Aggie Basketball Journal January 16 to 30, 2020

1-16-20 MBB at Utah Valley Wolverines

I picked up the Aggie Men playing Utah Valley on the road at halftime when the Aggie Women finished their game.  The Aggies were up 34-27.  The WAC Digital Network was featuring a clip of a Johnny McCants’ dunk.  Unfortunately, there was no live game video available, so I had to settle for just the radio call.  I was busier at work than I thought I’d be and wasn’t able to listen much.  The Wolverines got close, but a big defensive stand led to an 18-1 Aggie run.  The Aggies rode that to a 70-56 victory.

Terrell Brown and Trevelin Queen both had 17 points, though Trev may have been hurt in the second half.  Coach Jans thought it was probably a minor injury.  The team had 11 three’s and went 15 for 17 on free throws.  This was another good win.    

  

1-18-20 MBB at Seattle U Redhawks

First up, there’s a Terrell Brown on both teams.  Both are good too.  Obviously, broadcaster Jack Nixon was concerned about calling tonight’s game.  AD Mario Moccia was unimpressed with Seattle U’s arena and grateful for playing home games at the Pan-Am Center.  The Aggie Women had beaten the Redhawks in the tough game this afternoon.  The Men were also expecting a tough game tonight.     

The Aggies were offensively sluggish in the first half.  The Redhawks got off to a good 16-5 start after nine minutes of play.  The two Terrells were guarding each other.  By the next timeout, it was 18-15 SU.  The Aggies got within a point, but SU went back up by six.  With two minutes left, Shunn Buchanan got a three, his first points in WAC play this season.  Jabri Rice tied it at 29 on a three before halftime. 

A drum corps performed during halftime while Jack was reading the stats.  For the first ten minutes of the second half, the lead went back and forth.  Evan Gilyard had a steal and Trevelin Queen tipped in a missed layup to put the Aggies up 33-29.  Apparently, there was a contingent of Aggie fans there in Seattle cheering.  An Ivan Aurrecoechea dunk put the Aggies up 50-45 Aggies. 

Johnny McCants put in a three, his first points of night, to make it 53-47.  There were lots of fouls tonight.  A Redhawks player fouled out with seven minutes left.  They retook the lead on a three, 57-56 SU.  McCants got it back on free throws.  He threw down a two-hand jam as part of a 6-0 run to make it 64-59 Aggies with three minutes left.  After an Aggie turnover, the lead went down to one.  Another SU player fouled out with two minutes left.  Rice put in another three, 69-64.

The answer to tonight’s trivia question was Anita Maxwell, who is Aggie basketball’s all-time leading scorer.  Jack got this one right.  Free throws iced the game for the Aggies, who won it, 75-67.  Ivan Aurrecoechea finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.  Jabari Rice had 17 points and 11 rebounds.  That’s a pair of double-doubles.  Trevelin Queen had 10.  The other Terrell Brown, on the Redhawks, had 25 points.  The Aggies won it on the nail with 11 more made free throws.  They also led 35-23 in rebounds.

1-23-20 WBB vs UTRGV Vaqueros

Ron was at this game.  I could only watch this Aggie Women’s game from work on the WAC Digital Network.  I was jealous afterward because this was a pretty great game.  When I found out the game was on the radio, I called dad to let him know.  Didi Echols was indeed injured in the previous game.  Adrianna Henderson started tonight.   

Gia Pack came out firing in the first quarter with a jumper and a three.  The Aggies were lightly pressing full court, so they were very defensive-minded to start.  Henderson got a basket early.  UTRGV hit a three that was waved off for coming after the shot clock buzzer.  They did get a layup on a steal on an inbounds right after.  Tayelin Grays came in and hit a couple baskets and got a big block.  Aaliyah Prince came in for Gia.  She knocked down a couple of free throws and looked energetic.  It was 19-9 Aggies after ten minutes.

