That's a signature win on the road over a solid team that beat one of the 3 teams ranked ahead of us last month. Bama did very little to beat us tonight and the only reason this one wasn't a blowout was the hard work of the refs to carry bama. If this game is called somewhat evenly, we win by 20+. It was clear we were the drastically better team as we pulled away every time the refs went more than a possession without handing them some FTs and killing our momentum. Walker is one of our most impactful players and the refs completely took him out of this one. When bama went on the 14-0 run to tie it late, our guys stayed calm and kept playing their game. We won't face any situation the rest of the year with more adversity than we did late tonight. Great teams beat good teams on the road. Great teams find ways to win even after they blow a 14 point lead late. Our guys proved tonight that this team is fully deserving of the #4 national ranking and all the hype we are receiving as a national title contender.
Incredible game by Jabari tonight. Someone complained the other day about how Jabari wasn't playing like a #1 overall pick because he wasn't taking over games. I hope they were paying close attention tonight. Jabari played like he knew this was the biggest game of the season thus far with a national audience tuning in to see if he and our team are the real deal. Career high in points and he was just as good on the defensive end with 2 steals and 4 blocks. He also led the team in minutes at 34 and stayed out of foul trouble which was huge with Walker a nonfactor due to fouls. He made an emphatic case that he should be the #1 pick in the draft, SEC POY and in the race for National Player of the Year. In tough games the rest of the rest of the way, the key factor is going to be that we have Jabari and the other team doesn't. Jabari is the kind of player who turns a good team into a championship contender.
Wendell was also phenomenal tonight. He also took over the game for a few stretches attacking the basket and knocking down deep 3s. 4-0 assist to turnover ratio on the road is also very impressive. This is the kind of guard play that will ensure we keep racking up road wins and drastically increase our odds of making a deep run in march.
I thought Flanny was a key guy late in surviving bama's huge run. His calm demeanor in helping settle the other guys and then knocking down 4 FTs in the final minute was huge. His leadership is an X factor that is just as important as any of the many things we have working in our favor.
With Baylor going down today, if we get a W this weekend in Oxford, we are going to be getting 1st place votes. Given that bama beat Gonzaga, I think a lot of voters will move us ahead of them. Our resume is better than UCLA's as well so it's possible we could end up #1 next week. Let that sink in for a moment and reflect on how incredibly unrealistic that would have been before Bruce arrived. Years of work by Bruce and our staff has gone into putting us into this position with a team that is built for a dominant SEC conference title run and go deep in March. We have a ton to look forward to the rest of the way.
Incredible game by Jabari tonight. Someone complained the other day about how Jabari wasn't playing like a #1 overall pick because he wasn't taking over games. I hope they were paying close attention tonight. Jabari played like he knew this was the biggest game of the season thus far with a national audience tuning in to see if he and our team are the real deal. Career high in points and he was just as good on the defensive end with 2 steals and 4 blocks. He also led the team in minutes at 34 and stayed out of foul trouble which was huge with Walker a nonfactor due to fouls. He made an emphatic case that he should be the #1 pick in the draft, SEC POY and in the race for National Player of the Year. In tough games the rest of the rest of the way, the key factor is going to be that we have Jabari and the other team doesn't. Jabari is the kind of player who turns a good team into a championship contender.
Wendell was also phenomenal tonight. He also took over the game for a few stretches attacking the basket and knocking down deep 3s. 4-0 assist to turnover ratio on the road is also very impressive. This is the kind of guard play that will ensure we keep racking up road wins and drastically increase our odds of making a deep run in march.
I thought Flanny was a key guy late in surviving bama's huge run. His calm demeanor in helping settle the other guys and then knocking down 4 FTs in the final minute was huge. His leadership is an X factor that is just as important as any of the many things we have working in our favor.
With Baylor going down today, if we get a W this weekend in Oxford, we are going to be getting 1st place votes. Given that bama beat Gonzaga, I think a lot of voters will move us ahead of them. Our resume is better than UCLA's as well so it's possible we could end up #1 next week. Let that sink in for a moment and reflect on how incredibly unrealistic that would have been before Bruce arrived. Years of work by Bruce and our staff has gone into putting us into this position with a team that is built for a dominant SEC conference title run and go deep in March. We have a ton to look forward to the rest of the way.
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