NM State Aggies WAC Basketball Tournament 2018

Full disclosure, I caught a cold this week.  So, my enthusiasm for note-taking and writing, even for this big event, isn't where it should be.  I'm even doing this on a laptop, while watching TV.  I was able to listen to all these games, but I think some quick summaries, with the usual random, incoherent details strung together in an incomprehensible narrative, will be the best I can do.

3-7-18 Aggie Women vs Chicago State Cougars

Before the WAC tournament in Las Vegas, Brooke Salas was named WAC Player of the Year, Gia Pack was named to the First Team All-Conference, Coach Brooke Atkinson was Coach of the Year, and Monique Mills was named Newcomer of the Year.  Since Grand Canyon University is now eligible for the postseason, the Aggies would not be getting a bye in the first round with their #1 seeding.  They'd be playing Chicago State, the #8 seed, who had finally broken their 59-game winless streak this season.  I would have liked to have seen that victory celebration.   

I can likely sum up this game with one stat: Chicago State scored their first points with two minutes left in the first quarter, making the score 17-2 Aggies at the time.  Coach Atkinson was actually emptying the bench before the second quarter.  Boy did Gia Pack have a great half with 20 points.  Monique Mills was also all over it on defense.  42-27 Aggies at the half.

AD Mario Moccia came on with sportscaster Adam Young during halftime.  Mario was pleased with the Aggie crowd for this game.  The Roadrunner Review band and the Cheerleaders were there too.  They were expecting more fans when the Men started playing the next day.  Pep rallies were planned before the games.  Mario also teased Adam for wearing a UTEP-colored tie.

The second half was more of the same.  Jeneva Toilolo had four points for the game, but I was pleased that she scored them by finishing on her shots in the paint.  Tonishia Childress put in a couple of threes.  Sara Lopez was put in to run the point for the Aggies' last possession.  She could have dribbled it out, but instead pulled up and hit a three.  I hope the Cougars weren't offended by that.  The crowd, and myself, let out a cheer.  I think I could hear Adam smiling while he called the shot.

Our final was 84-60 Aggies.  (I forgot to write it down at the time and had to look it up later.  I must have really been out of it.)  Gia Pack finished with 29.  Brooke Salas had 27.  Monique Mills only had 2 points, but was doing it on defense and they didn't need extra offense today.  Tyeshia Bowers for the Cougars had 22.  Chicago State does have some players.  Disturbingly, the Aggies were -15 in rebounds, but made it up being +11 in turnovers.

3-8-18 Aggie Men vs Chicago State Cougars

Okay, same set up here, just different genders.  Coach Chris Jans did win Coach of the Year, and Jermerrio Jones won Player of the Year.  The Aggie guys went on a run early and never looked back.  It was 19-6 early.  Joe Garza came in to run the point for a spell and hit a three.  Sportscaster Jack Nixon offered some constructive criticism of Jemerrio during the half, calling him out for trying to hit a three and for “never making an easy pass.”  It was 45-26 Aggies at the half.  Zach Lofton led with 18.

I took a look at the girls' Twitter feed.  They posted a picture of the team with seats on the floor for this game and looking good.  In the second half, Jack mentioned they got into the action at one point with an out-of-bounds ball landing near Zaire Williams.  (Yeah, I'm sure that was accidental.  No doubt whoever did the inbounds came over and said, “Hey, baby!  Like what you see out here?  What you doin' after the game?”  Okay, that's what I might have done if I were one of these ballplayers.) 

Not much was going on competitively.  Johnny McCants got the Aggie fans going with one of his jams to make it 60-41 Aggies.  Jack did get on to the guys for some “lazy passing” and playing badly.  They must have heard him, as the team put in back-to-back reverse jams and went on a 14-0 run.  97-70 Aggies was the final.  Zach Lofton led with 21 points.  Keyon Jones hit six threes for 18 points.  The stat of the game was that the team forced 20 turnovers.       