The Dino Dash dinos got in a fight briefly during the contest before the second quarter, which they showed on the video.  I admit, I was hoping for more fisticuffs.  Gia didn’t start the quarter, but came back in after a few minutes as UTRGV made a bit of a comeback.  The Vaqueros coach had an interesting game strategy of subbing five players at a time.  Props to the Roadrunner Revue band.  They faked out a UTRGV player with a fake shot clock countdown and she rushed her shot.  Prince was in and got a steal and a layup.  The Aggies led at the half 34-23. 

The Vaqueros stormed back.  The Aggie lead whittled down as they went into a scoreless drought.  Down the lead went, until finally the Vaqueros took a brief lead.  UTRGV went off on an 18-2 run.  That “2” was a jumper by Prince.  The quarter ended with both teams tied at 48. 

Gia got back on track and started the fourth with a three.  Now the Vaqueros were full court pressing.  Freshman Shania Harper was given the rough task of guarding the Vaqueros’ best player.  She was accumulating fouls, but did draw some fouls in the process.  Gia hit another three.  She taunted the Vaqueros with a “You can’t guard me!”  She hit another three.  The crowd and broadcaster Adam Young went crazy.  The Aggies went up 62-53.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the end of the scoring.  The Vaqueros put in a couple of three’s to tighten the Aggie lead to one.  Gia made another three.  Soufia Inoussa, who’d scored 10 in the first half, got a layup.  Harper had a basket waved off on a shot clock violation.  Both teams were using up too much clock.  The Aggie lead was at one again.  Harper fouled out.  The score was tied at 69 with 11 seconds left.  At this point, a co-worker came by and asked to be walked out.  “Can you wait 11 seconds?” I said.  The Aggies had the final shot, but Gia didn’t get a clean look.

The game went to overtime as I was outside, and I got back late.  The Vaqueros had a 1-point lead with six seconds left.  Coach Atkinson drew up a play during a timeout.  Henderson got the ball and took it herself into the lane.  She made a left-handed baby hook to win it with .2 seconds left.  The team mobbed her and picked her up in the celebration.  Dad called right after.  He’d enjoyed the game.  Adam was actually starting to lose his voice during the postgame.  I’m not sure if he was getting sick or if he’d just gotten too excited doing play-by-play.

Gia Pack had another MVP game with 26 points and 11 rebounds.  Soufia Inoussa had 12 points in a great effort.  Adrianna Henderson made the most of her start with 11 points.  Aaliyah Prince and Tayelin Grays both had 8 points, which is encouraging for the both of them.  Amanda Soderqvist only had 2.  She really goes hot and cold from game to game.  The Aggies were 9 of 10 at the nail and out-rebounded the Vaqueros 48 to 34.  The Aggies maybe should have run away with this one, but UTRGV is a good enough team that they weren’t going to be able to keep them down for the entire game.  I’m at least impressed with the Aggies’ toughness in finishing off the win.

1-26-20 MBB at UTRGV Vaqueros

So on Wednesday, I heard this missive late in the afternoon on sports talk radio, “And Trevelin Queen had successful knee surgery today.”  I nearly fell out of my chair.  At that Utah Valley game on January 16-th, I mentioned that Trev had been injured.  He seemed okay in the next game, so I’d forgotten about it.  Trevelin was opening topic on the Aggie Coach’s Show an hour later.  He had been hurting.  Hearing Coach Jans explain it, Trev was still going to miss games just having the fluid drained from his knee and would be more susceptible to worse injury.  Getting the surgery was the best option to have him possibly available later in the season. 

So add another casualty to the list of injured Aggie players this season.  It’s been pretty amazing that they’ve been this good to this point.  One wonders how good they would have been if everyone had been healthy.  In any case, Aggie fans were nervous about this road game on Saturday.  Obligingly, UTRGV was missing their best player for the game.  He was out for a death in the family.  Jack Nixon mentioned this right before the tip-off.  “And here we’d spent most of the pregame talking about him,” he said. 

