Tonight was the third close game we've been in this year late. We have looked very impressive in a lot of blowout wins, but the one thing we hadn't done prior to this was win a close game late. It was readily apparent that we were the much better team for the first 25 minutes of this one. We had numerous chances to put them away and just couldn't hit one more shot that would have gotten the lead to double digits. As nice as another blowout win would have been, we needed a tough test like this one late. We will not compete for the regular season title unless our guys have the grit and poise to make big plays late when games are on the line. And as ugly as this one was most of the way, we still somehow covered comfortably stretching the lead to 11 at the end. Tonight our guys proved they have both the skill and the mental toughness needed to play in a one-possession game late.
An incredible stat I just heard on the post-game radio is that TAMU did not have a made FG the last 9:15 of the game. Obviously the got to the line and hit some FTs, but what an incredible defensive effort to hold them without a made shot for nearly 1/4th of the game down the stretch.
KD was huge tonight. More than just being our second-leading scorer at 14, he made huge impacts on momentum every time he came into the game. Late with the game on the line, he came back into the game and the next offensive possession he found a lane to the basket off a screen and got to the line to stretch the lead to 2 possessions. We have so many good players that minutes have to be spread around by Bruce, but for my money, I want KD in every high-leverage situation late in halves or to give us the spark to shift momentum. The last month KD is playing like a veteran while still giving us explosive aggression in every facet of the game that has always made him capable of incredible plays.
Fitting that Jaylin had one of his best games of his career as he hit the 100 career win milestone and extended his record as the winningest player in program history. More than his 22 points, it was the way he did it. 8/10 shooting and perfect from the line. It doesn't get much more efficient than that. @MattAU05 and I were marveling late in the game at his last drive and score at how incredibly smooth he was attacking. Just in total control gliding in and reversing to make a key score look like he was in the layup line during warmups. This is the version of Jaylin we always knew was possible as he's shown flashes of this for years. Now he's doing it consistently and is one of the biggest reasons this team's ceiling is now extremely high.
Second game in a row where Broome has been shut out in the first half. He came back with a great second half getting into double figures thanks to an outstanding 8/10 night from the free throw line. His FTs were the difference late when the game was hanging in the balance. Was it just me, or did it seem like his FT stroke has improved a lot just in the last few weeks? He looked automatic and smooth tonight. If he can shoot like this on a regular basis, that will be huge because the man is damned near unstoppable when we run sets to him isolation touches in the post. Teams have to maul him or let him score.
Per KenPom, this was our toughest game out of the next 4 in the run up to the trip to Tuscaloosa. Every game in SEC play is one that can be lost if we play poorly, but finding a way to grind this one out tonight gives us a good shot to open SEC play at 5-0. We were favored by 10 per KP and projected to score in the 80s. Surprisingly, being held to 65 didn't hurt us tonight as our overall rating moved up slightly and pished us past UT to our all-time highest rating ever on KP at #4. This ties the 1999 team's #4 rating at the end of that season and as far as I can tell, we have never been higher than #5 aside from that. This team has a shot to be Bruce's best team ever. Bruce isn't hiding how good he feels about this team's ceiling as he mentioned on the post-game radio that the team showed tonight it is learning what it takes to be on the road to the Final 4.
An incredible stat I just heard on the post-game radio is that TAMU did not have a made FG the last 9:15 of the game. Obviously the got to the line and hit some FTs, but what an incredible defensive effort to hold them without a made shot for nearly 1/4th of the game down the stretch.
KD was huge tonight. More than just being our second-leading scorer at 14, he made huge impacts on momentum every time he came into the game. Late with the game on the line, he came back into the game and the next offensive possession he found a lane to the basket off a screen and got to the line to stretch the lead to 2 possessions. We have so many good players that minutes have to be spread around by Bruce, but for my money, I want KD in every high-leverage situation late in halves or to give us the spark to shift momentum. The last month KD is playing like a veteran while still giving us explosive aggression in every facet of the game that has always made him capable of incredible plays.
Fitting that Jaylin had one of his best games of his career as he hit the 100 career win milestone and extended his record as the winningest player in program history. More than his 22 points, it was the way he did it. 8/10 shooting and perfect from the line. It doesn't get much more efficient than that. @MattAU05 and I were marveling late in the game at his last drive and score at how incredibly smooth he was attacking. Just in total control gliding in and reversing to make a key score look like he was in the layup line during warmups. This is the version of Jaylin we always knew was possible as he's shown flashes of this for years. Now he's doing it consistently and is one of the biggest reasons this team's ceiling is now extremely high.
Second game in a row where Broome has been shut out in the first half. He came back with a great second half getting into double figures thanks to an outstanding 8/10 night from the free throw line. His FTs were the difference late when the game was hanging in the balance. Was it just me, or did it seem like his FT stroke has improved a lot just in the last few weeks? He looked automatic and smooth tonight. If he can shoot like this on a regular basis, that will be huge because the man is damned near unstoppable when we run sets to him isolation touches in the post. Teams have to maul him or let him score.
Per KenPom, this was our toughest game out of the next 4 in the run up to the trip to Tuscaloosa. Every game in SEC play is one that can be lost if we play poorly, but finding a way to grind this one out tonight gives us a good shot to open SEC play at 5-0. We were favored by 10 per KP and projected to score in the 80s. Surprisingly, being held to 65 didn't hurt us tonight as our overall rating moved up slightly and pished us past UT to our all-time highest rating ever on KP at #4. This ties the 1999 team's #4 rating at the end of that season and as far as I can tell, we have never been higher than #5 aside from that. This team has a shot to be Bruce's best team ever. Bruce isn't hiding how good he feels about this team's ceiling as he mentioned on the post-game radio that the team showed tonight it is learning what it takes to be on the road to the Final 4.
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