W&M's center gets 2 quick fouls on Simon in the first minute
I decide to leave him in.
At the 15 minute mark, we are up 12-6 thanks to 7 by Graves. We are on a 8-0 run.
At 10:05, we are up 16-15. Graves has been our only consistent scorer. He has 10. We go to the bench.
Up 19-18 with 5 minutes to go. I keep my bench in because I like their defense, and my starters still need a bit more rest.
Down 24-20 when I go to my starters with 2:48 to go.
At halftime, we are down 28-26.
We are shooting 32% to their 40%.
Graves is our leading scorer with 10 points. He also has an assist.
Everett and Hannan each have 5. Simon has 6 boards.
With 18 minutes to go, Hannan with a fast break slam dunk and the foul to give us a 3 point lead, 31-28.
Simon with his 3rd foul a minute later.
Up 38-33 with 15 minutes to go, but Hannan just picked up his 3rd foul.
A minute later, Hannan hits a 3 to give us a 41-33 lead as momentum is building for us..
We are up 49-38 with 9:45 to go, as I rest my starters.
With 3:34 my starters return to finish this off. We are up 55-43. Excellent defense by the bench.
We win the game 62-48.
Graves is the player of the game with 18 points, 2 boards, and 2 assists. He shot 6 of 9, 4 of 7, and 2 of 2.
Everett came up big with 7 points, 6 assists, 4 steals, and 0 turnovers. He shot 2 of 6.
Hannan with 18 points, 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers. He shot 6 of 16, 2 of 7, and 4 of 4.
Cornette with 4 points, 10 boards, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.
Simon with 5 points, 9 boardds, 2 steals, and a block.
Willis and Waters led the bench with 4 points each.
Our next opponent will either be 5 seed Iowa or 12 seed San Francisco. Iowa beats SF 84-69 to advance to play us.
Iowa finished the year at 24-8. They are a very talented team with an overall rating of 92. Their strength is their defense which is rated 94. Their biggest "weakness" is their rebounding which is still a 89.
They average more points per game than we do at 77 ppg. Their shoot better from 3 at a 37% clip. Their shoot the same from the field, 45%. They have more blocks per game and commit fewer turnovers than we do.
One thing we have going for us is their star Center Taquan Reese is injured. However, they have a ton of talent among their top 3 guardsand their backup center is talented.
SR PG Zeljko Hancock is rated 86 overall. He is a master marksman from midrange. He also has an incredible handle and passing skills.
Backup PG Elliah Thomasson has one of the quickest first steps we've ever seen and is rated 86 overall as well.
SR SG Tim Garrett is 6'8 240 pounds and is a great 3 point shooter as well as a great shot blocker. He is rated 85 overall.
SR SF Donovan Traylor is 6'8 235 pounds and is a terrific scorer. He can hit shots from anywhere on the court and has great slashing ability as well as the abilityt to finish. He is rated 85 overall.
Backup SR center Courtney Sola is 6'9 230 pounds and talented. He has great speed for a big man and will be tough for Simon to keep up with. He has a refined post game and is a good passer out of the post. He is rated 83 overall.
Sophomore PF Jaret Guzman is a 6'10 250 pound player who is a great rebounder as well as a shot blocker. He is a good interior scorer. He is rated 82 overall.
This will be a very difficult game to win, I think. I'm going to try to slow it down and cut down the number of possessions.