While I was listening, I admit that I wasn’t taking much in the way of notes, because I was busy going through stuff in my apartment.  The Aggies wore white for the game, though being the visiting team.  The Vaqueros went up to start.  Johnny McCants was all of the Aggies’ scoring early.  A 9-point run would put the Aggies up with a slim lead.  McCants, already having nine points, passed up on a jam on a steal, and instead made a layup.  This left Jack hanging awkwardly, as he was about to do his, “Here’s Johnny!” call.  It was 36-29 Aggies at the half.

The Vaqueros clamped down on defense. The Aggies went on a scoring drought and were giving up lots of turnovers.  But, UTRGV’s offense wasn’t able to get ahead.  Evan Gilyard and Terrell Brown hit three’s to put the Aggies up by nine with eight minutes left.  Several of the players did get into foul trouble and couldn’t press hard on defense. In the final seconds, Evan missed two free throws and the Vaqueros cut the lead to only three.  When Ivan Aurrecoechea was fouled, he hit his shots to ice the game.  Aggies win 67-62. 

Ivan Aurrecoechea was big with 19 points.  Johnny McCants finished with 12.  Evan Gilyard and Terrell Brown both had nine.  According to the Sun-News, Jordan Jackson for UTRGV had 26 points and also trash-talked Terrell at the start of the game.  He’s not even their star player.  If the Vaqueros had been at full strength, this game might not have gone the Aggies’ way.  In the postgame, Coach Jans was a bit unhappy with Evan and his foul-shooting.  Evan was interviewed afterward and was bubbling with confidence regardless.  In my mind, after losing two guards to injury, Gilyard’s defection from UTEP to the Aggies may have saved their season to this point.

1-30-20 MBB vs CSU-Bakersfield Roadrunners

I’m looking forward to going to Saturday’s Pack-the-Pan-Am event.  I was hoping though that the Aggies weren’t looking ahead to that game and were focused on tonight’s game.  Coach Chris Jans promised a dogfight on the Aggie Coach’s Show and in the pregame.  We got it.  Bakersfield is nationally-ranked in rebounding, hard-nosed, and have a deep bench.    

The Aggies got a pair of three’s off of their first two shots.  Evan Gilyard would hit a second three and the Aggies were up 12-4 early.  They even got a couple of layups with fouls for some old school three-point plays.  After the game, Coach Jans said he was worried about getting a big lead right off the bat like that.

CSUB was playing hard.  They’d been fouling a lot, but it paid off in a pair of back-to-back Aggie turnovers that they scored on.  It was 21-17 Aggies after that.  Justin Hawkins on the radio call did immediately see a Roadrunner three attempt with the player’s foot on the line.  The officials did review and change it. 

Johnny McCants had a big block late.  It was 35-30 Aggies at the half.  Ivan Aurrecoechea was having another great game with 13 points already.  Cam Allen on the Roadrunners was keeping them in it with 11 points.  Surprisingly, those were all his points for the game.  I was busy at work for the second half, but listening in the background.  I could tell it was very tight.  CSUB tied it at 42 early on.  It was tied again at 50 with four minutes left. 

I finally stopped everything to listen to the end of the game.  Bakersfield took the lead, 53-52, on a three with three minutes left.  Jabari Rice got a couple of free throws to get the lead back, but the Roadrunners got it back on another jumper.  Ivan got the lead back once again on a layup.  With a minute-and-a-half left, Shunn Buchanan made the play of the game with a steal.  Ivan converted that into a couple of free throws, 58-55 Aggies. 

Shunn then grabbed a rebound off a Bakersfield miss, but it was ruled a tie up.  CSUB got the ball back, but missed again.  With 30 seconds left, Shunn was fouled and made the first shot.  Jack Nixon and Hawk were already wanting him for the postgame.  The officials had an inexplicable review delay after that and Shunn missed the second one.  The Roadrunners immediately hit a jumper with eight seconds left.  Shunn was fouled again and put them both in to ice the game.  Aggies win 61-57.  Whew!

Ivan Aurrecoechea finished with 23.  Jabari Rice had 20.  These two accounted for nearly all the scoring.  Everyone else was in low single-digits.  Bakersfield had four players in double figures, nearly five.  In the postgame, the coach was happy that the Aggies had held their own in rebounds.  He credited crowd noise with helping the team and disrupting play.  The students were back in force.  Unfortunately, that noise included disrupting the Aggies’ play too.  “Maybe be a little quieter when we’re on offense.”  I’ll keep that in mind on Saturday.   

