1. This was the best RAC atmosphere since the UConn game in 2001 or 2002. I think UConn was ranked #2 or something, and we took them down to the wire but lost by one point. Afterwards, Calhoun said he couldn't hear anything because the crowd was so loud. Today was just electric from about 30 minutes BEFORE the game started, with the student section filling in early, and then the football recruits marching in about 8 minutes before player intros, and then Schiano walking the length of the court to huge applause. The pregame electricity reminded me of the Rutgers/Penn State A-10 final in 1989.
2. We were 0-5 in RAC sellouts last year. Well, damn, did this team learn how to channel the excitement and energy from a sellout. Two alley-oop dunks and two 3-pointers in the opening minutes, and an already-lathered-up crowd was just Rolling Thunder, and we never looked back from there. The guys fed off the crowd but kept themselves under control. SHU, on the other hand, seemed REALLY rattled by the crowd, and it resulted in horrid shooting early on, and they dug a hole that they could never get out of.
3. Geo played a good floor game, but only shot 3-10, but his two 3-pointers in the first half were a HUGE part of our start, and damn was that a helluva pass from mid-court to Harper for the alley-oop. He also had 5 assists, and is clearly our best "point guard."
4. Harper got the MVP, and rightfully so -- those two 3-pointers in the 2nd half were absolutely critical. On each, SHU had just cut the lead to 13, and Ron came down and hit those threes to keep them at bay. Those baskets avoided a situation where the nerves start creeping in as SHU got closer. We never led by LESS than 13 points after we went up 17-3, and Harper's threes were a big reason why.
5. Yeboah played his best game as a Scarlet Knight, with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks, and he hit THREE huge 3-pointers. And he showed toughness in grabbing several rebounds in traffic. He was a close second for MVP.
6. For the second game in a row, Pike's rotation was nearly perfect. The starters all got 21-30 minutes, and the reserves got 11-21 minutes. We've really settled into a nice 9-man rotation, with Doucoure getting spot minutes here and there. Special shout out to some key bench contributions from McConnell (9 points on 4-5 shooting, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals), and Shaq Carter (4 points on two critical buckets), and, yes, Jacob Young. JY was horrid on the offensive end (1-6, 2 points, only 1 assist, and 5 TOs in just 18 minutes), but damn does he play good on-ball defense.
7. First game in a few that Myles stayed out of foul trouble. As a result, he was a beast, with 8 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 27 minutes. In contrast, SHU's two 7-footers only combined for 4 rebounds in a combined 40 minutes (they did have 6 blocks combined though).
8. How about 8-19 for 42% from the 3-point arc?! Absolutely HUGE. This team can actually run offensive sets, but we just FEEL better when we actually hit shots from outside.
9. The defense was really the MVP today. The defensive rotations were SUPERB. Myles and Shaq were hedging HIGH and HARD on the high screens, and the other guys were rotating fast. The on-ball defense was terrific, and even when SHU's guards got in the lane, there was always somebody rotating over and either getting a block (8 of them) or a steal, or making SHU make a tough shot.
10. Schiano. YES!
2. We were 0-5 in RAC sellouts last year. Well, damn, did this team learn how to channel the excitement and energy from a sellout. Two alley-oop dunks and two 3-pointers in the opening minutes, and an already-lathered-up crowd was just Rolling Thunder, and we never looked back from there. The guys fed off the crowd but kept themselves under control. SHU, on the other hand, seemed REALLY rattled by the crowd, and it resulted in horrid shooting early on, and they dug a hole that they could never get out of.
3. Geo played a good floor game, but only shot 3-10, but his two 3-pointers in the first half were a HUGE part of our start, and damn was that a helluva pass from mid-court to Harper for the alley-oop. He also had 5 assists, and is clearly our best "point guard."
4. Harper got the MVP, and rightfully so -- those two 3-pointers in the 2nd half were absolutely critical. On each, SHU had just cut the lead to 13, and Ron came down and hit those threes to keep them at bay. Those baskets avoided a situation where the nerves start creeping in as SHU got closer. We never led by LESS than 13 points after we went up 17-3, and Harper's threes were a big reason why.
5. Yeboah played his best game as a Scarlet Knight, with 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks, and he hit THREE huge 3-pointers. And he showed toughness in grabbing several rebounds in traffic. He was a close second for MVP.
6. For the second game in a row, Pike's rotation was nearly perfect. The starters all got 21-30 minutes, and the reserves got 11-21 minutes. We've really settled into a nice 9-man rotation, with Doucoure getting spot minutes here and there. Special shout out to some key bench contributions from McConnell (9 points on 4-5 shooting, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals), and Shaq Carter (4 points on two critical buckets), and, yes, Jacob Young. JY was horrid on the offensive end (1-6, 2 points, only 1 assist, and 5 TOs in just 18 minutes), but damn does he play good on-ball defense.
7. First game in a few that Myles stayed out of foul trouble. As a result, he was a beast, with 8 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 27 minutes. In contrast, SHU's two 7-footers only combined for 4 rebounds in a combined 40 minutes (they did have 6 blocks combined though).
8. How about 8-19 for 42% from the 3-point arc?! Absolutely HUGE. This team can actually run offensive sets, but we just FEEL better when we actually hit shots from outside.
9. The defense was really the MVP today. The defensive rotations were SUPERB. Myles and Shaq were hedging HIGH and HARD on the high screens, and the other guys were rotating fast. The on-ball defense was terrific, and even when SHU's guards got in the lane, there was always somebody rotating over and either getting a block (8 of them) or a steal, or making SHU make a tough shot.
10. Schiano. YES!
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