I'll Be a Son of a Shark

[Wayne23]

The RPI thing always troubles me. A very low prestige team that wins lots of games, against really low prestige competition can wind up with a very high RPI number. Fortunately it doesn't translate to a high tourney seed if they win the conf. and make the NCAA, but that's another thing. If my RPI is #16 I shouldn't be an 11 seed.

[CoachC]

Yes, indeed. My Lobos have earned their RPI with a brutal schedule, but I can't for the life of me figure out why SD St. has an RPI as high as they do, nor how Air Force has managed to stay ranked all season with a mediocre RPI. On the other hand, sometimes a team earns their decent RPI and the Selection Committee makes a random excuse to punish them. I remember Missouri St. not getting an at large invite with an RPI of 37, and the NCAA claiming that their non-conference schedule had been to soft. The next season the Bears beefed up their non-conference schedule considerably and finished with an RPI of 32 and became the lowest RPI in history to not get an at-large invite. I don't think the real problem is the RPI so much as the NCAA's arbitrary and ever-changing subjective selection criteria.

[CoachC]

Mar 5:

MWC tournament pairings at Las Vegas:
(8)Wyoming vs (1) #10 UNM
(5)TCU vs (4) San Diego St.
(6)Colorado St. vs (3) UNLV
(7) Boise St. vs (2) #23 Air Force

[CoachC]

Hopefully the momentum from the last couple games of the regular season will carry over into the tournament. Certainly we can't afford to overlook ANYONE.

Not a dominant first half, but an acceptable one. We lead at halftime 45-35

While not a game to put in a time capsule we did take care of business.

Wilson had 9 pts, 3 asts
Durham added 7
Angelli had a double double with 11 pts, 11 rebs and 3 stls
Johnson had 12 pts, 3 rebs. 4 stls and a block
Ray was his usual bad-ass self with 20 pts 13 rebs, and 3 blocks

Stetson was great off the bench with 12 pts, 2 asts, and a stl in 15 minutes.
Thompson( 4 asts, 2 rebs and a stl in 13 mins), and Tatum (2 pts, 4 rebs in 9 minutes) also provided quality minutes in relief.

Final: UNM 75 Wyoming 58

[CoachC]

March 6: in the other quarterfinals:
Air Force handled Boise St. 78-57
UNLV beat Colorado St. 55-44 and
TCU upended SD St 73 44

In the semifinals We'll face TCU , while Air Force plays the hosts UNLV

Conley sprained his ankle in a brief appearance last night and is questionable for the rest of the tourney.

[CoachC]

We have legitimate reason to be concerned with this one. The Horned Toads swept us in the regular season. We struggled mightily against their zone, and did a poor job at the other end containing their guards, especially their point guard Mike Garner. We are going to have to solve all these problems to get to the championship game.

A much better performance in the first half of this one than in our previous two outings against TCU, but there's still room for improvement. We had way too many turnovers(11) but turned them over 17 times. We shot 50% against their zone but allowed them to shoot 50% as well. Garner still is a bit of a problem for us matchup wise. At any rate we lead at the half, 40-28.

Although not too thrilled about our 17 turnovers for the game, there is little else to be disappointed about tonight. Our defense in the 2nd half was superb, and for the game we turn them over 22 times with 13 steals. We also had 10 blocks and held them to 34.6% shooting. Offensively we attacked the zone as well as we have all year and shoot 55.6% from the field with some very balanced scoring.

Wilson had 13 pts, and locked down Garner in the 2nd half.
Angelli filled up the stat sheet with 14 pts, 2 asts, 5 rebs, 4 stls, and 2 blocks
Despite the Toads packing the zone all night, Martin Ray still has another double double and a terrific all around game with 15 pts, 11 rebs, 3 stls, and 5 blocks.

Off the bench Inyo played well with 10 pts, 5 rebs in 15 minutes, and Martin added 11 pts, 2 asts, 3 rebs and 2 stls. We were able to rest all the starters in the final minutes ahead of the championship game as well, which is always a bonus.

Final: UNM 78 TCU 51

[CoachC]

Mar 7: in the other semi-final Air Force manhandled the hosts 72-51 setting up our showdown with the Falcons.

[CoachC]

Another tough zone, and the need to contain the conference's leading scorer Paul Hines. We swept the season series with the Falcons, but there is no denying that they are a very good team and any let down could cost us the title. Both teams are playing for seeding now.

We handle their zone quite well in the first half but we need to step it up on the defensive end and take better care of the ball. At the half we lead 41-32

This one went down pretty much to the end, with a big advantage in a/to making the difference (23/10, 14/19) despite getting outrebounded 28-25.

Wilson had 9 asts, 2 rebs, 1 stl and just 2 to in 26 minutes
Angelli led us with 16 pts
Johnson added 13
Ray was someone dampered by the zone and foul trouble but still had 9 pts, 4 rebs, 1 stl, 1 block

The bench and our depth was key in this game:

Durham went down in the opening minutes with a tender knee, but Stetson (15 pts, 3 stls), and Martin (8 pts) off the bench nearly managed to keep pace with Hines who had 27. Thompson had 3 pts, 8 asts. Willis (6 rebs, 1 stl) and Inyo Jackson(4 pts, 3 rebs, 1stl) gave us quality minutes as well.

Another win over a ranked opponent should help us with the committee.

Final: UNM 72 Air Force 69

[CoachC]

Mar 12: Selection Sunday. We remain at #10 with an RPI of 7. Air Force moves up one spot to #22, with an RPI of 36. The Aztecs keep their tourney hopes a live with an RPI of 37. We'd, of course like to see 3 teams from our conference in the dance, but for ourselves we are still hoping for a 2 seed, but anything less than a 3 seed would be a miscarriage of justice.

The Aztecs do make it in as one of the last at large teams and will play in one of the 12 seed play in games against Santa Clara. I'm sure they'll take it.

A much bigger shock was UNLV getting in as one of the 12 seeds and will also play in one of the play-in games against my alma mater New Mexico St. The Rebels must be as shocked as I am, because they weren't even on the radar with their RPI of 54, but they did finish the season strong. There is no doubt this will cause a big controversy. But 4 teams from our conference in the tournament is great news!

The Falcons get the 7 seed in the east and will play Tulsa in the first round.

We get the 3 seed in Lexington, and will play Stetson.

Gardner-Webb is in again after another fine season as the 8 seed in our regional.

We played against 11 teams in this years tournament and compiled a 12-3 record against them.

The top seeds are Arizona, UConn, UCLA, and Louisville.

Durham will be ready to go against Stetson, but Conley remains day to day.

[CoachC]

Mar 15: In the play-in games, SD St. falls to Santa Clara 71-63, and UNLV loses in overtime to the Aggies 81-79.