1-30-20 WBB at CSU-Bakersfield Roadrunners

Unfortunately, there was heartbreak on the Women’s side. They lost 60-59 at Bakersfield.  The Aggies had the last shot, but it didn’t go.  Gia Pack continued her tremendous season with 21 points, including going 10 for 10 at the free throw line.  Encouragingly, Aaliyah Prince had a great game with 14 points and looked good in play.  There wasn’t any video available for this game, except for clips on the team Twitter.  They posted the final score reversed there.  On the website, they accidently posted the Men’s score.  I had to get the actual final score on Bakersfield’s website. 

Baseball-The Cheating Scandal of all Eternity

I hadn’t intended to write anything about baseball until after Spring Training, but recent events have mandated that I, as a baseball fan, must comment upon.  I waited until the scandal had died down a bit, so I could get all the pertinent information and to let events take their course.  Now I am ready to speak of these issues.  Here . . . I go.

This is the best thing to have happened to baseball in years!

I’m not even being sarcastic or provocative.  I mean it!  Here we are in the absolute dead zone for baseball news and everyone has been talking about the sport all week.  It’s knocked the NFL’s Championship weekend out of the top spot in sports news.  The sports media has been saying for years that baseball needed to promote itself better.  I’ll translate that for you; they wanted some controversy.  As soon as the MLB gave it to them, the pundits and commentators lined up to talk baseball.  This is awesome!

This is more than just, “No publicity is bad publicity.”  This is a great scandal with consequences and plenty of room to argue the issues.  There’s no black and white in this.  You can intellectually take either side really.  There’s no illegal money transfers, no girlfriend beating, no referees making questionable decisions, everyone can have an opinion on this without having to parrot some enforced mass media viewpoint. 

Having established how wonderful it is to hear people passionately taking about baseball, I guess I have to offer up my own opinion.  (Part of me just wants to leave this right here and bask in the glow of the attention.)  First, we have to establish the essence of the scandal.  At its core, the Astros were caught using electronic aids to steal the signs of their opponents.  The aftermath of this disclosure by the MLB has resulted in firing of the Mets, Red Sox, and Astros’ managers, along with the Astros’ GM.

Now for my opinion.  This whole scandal was exposed for the purpose of kneecapping the Yankees’ two main American League opponents, the Red Sox and Astros.  (Watch the Twins finally beat them in the first round this season.)  This was also a consolation prize for the Dodgers, since they lost to those two teams in the World Series recently.  Sorry LA, you should have actually won.  There you have it.  Glad to help clear all this up for you.  Once again, I’m tempted to stop writing right here.

It all gets a bit complicated and murky after this.  A couple of years ago, the Red Sox had been caught stealing signs and using an Apple Watch to communicate those signs.  Commissioner Rob Manfred warned everyone not to use electronic devices for sign stealing.  He said there’d be consequences the next time and that the GM and manager would be held responsible.

Oblivious, the Astros set up a system at Minute Maid Park with a video camera and banging on a garbage can to let their hitters know what pitch was coming up.  After the Astros’ championship run, Mike Fiers left the team and blew the lid off the scheme after he got to his new team.  (What a “courageous” move, sabotaging your old team while playing for a division opponent.  I’m sure teammates on his current team have kept him in the know about their own sign-stealing operations.)  Opposing players had voiced suspicions to the MLB before this, but after this disclosure, they had to investigate. 

Then Astros bench coach, Alex Cora, was fingered as the main enabler, along with then player, Carlos Beltran.  As threatened, Manfred fined the Astros $5M, the maximum allowable, and suspended manager AJ Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow for a year.  An hour after the announcement, both were fired.  In turn, Cora, the Red Sox manager, and Beltran, the new manager of the Mets, were also fired.  And everyone learned their lesson.  The end.

