Again the announcers highlight Hannan as the player to watch.
Hannan's shot isn't falling early, but Everett's is. Also, Simon has 4 inches and 70 pounds on his man and he is completely dominating the boards early.
Up 8-4 at the 15 minute mark.
With 13 minutes to go, Hannan and Graves need a quick breather. We are tied at 10.
We are down 18-17 at the 10 minute mark.
We are up 26-24 with 6:13 left when I get Graves and Hannan back into the game.
After shooting poorly most of the half, both teams heat up from outside the arc in the last 5 minutes.
Included in that barrage is 2 3's by Hannan.
We are up 46-40 at the half.
Hannan is the player of the half. 12 points, 3 boards, 3 assists, and a block.
Everett and Graves each added 9. Simon has 10 boards already including 4 offensive boards.
1st play of the 2nd half, Simon ignites the break with a board and quick outlet pass to Everett who finds Graves.. Graves and Hannan with a 2 on 1 break.. Graves to Hannan for an Alley-oop!
An explosive first 5 minutes of the 2nd half. Everyone is drilling 3's including Cornette. We are up 59-53 at the 15 minute mark.
With 13 minutes to go, Hannan gets a breather. We are up 62-53.
With 11 minutes to go, they take the lead 63-62. They take a 66-62 lead on yet another 3 before Collins hits a 3 to end the run.
A few plays later, Simon with a long pass to a breaking Waters who shows some huge ups with a slam dunk! 69-68 lead on that play.
With 6 minutes left, we have a 74-71 lead and we are getting Graves and Hannan fully rested back into the game.
Hannan drills his first shot, a little 14 footer.
With 4:21 and a 76-75 lead, we get Everett and Cornette back into the game and will finish it out with our starters..
Graves drills a 3 to stretch the lead back to 4.
Everett with a steal.. he finds Hannan on the wing, he spins past his man and lays it into the basket. 81-75. 3:31 left.
We exchange baskets to make it 83-77. After a defensive stop, Everett passes to Hannan in the block.. he draws a double team... he kicks it out to Cornette at the FT line who nails the shot! 85-77. 2 minutes left.
They make a basket. We work it down to 10.. pass to Hannan on the wing.. he draws a double team and throws a beautiful pass to Graves who drills a 3 before they can rotate to him! 88-79.
We defend their next 2 shots and that is the final margin. 88-79 win.
Hannan is the player of the game. 21 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, and a block. He started off 0 of 4, but he really picked it up after that. He shot 8 of 14, 3 of 9, and 2 of 3.
Everett had 9 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals along with 2 turnovers. He shot 3 of 10.
Graves had 19 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, and a block. He played great defense on their SG who had 21 points but was 8 of 22.
Cornette had 13 points, 7 boards, and an assist. He shot 6 of 8 and 1 of 1 from the arc.
Simon had 6 points, 22 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.
Waters had 5 points and 2 assists in 10 minutes.
Collins had 6 points that were key as they broke a run. He shot 2 of 3 all from the arc.
Bowers had 6 points as well as he shot 2 of 5 from the arc.
Ahh, I forgot how the pre-season NIT works. We did just win the Region A Final, not the final of the tournament. We'll play Washington in the Final 4 of the tournament next week. They are a daunting team. They are 6th in the media poll and 8th in the coaches poll. They are 2-0. They beat Wyoming 90-62 in their regional final. They are rated 92 in overall talent with no weaknesses.
However, before we play them we have another tough opponent: Arizona is our next preason opponent as somehow our AD convinced them to come to our school. They are 3-0 and 4th in both polls. They are rated 91 in overall talent, but aren't particularly good at rebounding or inside play in general. However, they have 5 terrific guards on their team including superstar Hilton Gennie. He is a 6'7 240 pound SG who is rated 89 overall. He isn't a very good shooter but he is a physically dominating player who is incredibly fast for his size. I'll play that Arizona game tomorrow.