3-9-18 Aggie Women vs Seattle U Redhawks

This tilt was an afternoon game.  I flipped on my TV beforehand and suddenly caught the very end of the Mountain West Women's Basketball final between the Boise State Broncos and the Nevada Wolfpack.  They were playing in Las Vegas too, but on the UNLV campus.  Darn, if I'd known this was on, I would have watched.  Time was up in the game.  The refs were deciding if a last second shot counted.  The Boise girls were huddled in a tight circle on the court when the decision came.  Their sub 1-second shot counted and the Broncos were the conference champs.  There was a decent crowd there for the game.  Nevada did win the regular season; they'd be getting an automatic bid to the NIT tournament.  I didn't realize the foreshadowing of that postgame comment until later.

The Aggie game came on the radio a bit later.  The Aggies had lost to the Redhawks in Seattle earlier in the season, but beaten them handily at home (2-18-18).  This matchup was a tossup.  Adam Young sounded serious from the beginning in his game call.  He reported there was good contingent of Aggie fans there.  (If you're there to see the guys, you might as well see the girls.  I know someone who went to the tournament.  I'll ask him about the pricing later.) 

This game unfortunately reminded me of the Chicago State game, but in reverse.  The Aggies went down 8-1 to start the game.  I kept waiting for Brooke Salas to takeover and start a run, but it never happened.  The score kept getting worse.  At 14-5 Redhawks, Coach Atkinson finally called a timeout, though I doubt it mattered.  For the first half, Seattle was shooting 69%.  The Aggies tried playing up tempo in the second quarter, but couldn't keep up with them.  Moreover, the refs were calling nothing.  At one point, Brooke had a staredown with a referee after a no-call while being hit on a shot.  Gia Pack got hammered on a shot with no call. It was 49-22 Redhawks at the half.

Adam, perhaps sensing this wasn't going to be the girls' day, had mentioned in the first quarter that the Aggie Baseball team was beating Alabama 3-0 late in their game.  AD Mario Moccia came on at halftime and Adam mentioned it to him to cheer him up.  Mario threatened Adam with violence if he'd potentially jinxed the team, but the score held and was final.  They'd even won the game, not with their ace, Kyle Bradish, but with Justin Dehn.  (I checked later.  The Aggies lost the night cap, 3-1.  That’s still impressively competitive against a good team.)

The third quarter started with the coverage coming back late from commercial.  I had to be on my way to work anyway.  I decided not to bother taking my portable radio to listen on the way.  (My car radio doesn't work.  I live such a silly life.)  I when I picked up the game again at work, nothing had changed.  84-61 Redhawks was the final.  Beyond Seattle shooting the lights out, the Aggies were -29 in rebounding.  That poor rebounding against Chicago State did come back and hurt them. Brooke Salas and Gia Pack both had 18 points.  It was going to take more than that today. 

Coach Atkinson didn't do an interview after the game.  I saw the postgame press conference with her and Gia and Brooke.  She didn't have any answers on how they could have stopped Seattle's offensive onslaught.  Gia was at a loss to explain too.  She would make the All-Tournament Team announced the next day.  Brooke looked kind of devastated.  She did acknowledge that the Redhawks just played better.  Well, the Aggies will get an NIT bid, since they won the conference.  Come on, Brooke.  Get that game-face back on.

Aggie Men vs Seattle U Redhawks

     

It was another identical match up later in the evening.  Much later.  The game started near 10:00 pm our time.  The coverage started with the previous game between Grand Canyon University and Utah Valley still going on.  Jack Nixon resisted for a while, but finally started doing play-by-play of the closing minutes.  Given that he probably hadn't prepped for the game, he did his usual great job, although I have to think he might have violated the other teams' broadcast rights.  Grand Canyon won to advance to the finals.  Frighteningly, from a quick estimation, they might have had as many fans there as the Aggies brought, though there was a record number of tickets sold by NM State for the tournament.

I was encouraged that Zach Lofton hit a three early.  The Aggies ran up an 18-5 lead.  Sidy N'Dir and AJ Harris had a pair of blocks that got gasps from the crowd.  They were loving it.  Then suddenly, it was 21-18 Aggies.  Get your stomach ready for the roller coaster.  Zach hit his fifth three of the half to make it 31-20.  Then it was 36-33 with two minutes left.  Then it was tied at 37.  When the buzzer sounded, it was 48-43 Seattle after a pair of last second shots.