What’s that?  What about the Astros players who actively participated in this scam?  Oh, they were given immunity for testifying.  So far, they haven’t been punished at all.  Sure they flipped on Cora and Beltran.  They weren’t teammates anymore.  Yeah, here’s where things start getting ugly.  In my opinion, this isn’t right at all.  Hinch reportedly tried to discourage the sign-stealing (by breaking a couple of video monitors), but the players continued doing it.  What was he going to realistically do to them?  Given the Players’ Union, he probably couldn’t even use strong language.  Luhnow was aware of the situation, but what was he going to, fire the players?

In lieu of fining and suspending the players (which may be problematical, as this might involve the whole team), some commentators have suggested stripping Houston of their title and making the players give back their rings.  That’s very NCAA.  Go ahead move the franchise now.  The people of Houston will end their support of the team forever after such a decision. 

In days immediately following, more dirty laundry started coming out.  Jose Altuve was accused of wearing a buzzer that was alerting him to pitches.  He claims he was mic’d up, which is possible, but it’s hard to believe any player after the Ryan Braun PED scandal.  Suddenly, former pitcher Jack McDowell accused Tony LaRussa of using the scoreboard for sign-stealing in the 80’s when LaRussa managed the White Sox.  What about steroids?  And why isn’t Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame, he only bet on baseball.  The whole game of baseball is fake!  (Just like the NFL.)        

Whew!  I was right.  I should have stopped earlier before it got ridiculous.  Sign-stealing is part of the game, that’s why they have to do multiple signs with a runner at second.  Bobby Thompson’s famous, “Shot heard round the world,” has been accused of being on a stolen sign.  So the problem here is the electronic element of this sign-stealing.  Is this so bad?  Apparently, it makes signs nearly useless, especially now that mound visits are limited.  You might remember in that Astros/Dodgers series, catchers were visiting the pitchers with nearly every pitch, which caused that rule change.          

Even with the severe consequences of being caught, it’s not like teams are going to stop trying to find ways of using electronics to steal signs.  As long as there are no consequences to the players for cheating like this, they’ll keep doing it.  Don’t think for a moment a bunch of managers, bench coaches, and GM’s are coming up with these schemes.  If managers can’t order it stopped, it’s obviously the players. 

In my mind, if technology is causing the problem, then use technology to solve it.  Give pitchers, catchers, and the dugout encrypted wireless communications.  Obviously, it’s going to be “beeps,” since you still can’t say out loud what the pitch is going to be.  I’m not even sure I care if the dugout actually talks to the players, as long as the communication is recorded and available to the MLB and it doesn’t delay the game.  This can’t be that hard or expensive to figure out, unlike the electronic strike zone (rolls eyes). 

Does this all really tarnish the Astros’ World Series and the reputations of their players and former management?  Does this soil baseball in general?  Yes, but like I said, sign-stealing is part of the game.  It’s not truly game-breaking like steroids and betting on the game (and last season’s juiced balls).  What got them in trouble was using electronics to do it (which allowed them to do it too well), after everyone had been explicitly told not to.  This is almost more of a power play between the players/teams and the commissioner than anything else.  Unfortunately, if you’re not punishing everyone involved, you’re not really putting your foot down. 

Is this the end of the scandal?  Were more (all) teams doing something like this?  Will this be a deterrent?  Can the MLB go after everyone doing this?  Is it everyone doing this?  Will there be a solution proposed?  I’ll finally stop here and let those questions hang for now.  In the meantime, I’m just glad to hear people talking about baseball.  

NM State Aggies vs Seattle U Redhawks Women’s Basketball 1-18-20

It was a solo flight today.  Dad had already backed out of going earlier in the week.  He was afraid of the crowd at the game and getting sick.  As if to prove the point, Ron called me Saturday morning and said he had the flu.  He thought he caught it at the Men’s game last week.  Oh well.  Let’s quickly recap the Aggies’ last two games.

