Quick three game recap

So life sometimes gets in the way of blog. It happens. This was quite a week. Another buzzer beater loss (sounds familiar) and two enjoyable victories.

Quick game recaps in a couple sentences.
New Mexico State- Dawgs play ugly but hang around and make huge comeback in last four minutes. Final shot goes in and comes out. Video here http://www.nbc33tv.com/sports/gibsons-final-shot-bounces-out-la-tech-falls-las-cruces .

Houston Baptist – Tech destroys a bad basketball team. Up big at half. Second half repeat of first. Neither Gibson or Guyton played more than 25 minutes – a season first.

Murray State – Close game against team with much higher RPI through first half. Tech keeps a two possession lead most of second before actually making free throws in last two minutes to push it out for a nine point victory.

Thoughts on a nice season ending surge for a team that will return everyone of value for next season:

Starters

New Mexico St	Houston Baptist	Murray State
Rolle	Rolle	Rolle
Rogers	Ashalou	Ashalou
Guyton	Guyton	Guyton
Gibson	Gibson	Gibson
Loe	Loe	Loe

 

*Kyle Gibson
New mexico State –while not a scorching as he was in earning his WAC player of the week award still put up big numbers. 6/17 from the field, 2/8 from deep, 7/8 from the free throw line, 21 points, 4 assists, 2 steals in only 39 minutes of burn. If there is a way to miss a game winning shot by a smaller margin I don’t know what it is.
Houston Baptist – 7/12, 1/5 from three, 21 points, 2 rebounds, 3 steals in 25 minutes. Not sure if he broke a sweat.
Murray State – 4/8, 2/4 from deep, 16 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists in 36 minutes. 6/7 from the free throw line.
Summary: Although Murray State stopped his consecutive game streak of 20+ at three Gibson has scored 84 points in four games and should pass 1,000 for his career on Thursday. Considering he barely played after Christmas his freshman year quite an accomplishment to hit the mark before the end of his junior season.

*Jamel Guyton
New Mexico State – Can anyone figure out Jamel Guyton? After missing every shot he took against Fresno he came out red hot and stayed that way. Nailed the first three of the game and kept shooting. Seventeen attempts worth which is high even for him. Made several clutch buckets down the stretch. Numbers – 9/17, 3/8 from three, 6/6 from the charity stripe, 27 points (tie career high), 7 rebounds, 2 steals, all in a tidy 38 minutes of game action.
Houston Baptist – picked up where he left off. 7/9, 3/3 from distance, 19 points, 3 rebounds, 5 steals in 24 minutes of burn. Really attacked the rim off the dribble at times.
Murray State – did not score in first half. Made big plays in second including a key steal and assist with three minutes left. 3/9 , 2/3 from deep, 9 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals in 38 minutes.
Summary: Guyton is dynamic. I wish the WAC kept the “clutch” stat that the NBA does. I guarantee Guyton would be near the top of the list. Players at the division one level make their biggest jump from their first year to their second. So JUCO players make that from what is their junior to senior seasons. If Guyton makes the jump just in consistency it will be a big one for the program.

*Magnum Rolle
New Mexico State – 1/5, 2 pts, 11 rebs in 25 mins. Foul trouble was a issue. Rolle didn’t score but Tech’s big run came when Rupp went with a lineup of Rolle and four shooters.
Houston Baptist – 3/7, 6 points and 2 rebs in 27 minutes.
Murray State – 8/15, 25 points, 11 rebs, 4 blks. Simply his best performance since the Boise game.
Summary: Once Rolle hurt his hip he just quit scoring. He kept rebounding and defending but just stop scoring. However he came back with a vengeance against Murray State. If he can stay healthy rest of season…..

*Olu Ashalou
New Mexico State – Quiet night. 0/1 , 1 reb, 2 fouls, 2 turnovers (one offensive) in 11 minutes.
Houston Baptist – a start and a career night. Aggressive and a monster on the boards. 4/6, 12 points, 10 rebounds in 27 minutes.
Murray State – best game of his career. A handful of dunks. 6/6 from the field, 16 points and 6 rebounds in 34 minutes. Dove into the stands for a loose ball.
Summary: Maybe the light bulb has come on. He has led the team in rebounding two of the last four games.

*James Loe
New Mexico State – 0/2, 0 points, 4 assists, 2 turnovers in 21 minutes.
Houston Baptist- 2/5, 6 points, 2 assists, 1 turnovers in 18 minutes.
Murray State – 0/4, 4 assists, 1 turnovers in 30 minutes.
Summary: Loe is Loe. He’s going to take a couple of horrible shots a game but if he doesn’t turn the ball over he helps the team.

*Bench

	NMS	HB	MS
David Jackson	1/5, 2 pts, 5 reb in 16	2/7, 5 pts, 5 rebs in 22	DNP
Shawn Oliverson	1 for 2, 2 pts, 2 reb in 12	1/1, 2 pts, 2 rebs in 12	2 mins
Yonas Berhe	2/4, 4 pts, 2 rebs in 16	1/3, 3 pts, 6 rebs in 19	1 ast, 4 min
Brandon Gibson	1 for 2, 3 pts, 4 reb in 10	2/5, 6 pts, 2 rebs in 17	1 for 4, 3 pts in 13
Adrian Rogers	1/3, 2 pts, 2 rebs in 16	1/3, 2 pts, 1 reb in 8	0/1, 1 reb in 4 min

 

*Tech sits at 12 -16 on the season. That’s twice last season’s win total and the crazy thing is this team has a legitimate shot at getting back to .500. Two home games against Boise and New Mexico State – both teams Tech lost to on buzzer beaters on the road. Then a trip to Idaho a team that the Bulldogs have already beaten this season. Run that and your first round WAC game would probably be a rematch against one of those three.

But now I’m getting greedy. It’s been a long time since Tech nine year run of 20+ wins. Considering the last seven years fourteen wins for this team would be a satisfying ending and a spring board on to next season.

Total Number of Wins Since 2002 by Tech basketball.
2002: 12
2003: 15
2004: 14
2005: 20
2006: 10
2007: 6