Jan 6, 2011 -
We play 3-7 UTSA which is slightly more talented than we are. They beat us 77-65. Their sophomore PG, Steven Keller, had 20 points and 4 assists off the bench to key the victory. Johnson led our team with 15 points, 7 boards, and 2 blocks. Spencer had 10 points, 6 boards, and a block. Lloyd had 7 points and 7 boards. Martin had 15 points off the bench. We fall to 5-7.
Next up we play 4-10 McNeese State. They are rated 68 overall Their offense is only rated 68 and their defense is rated 66. We should be able to beat them in every phase of the game as long as we hustle and play to our potential. However, the game is at their place.
Caron Sherman, their PG, is their one dangerous player. Rated 71 overall, the PG can pass and shoot well. Fortunately, Bakari should be up to guarding him.
Lloyd with 2 fouls in the first 3 minutes and Weatherspoon has to come in early
We had kept them scoreless up to that point as well.
Two very bad stretches in the first half have us down 34-23 at the half. We played good for 10 minutes and horrible for 10 minutes including the last 4 minutes of the half. Unbelievable how sloppy we are being with the ball.
Spencer is our leading scorer with 8 points on 4 of 6 shooting. We are going to lean on him in the 2nd half. Newton has 6. Bose is 0 of 7 and I'm going to start Martin at SG in the 2nd half as Bose is playing very sloppy SG.
With good fundamental basketball including solid defense and turnover free basketball we finally tie at 43 with 11 minutes to go. Bose is doing well at SF off the bench. Now to see if Newton can play SG off the bench, if so, this might become a normal part of our rotation with Martin starting.
Actually, Spencer is back at full energy before I need to bring Newton in. So I slide Bose back to SG and bring Spencer in as we build on our lead with 9 minutes to go.
They respond with a run of their own to tie it up at 56 with 6 minutes to go and now they have the crowd behind them. It's a back and forth game as we are trading baskets.
With 3 minutes to go, they tie it at 67.
Bose responds with a 18 foot jumper. After exchanging defensive stops, Joshua Johnson gets an offensive board which gets us a reset, we work it around to get Spencer an open look in the corner and he burries the 3 to make it 72-67 with 1:18 to go!
Martin, their SG hits a quick 3. He has 23 points this game and has been lighting up Bose. He's quicker than Bose and it's been showing badly.
Up by 2, we go to Spencer again who fakes the 3 and drives to the hole for the foul. Spencer is a poor FT shooter.... but he makes the 1st and misses the 2nd. 3 point game.
Martin misses the quick 3 and Johnson gets us the board. They foul him. He hits 1 of 2. Lloyd gets the board on a 3 point attempt and hits his FT's to end 1 of 2 to end all hope. Although, Martin does hit a buzzer beating 3 to make it close. 75-73 victory for us.
Lloyd was the player of the game with 19 points, 5 boards, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 8 of 11 and 3 of 6 from the line.
Spencer had 17 points, 2 boards, an assist, and a steal.
Bose had 10 points, 4 boards, 2 assists. However, his man had 26 points against him on 5 of 6 shooting from the arc.
Johnson ha 5 points, 12 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Bakari Lewis had 8 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, and a board.
Martin had 7 points, 2 boards, 2 assists off the bench.
Thoughts: Very sloppy play in the 1st half almost cost us the win, but the team played smart solid basketball in the 2nd half for a good comeback victory. Martin continues to impress as does O'Brien. However, this team is going to be really hurting when Lloyd leaves unless I can land some surprise recruits.
Jan 15 -
We play at 2-8 Central Arkansas. They are the 2nd weakest team in the conference and I expect a win. We win easily 79-56. Lloyd had 21 points, 4 boards, and 2 blocks. Johnson had 12 points. Martin had 10 as did Bose. Spencer had 7 points and 7 boards. Bakari Lewis had 3 points and 7 assists.
We are now 7-7. Our next game is on the 19th against the weakest team in the conference - UT-Arlington. They've lost all of their talented players and they are struggling. Their overall talent rating is now a 65 and they are 1-12 as they can't defend well at all and they are a terrible team on the glass. I'll play that later today or tomorrow.