1-12-20 at UMKC Roos

I had no coverage of this weather-delayed game.  It was scheduled for Saturday, but was moved because of a winter storm in the area.  The Sunday reschedule was a 56-52 loss for the Aggies.  They had the lead with two minutes left, but lost it on a 9-0 Roo run.  From the stats, it looked like they won it on the free throw line with great foul shooting.  Amanda Soderqvist busted out with 13 points to lead the Aggies.  Gia Pack had 11. 

1-16-20 vs Utah Valley Wolverines

I was able to watch most of the first half on the WAC Digital Network.  Nana Sule was out tonight.  Micayla Buckner started as the Aggies were trying to combat a taller team in the Wolverines.  UV is the best defensive team in WAC, but not that great on offense.  In the first half, the Aggies worked out a good lead with Gia Pack scoring early and often.  They went on a 10-0 run, as UV went scoreless for five minutes.  In the second, Aaliyah Prince came in shot well.  Gia was still hot shooting.  UV got close, but it was 31-25 at the half. 

Halftime at the Pan-Am Center featured a Paper Airplane contest for the fans.   Aggievision ran a piece on Striking the Wonder Dog.  For some reason the camera kept showing lots of shots of Utah Valley’s travelling fans.  I know that attendance wasn’t that great, but I’m sure there were plenty more Aggie fans there.

UV had a brief lead in the third quarter.  They led again in the fourth with an 8-0 run and a 6-point lead, as the Aggies went on a five-minute scoring drought.  The Wolverines figured out they only needed to stop Gia and started triple-teaming her.  Encouragingly, the Aggies made a bunch of free throws late to keep it close, but couldn’t hit the jumpers when they needed them. 

Utah Valley took it 58-54.  Perhaps worse, this broke the Aggies’ 23-game home conference winning streak.  The Wolverines had used their size to get a lot of points in the paint.  Gia Pack had a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds.  The rest of the team was a bit of a no-show.  Starter Amanda Soderqvist had zero points.  Coach Atkinson didn’t even do a postgame interview, so she must have been pissed.

Back to the present, I arrived at the Pan-Am Center.  I saw the lovely Grace Laporte at the courtesy table.  She asked if I’d like to guess the number of the golf balls in a jar for a contest.  For the second time (10-18-19), I declined to participate.  I’m sorry.  I just wasn’t into the prize.  I ran into fan Danny in the concourse.  He mentioned that the Aggies had beaten Chicago State by the fewest points this season by any team, except for a Division II team.  He wasn’t sold on them this season. 

The Roadrunner Revue was practicing on the south end of the concourse when I got there.  They started playing and marching around the building after I sat down.  The drummer and guitarist for the band were left behind on the band platform, looking forlorn.   I sat down with fans Mike, Rob, and Mina.  Mike said Danny wasn’t sitting with them anymore, but he didn’t know why.  Oooh, fan drama.        

Boy, did I F this scorecard up.  I wasn’t even close.  What can I say?  There was a bunch of action.  I’m here watch the game, not the scorecard.  Before the game, I couldn’t help but notice the Redhawks’ personnel advantage over the Aggies, 16 to 11.  Out on court though, I only counted 14 Seattle U players.  For the Aggies, Nana Sule was not suited up to play.  Judging by her limited playing time today, I think Aaliyah Prince wasn’t entirely good to go either.  (Not to mention, there was another player injured during the game.)

The Redhawks had several tall white girls on the team.  Pretty Georgia Kehoe (top) from Australia caught my eye.  [Edit: Holy crap!  One Internet search later, I found out she’s an actual model.]  Guard Kamira Sanders (bottom) was also attractive.  She had this incredible mass of curls on top of her head and had intense eyes.  She reminded me a bit of streamer Brittany Venti.  Her game play and attitude were also intense.  (It’s not my fault that most of the opposing teams have been better-looking this season.)  Chinwe Ezeonu had a fun name to hear PA Ed call during the game. 

There was kind of a light crowd for this Saturday noon game.  Looking at attendance for this season, it’s been going down.  Amanda Soderqvist and Micayla Buckner started today.  I don’t know if Aaliyah lost her spot or still wasn’t feeling well from being sick a couple of weeks ago.   

