After some promising games and some clunkers to this point, especially in our two games against real teams, the jury was still out a bit, IMO, on our frosh guard. No longer. His play in the 2nd half was a revelation, as he took over the game offensively for a stretch, putting the team on his back, scoring all 14 of his points in the 2nd half and getting 4 boards and 2 steals, while playing some stifling ball-hawking defense. This was not SacredColumbiaLowell, but the #10 team in the nation, who had just throttled UNC. He showed off his 3-point shooting, his mid-range jumper and a couple of nice drives to the hoop during our 2nd half run. I'm sure he'll still have some growing pains in some future games, but today a star was born and I'm excited to see his career progression here on the Banks.
Obviously, other players played great, too, especially Caleb, who played like his hair was on fire and went for 16/10, Mag, who was all over the court and got 7/9, and of course Paul, who brought the glue and toughness back to the team, going for 6/2/4, while running the offense. Hyatt had 11/3, which was nice, but he got cold in the 2nd half and while Cliff's stat line was weak, due to foul trouble and being somewhat ineffective, he really stepped up those last 10 minutes hitting 4 straight FTs (after the 2 misses) and getting 2 huge blocks and 9 boards. Cam had another subpar game against strong competition and his playing time might be about to go down with the emergence of Simpson, but there will be nights he plays better; he didn't play much in the 2nd half. And while Rieber and Woolfolk didn't fill up the stat sheet, they played good defense and held the fort while Cliff was in foul trouble. And of course a great game plan by Pike and the staff ("Pike-etball").
Great win after a tough road loss and with a full squad now in place, I'd like to think we're going to see more games like this. And what a friggin' crowd. Hoosier Daddy is right, lol. Also loved the Dylan Harper chant.
Obviously, other players played great, too, especially Caleb, who played like his hair was on fire and went for 16/10, Mag, who was all over the court and got 7/9, and of course Paul, who brought the glue and toughness back to the team, going for 6/2/4, while running the offense. Hyatt had 11/3, which was nice, but he got cold in the 2nd half and while Cliff's stat line was weak, due to foul trouble and being somewhat ineffective, he really stepped up those last 10 minutes hitting 4 straight FTs (after the 2 misses) and getting 2 huge blocks and 9 boards. Cam had another subpar game against strong competition and his playing time might be about to go down with the emergence of Simpson, but there will be nights he plays better; he didn't play much in the 2nd half. And while Rieber and Woolfolk didn't fill up the stat sheet, they played good defense and held the fort while Cliff was in foul trouble. And of course a great game plan by Pike and the staff ("Pike-etball").
Great win after a tough road loss and with a full squad now in place, I'd like to think we're going to see more games like this. And what a friggin' crowd. Hoosier Daddy is right, lol. Also loved the Dylan Harper chant.
