for Young. Not our best game, by far.

9-9, 2-3 California is in. Lost 3 of 4.

1/17: 38-33 at the half.

Another slow start. We never trailed in this one but we never really took charge either.

Much better 2nd half, 77-47. We played solid ball.

+12, +7, 48-38%.

21, 6, 6, 3 for Asp, 18, 2, 1 for Lowe, 14 each for Tark and Qual, 3, 10, 5, 3 for Young.

Dad comes to practice about twice a week and comes to our home games; he doesn't travel with the team. He has good ideas but he doesn't have any energy. I talk to mom and she tells me he has leukemia and some other stuff, and it is draining him. He didn't want me to know.

[Wayne23]

At 6-12, 2-4 Colorado. Not an impressive team.

1/20: 28-30 at the half.

Same old story and it’s getting really old. I raise all kinds of hell in the locker room, don’t diagram a thing, and spend the last 7-8 minutes in the coach’s office.

They come out and hold the opponents to 7- for the half, 61-37.

+13, +8, 37-34%, fouls were 8-17.

17, 2, 1, 2 for Lowe, 13, 8, 1, 1 for Young, 12, 6, 8, 2, 2 for Tark but 6 TOs, 8 and 8 for both Asp and Qual.

Sigg sprained a toe, out about two weeks.

Arizona lost to Ore. ST, who had not yet won in conf., so we’re in a 3 way tie for 1st with Stanford. UCLA has slipped to 4-3.

#20, 12-6, 5-2 Oregon is in. Up and down. Their very good C broke his leg.Great outside game. This is a good team.

1/24: 51-23 at the half.

We worked hard on starting fast and it helped.

They try to mount a comeback and they do, but the gap was too much to overcome, 80-66.

-1, +3, 42-51%.26, 10, 1 for Asp, 20, 2, 1, 3, 1 for Lowe, 8, 1, 7, 1 for Wyck. Tark and Qual got into foul trouble again.

At 8-12, 1-7 Oregon State. Their only win is against Arizona, go figure! I’m a little nervous about that but these guys don’t look like much.

1/27: 36-29 at the half.

They’re playing tough. We need to get out on the shooters, 6 threes!

2nd half was a lot like the first, same 7 point margin, allowed 4 more threes, so the final was 67-53.

+14, +5, 41-40%.

14, 5, 13, 1, 3 for Tark, 21, 3 for Lowe, 11, 8, 2 for Asp, 8, 11, 2 for Qual.

Tark is still #1 in the country in blocks and #2 in assists.

Still #2, RPI #1. 21-1, 8-1. Brad Tark is #10 on the Norton List and Josh Asp is #15. Tark is too low and Asp might be a little too high.

4 of the top 7 teams in the country are in our conf.

[Wayne23]

#7 Stanford, 19-3, 7-2 is in. They’re alone in 3rd. Lost badly to Arizona and UCLA last week. 2 and 3 can PLAY!

1/31: 17-29 at the half.

I suppose it’s possible that we could have played worse. Not sure how. Not rebounding, not taking care of the ball, their SG got 16. I don’t say much. I just remind them of what we’ve talked about and practiced. Not happy… again.

And we completely dominate the 2nd half. Final is 60-54. We didn’t take the lead until late but built it to 11 before they made a late comeback.

-3, -2, 44-35%.

16, 5, 6, 1, 8 for Tark, 10, 8, 1, 2, 1 for Qual, 11, 6, 6, 1 for Young. We won’t beat either UCLA or Arizona playing only one good half.

Sigg is 100%. Arizona is still tied with us, two ahead of 3rd place.

At 10-11, 3-7 Arizona State. Won one of their last 7. Sloppy.

2/3: 38-15.

No contest.

More of the same, 67-33.

+15, +10, 46-24%.

21, 5, 11, 1, 6 for Tark and that’s one hell of a line, 12, 12, 2, 1 for Qual, 14, 7, 2, 4 for Asp.

Rematch with UCLA next. They’re #6, 19-3, 8-3, two back. Won 6 in a row and 8 of 9. 4 exceptional players and not much else but 4 is enough, usually. We won by 9 there. Held them to 30% shooting and outplayed them in all areas, but it won’t be easy to do it again.

2/7: 32-33 at the half.

