12/18. 3-6 Eastern Kentucky is here. They’re good outside but they don’t look like a good team.
We have no open scholarships but we’re chasing two good looking recruits in case a scholarship opens up.
12/19: “You need to stop their outside game.”
Back and forth early. Then we take the lead. Up 10 after 10. They catch us late. 37-39 at halftime. 10, 5, 8 for Oats. -14 for the bench. +16 in the lane.
Close early. Down 4 with 10 to play. Mini-run puts us up 6 late. Then it’s 11.
86-74. 18, 5, 16, 3 steals but a career high 7 TOs for Oats. 22, 5, 3 for Newn, 15, 13 for Wats, 17, 8 for Hall. +30 inside.
12/25: Our last pre-conf game is at Air Force, 5-5. They’re tough inside but don’t hit the boards that hard. They give up more points than they score.
12/26: We miss our first 8 shots. I don’t get it. Down 12 after 10. 34-53 at the half. Disgusting. 15, 8 for Wats but he’s by himself. He has 3 fouls and every other starter has 2.
We’re playing better early but it’s a big mountain to climb. Down 13 with 10 to play. It doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.
82-92. We played terrible D. They were +12 at the line, mostly because we shot only 60%. 19, 9, 3 for Wats, 17, 5, 4 for Newn, 14, 4 for Hall, 12, 3 for Hill. Oats had maybe his poorest game for us, fouling out in just 22 minutes.
We end pre-conf play at 9-3.
Oats leads us in PPG with 16.5, and assists with a terrific 9.8. He also leads in steals and is tied for 2nd in RB. Hell of a player. Newn gets 14.2. 14.1, and a leading 8.3 for Wats. 10.6, 5.8 for Redd, 10.2, 6.2 for Hall.
+7.4 PPG, +2.9 RBs, not enough. -4.5 TOs. A very good 10.2. +5.3 assists.
Lyn Ray has the women at 7-4, which is great!