The second half started.  I should mention that the Redhawks have a 7'3” center named Aaron Menzies.  Jemerrio Jones was un-intimidated.  He drove the lane and jammed on him.  “There's a poster coming!” shouted Jack Nixon.  The Aggies retook the lead with a 13-0 run to make it 48-43.  The Redhawks went on a 6-0 run to close it to 50-49 with 11 minutes left. 

At this point, work and illness may have gotten the better of me, and I was only able to listen, not take notes.  Zach and AJ put in a couple of critical threes to keep the Aggies in it.  Menzies fouled out with two minutes left.  With the Aggies ahead with under a minute left, the Redhawks started fouling.  That was a great strategy as the Aggies went 1 for 4 in free throws at one point.  Thankfully, they eventually made a couple and put it away.  84-79 Aggies final.  Zach Lofton put in a jaw-dropping 31 points.  Stay agog as Jemerrio Jones came up with 22 rebounds.  On to the championship round.

3-10-18 Aggie Men vs Grand Canyon University Lopes

Good thing I wasn't playing.  I was exhausted from dealing with my cold the night before.  I tuned into the pregame and heard an interesting/scary conversation with AD Mario Moccia.  Jack Nixon asked him about the status of the WAC.  One school was leaving (Bakersfield), another is being actively courted (Seattle U), and another is probably looking to jump since they're considered valuable (GCU).  Meanwhile, Chicago State's finances are putting their whole university in danger and UMKC is reevaluating having DI athletics.  I guess that's everyone except NM State and Utah Valley with pending plans.  The conference is adding another school, but they’re a DII program making the jump.  This was scary because Mario doesn't seem to have an answer (or is playing things really close to the vest).  He was very intent on making sure they retain Chris Jans as their basketball coach.

The team stat guy (whose name I'm not going to be able to figure out to spell) came on with a comforting stat.  A team with two wins on an opponent in a season were over 70% likely to win a third contest.  That's not my experience, at least from watching the NFL, but with two Aggie wins over GCU this year, it's good to know.  He said that they didn't tell the team about this stat.  In the coach's interview, Jans said he was very happy with the crowd support for the tournament.  The crowd might well have been about equal in rooting for the teams.  Vegas isn't too far from Phoenix after all.

Certainly to start the game, the teams were about equal.  GCU is actually #1 in the nation in defending three's, which was going to crimp the Aggies style a bit.  Johnny McCants did get in a crowd-pleasing jam, but the team went through a four-minute scoring drought with five minutes left.  However, the Lopes only managed a four-point lead during that time.  With three minutes left, Zach Lofton finally got his first points of the game.  This set off an avalanche though.  Steals, layups, and threes happened all at once for the Aggies.  Zach hit a three at the half to make it 33-22 Aggies.  Jemerrio Jones already had a double-double in points and rebounds. 

Jack kept having to correct the bumper announcer.  For some reason, the official intro was missing the word “conference” in it.  During halftime, Jack interviewed an Aggie alum who lives in Vegas and works in a sports book.  He said the busiest time of the year for sports betting was actually the first four days of March Madness.  So many games, so much money, so little brains.

The Aggies came out fouling to start the second half and picked up three quickly.  The Lopes went on a run, prompting a timeout.  However, they were fouling too.  After that last game, my mind was blown as the Aggies went 6 for 6 in free throws.  Ten minutes left and GCU led all of the second half stats, but not the score, 50-42 Aggies.  The Lopes kept fouling.  Unbelievably, the Aggies were 13 of 15 from the nail by this point.  Who were these guys?  Had they been saving these up all season?  Was the coach threatening their families?

GCU never managed a comeback.  For the last 30 seconds, Joe Garza came in and dribbled it out.  Our championship final: Aggies 72, Lopes 58.  Jemerrio Jones was named Tournament MVP.  Jack interviewed him afterward, and we found out AJ Harris' nickname is “Amos” (probably his actual name) and Jemerrio's is “Double J.”  Enough dancing lessons, it's time for the big dance.