It’s a war! We’re winning the battle of the boards but they’re shooting just a little better. Their 1, 3, 5 are doing the damage and we’re going to focus on those three and… not ignore, but not work too hard on the 2 and 4.

Strategy worked, their 4 didn’t take shots and their 2 went 2-12, 76-67 at the end.

+11, -2, 45-43% (49-39% in the 2nd), fouls were 13-17.

17, 7, 6, 1, 8 for Tark, who was the difference, 22, 9, 2, 2 for Young, 14, 4, 1, 2, 1 for Lowe, 13, 4, 4 for Asp. Qual was outplayed but was 4, 7, 3. Great win and it all but guarantees 2nd place. Now to go after 1st!

24-1, 11-1.

[Wayne23]

At 11-12, 5-7 Utah. Arizona is next and I have got to keep my guys focused on THIS game. Beat them by 27 at our place. 2-4 in their last 6, but beat #20 Oregon. PG is vulnerable.

2/10: 32-22 at the half.

We’re having trouble with focus, as I feared. We have the edge in talent and that’s getting us through.

We got the lead to 13 early and then hung on. They got it to 4 twice and 2 once before we finally took control. 66-56 at the end.

+13, +2, 36-39%, fouls 12-17.

21, 13, 2, 2 for Asp, 10, 11, 1, 1, 3 for young, 11, 1, 6, 2, 4 for Tark.

2/12: Brad Tark is #$9 and Josh Asp #15 on the Norton List.

The big one is next, for all the marbles- well, the regular season ones, anyway.

#1, 26-1, 12-1 Arizona comes to town. They beat us by one there. They’ve won their last 6 after their only loss of the year to Oregon State, which makes no sense. They play great D and have the best inside game in the country. Our guards are way better than theirs so it comes down to us containing their bigs.

2/14: 37-37 at the half.

It’s like a heavyweight title fight. We were up 12 early and they came all the way back and went up 8. Then we tied it at the buzzer. Both PGs are in foul trouble, and our back up, Mel Wyck is also in foul trouble. They’re controlling the boards and we’re turning them over.

68-68 at the buzzer, OT. They hit a three at the buzzer. The guy had two people on him and frankly, it was a luck shot. Very frustrating.

We get the first 4 in OT, they get the next 9, we get the next 5. It’s tied with :44 left, our ball.

We have Dahl at the Point because both Tark and Wyck have fouled out.

With :18 left Lowe’s 14 footer goes off the rim and they get the RB. We steal the pass and throw it away. They call a TO with :06 left.

They bring it down and their back up SG hits a 15 footer. 77-79. Tough loss, even more so than last time.

-7, +8, 36-36%, fouls were 19-19. They won it with threes- 11 of them to our 4.

22, 7, 1, 1 for Lowe, 20, 5, 2, 2, 1 for Asp, 12, 10m for Qual, 10, 5, 3, 4, 2 for Tark in 26 minutes. Without him it was tough.

[Wayne23]

At 15-11, 7-7 USC. Beat them by 14 at home but this is no walk in the park. They’re up and down but when they’re on they’re tough. Still, if we play we should win.

2/17: 46-36.

D could be tighter. We’re playing tired.

We take control, 79-60.

+19, +1, 55-38%.

18, 4, 4 for Lowe, 12 each for Asp and Young, 4, 11, 1 for Qual, 10, 1, 8, 1, 4 for Tark but he fouled out again.

Young hurt his calf, out about a week and a half, which means one game, probably.

Arizona lost at home to UCLA in OT. We’re tied for 1st with one to play.

We fall to #3 which is ridiculous.

8-18, 3-12 Washington State is in. Beat them by only 10 there. They’ve lost their last 4, 6 of 7. I don’t think they have the talent to stay with us.

2/21: 38-25.

We need to stop the three. It’s the only thing keeping them fairly close, they made 7 of them.

We do, 70-50.

+10, +8, 41-32%, fouls 7-14.

19, 5, 2, 2 for Lowe, 14, 10, 10, 1, 1 for a rare triple double for Tark. First one in the country this year. 14, 7, 1, 1, 1 for Asp, 10, 12, 3, 2, 1 for Qual.

We finish 2nd as Arizona wins.

3/5: 27-2, 14-2, #3, RPI #1.

Brad Tark is #9 on the Norton List.

