December 11
77-69 over Syracuse, there. 23, 6, 4, 2 for Ward, 12 for Trin, 11, 2, 5 for Olin, 11, 6, 2 for Whit.
74-60 over Princeton in the first round of the Shootout. 16, 3 for Trin, 13, 6 for Ward, 5 others had 8 points each. We played really well in the first half, built the lead to 13 at the end; then we just played them even in the second, which was easily good enough.
#7 seed Vanderbilt, 6-2, upset #13 ranked New Mexico in the first round so we play them next. #8 seed George Washington upset #1 seed Duke in the first round.
80-66. 16,6 for Hamm. Ward, Trin, and Grey all played well. We opened up a 19 point lead early in the 2nd half.
It’s #8 seed George Washington, 6-1, for the title.
61-44, the tourney title, and we’re ranked #22, RPI #17. 14, 15 for Hamm, 16, 8, 3 for Ward, good play all around, especially defensively. Ever since I chewed these guys out they have been playing terrific ball. 7 wins in a row. We’re 9-1, with our only loss being by 2, to the #17 team in the country.
December 18
76-66 at Santa Clara. We led all the way but we were a bit sluggish. 19, 4 for Hamm, 13, 7, 2 for Ward, 15, 4, 2 for Trin. 11 TOs.
Doug Trin hurt his shoulder. He’s day to day.
64-61 over now 7-2 Wisconsin here. 16, 5 for Hamm, 10, 8 for Ward. Good team effort in s very competitive game against a good team. Bench play, especially at guard from Whit and Lily, made the difference.
#15, RPI #8.
We end preconference play against 7-2 Ohio ST, there, ranked for most of the season, but a loss dropped them out of the top 25 just this past week. Then 10 days off.
Wallace is still out. The docs say he isn’t healing very quickly.
Ruth Ann still loves working with, and being close to, Dr. King.
December 25
75-70 in OT. We went on a 12-3 run in the last 90 seconds of regulation then started the OT 7-0. 18, 12 for Ward, 9, 13 for Hamm, 13 each for Grey and Trin. It was a sloppy game; we had 20 TOs, they had 24. We had a +16 edge in RBs, and we went to the line 11 more times. This team seems to find a way to win.
#14, RPI #3. We end preseason play 12-1, way better than I would have expected. +9.7 PPG, +6.0 RBPG, -0.2 TOPG- 13.4. We’d like to lessen that.
We have a one game we to start conference play. We’re at 6-5 Oregon ST.
The entire family was here for dinner today. That was great. The bad news is it is because Wallace did not accompany the team to Boston because he will have ankle surgery in two days. That ankle has plagued him since his sophomore year in college. This latest injury simply isn’t healing. The docs feel the surgery will help. He is likely out until at least March 1, possibly for the season. He and Enna fly out early in the morning.
Wallace and Enna gave all of us a wonderful present. Enna is expecting a baby, some time in May.
Ruth Ann is here for the week. She is doing a shoot for Chanel here in San Francisco, and she will stay with us.
Loretta and Mark, of course, live in the area, so we see them frequently, but it is wonderful to have them here as well.