[Wayne23]

3/9: Play in day. We’ll play 16-13, 7-9 USC. Beat them by 14 and 19. This should be one tough tourney.

3/10: 30-29 at the half.

Both teams are terribly sloppy. We’re controlling the boards and they are fouling and we still only lead by one.

58-58 at the buzzer, OT. Tark is gone as is their PG, both fouled out late in regulation. They missed a 12 footer as time expired.

The game was close all the way- until the OT, which we controlled completely, 12-2. Final score: 70-60.

+10, even (19 TOs each), 42-38%, fouls were 13-18. We were +9 in free throws and that was huge.
22, 3, 2, 1, 5 for Tark before he left, 12, 4, 5 for Wyck, who replaced him, 11, 11, 4, 3 for Asp, 6, 10, 3, 1, 1 for Qual. And this was the easiest opponent we’ll face.

All the favorites won so we’ll play #6, 24-4, 12-4 UCLA for the 3rd time. Beat them by 9 both times. It is extremely hard to be a really good team three times. They’ve won 5 in a row and 11 of 12 (losing to us). Very strong at 1, 2, 3, 5 so they’re hard to defend. Let’s see if we can make it happen.

3/11: 45-28 at the half.

Wow! Didn’t expect that! Refs are calling everything and we’re in some foul trouble, which is a concern. We need to stop their SF and C.

They try to come back but we don’t let them. The closest it gets is 7, at the very end, by virtue of their hitting a 3 at the buzzer, 70-63.

+10, -6, 42-33%, fouls 21-20. Asp and Tark both fouled out.

20, 10, 8, 6 blocks for Tark, but 7 TOs. 14, 2, 1 for Asp, 12, 2, 1 for Wyck, 8, 7, 1 for Lowe, 8, 9, 1 for Layt. Great win!

And the big shock of the day: Arizona 63, Stanford… 73! But this is not going to be a gimme. They’re 26-5, 12-4, ranked #7. We beat them by 6 at home. We were down by as many as 14 but came back even though they outrebounded us and we turned it over too often. They’ve won 6 out of 7 since that game. Their strength is mostly outside.

3/12: 29-25 at the half.

Tark’s in foul trouble yet again. Stats are pretty even except we’re being called for lots more fouls. We need to keep playing good D and hit more shots.

We hit fewer shots and Tark fouls out with 5:33 left.

They build a 9 point lead and we fight back. It’s tied with :33 left.

We have the ball and work it around. With :06 left Wyck throws a bad pass, they steal it and go the length of the floor for a layup with :01 left. 55-57 at the end.

+2, +1, 33-40%, fouls 17-9. They hit 15 free throws, we hit 9.

17, 6 for Asp, 12, 3, 2, 1 for Lowe, 9, 3, 2, 1, 1 for Wyck, 8, 9, 1 for Qual. Tark’s worst game of the year, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2 with 5 fouls and 5 TOs. He fouled out of all three games in the tourney.

We blew a chance to have the overall #1 seed. 29-3.

[Wayne23]

We’re #1 Midwest, UCLA #2, MD #3, Wake Forest #4, VA #5. Arizona is #1 overall.

We’ll play 18-12, 9-7 Maine who finished 4th in their conf, and then won the tourney. They had lost 4 straight before that. I don’t think they have the talent to stay with us.

3/16: 19-24 at the half.

Great D, no O. We’re taking care of the ball but not hitting shots or rebounding well. I kick a little butt.

Great 2nd half, 57-43 at the end. Great D.

-4, +10, 35-30%, fouls 12-7. Tark did not foul out.

7, 11, 5, 3, 11 for Tark, best game in awhile. 15 for Wyck, 11, 2, 2, 3, 9, 6, 2, 1 for Asp, 11, 3, 2, 1, 1 for Sigg. We played well enough to win but I’m not impressed.

#8 seed, 20-12, 8-8 LSU is next. Lost in the 2nd round of their tourney. This is a tough match up for the 2nd round.

3/18: 35-26 at the half.

I am playing Tark a few minutes at SG to cut down on his fouls. Seems to be working.

We take complete control in the 2nd, 68-47.

+16, +1, 40-35%.

26, 6, 1 for Asp, 15, 5, 8, 6, 6 for Tark with only 3 fouls; great line! 10, 6, 1, 2 for Young. 8 RBs for Qual.