First Quarter

Both teams were shooting well to start.  SU’s Courtney Murphy hit a three at the buzzer.  Amanda answered immediately with a three.  SU subbed in several players early.  The Aggies subbed Adenike Aderinto in for Micayla.  Kamira made a splash with a steal and a layup.  The Redhawks were up 15-10 with three minutes left in the fast-moving quarter at the first timeout. 

Aaliyah came in with one minute left in the quarter.  Gia Pack took a hard fall earlier, then she was hit on the nose on an inbounds and had to come out.  It was getting a bit rough.  Kamira was involved in two straight turnovers right before the end of the quarter.  Amanda fouled her at the buzzer.  The refs checked to see if it was flagrant.  The Dinos for the dash contest were waiting in the wings for the decision.  Kamira was just awarded free throws.  Somebody in the band yelled out, “You stink!” during the attempts.  That was rude (and pathetic for a taunt).  25-12 SU.

Second Quarter

Dino Dash!  The contest with the T-Rex costumed contestants was even better with added Grace Laporte assisting.  Back to play, Kamira was on a tear.  She got a layup and had a block/steal on defense right after.  Gia was taking shots, but only had one basket to this point.  Kamira had another layup.  Micayla took a feed inside for a bucket.  She’d missed on several of those close shots the last two games.  She’s been in the right place, but not finishing.  Back on defense, Kamira ran into her and Micayla was called for the foul.  The fans were up in arms at the call.

Nike came back with a steal and layup.  It was her Senior Day spotlight day.  PA Ed gave out some trivia facts about her during the game.  31-19 SU with six minutes left.  Shania Harper came in.  I’m pretty sure Coach Atkinson doesn’t want to play the freshman, because she looked overmatched out there, but the bench was too short not to play everyone.

Gia made some nice moves dribbling for a bucket.  She also got a steal.  Amanda hit her third three of the half to make it 33-24 SU.  Gia got around Kamira, who was guarding her, for another basket.  Seattle hit an answering three, but Gia got in another basket.  She finished off with a pair of free throws and a three.  I think Gia found her shot.  38-33 SU at the half. 

Third Quarter

I wasn’t sure if there was any halftime entertainment, because nothing came out on court right after.  As I went to the bathroom, a troop of sparkling costumed young dancers came out.  They were the Charlie’s Angels from Roswell.  I should have stopped to watch.  They finished before I got back (and that wasn’t a long time).  The crowd seemed to enjoy them.

After play resumed, Didi Echols got a steal under the basket, but went down to a knee right after.  She was okay at that point.  The Redhawks stole it right back on the other end.  Didi made an over-the-back foul on Kamira to stop the layup.  It was reviewed, but not ruled flagrant.  (Am I getting tired of these flagrant foul and football targeting reviews?  Yes.) 

Soufia Inoussa made a pretty (or lucky) scoop shot under the basket for her first points.  Didi fed Micayla under the basket for points.  I think Micayla’s figuring it out.  I was afraid to look at the scoreboard, because I didn’t want to be disappointed.  I wasn’t.  It was 40-39 SU.  Micayla got a steal.  The crowd was fully into it now.  Gia hit a basket.  It was 41-40 Aggies with six minutes left.  They’d clawed all the way into the lead.

The Aggies had been fouling a lot this quarter though.  SU was already in the bonus with five minutes left.  Down to three minutes, Gia got a steal, a layup, and drew a foul.  She posed for the appreciative crowd.  48-46 Aggies.  On defense, Kamira got trapped on the sideline.  Didi stole her pass out, which led to a Gia three, 55-47.  The Aggies started pulling away.

Tayelin Grays came in and flat took a ball away for a steal.  (Why do some many of these players have names with non-standard spellings?)  She got a basket under the rim and got the foul for her first points.  The crowd loved it.  62-51 Aggies at the buzzer.  It was a 29-point quarter for the Aggies, while they only gave up 13.  What a run!

Fourth Quarter

Here’s the injury I mentioned earlier.  One minute in, Didi and Tayelin collided on a rebound.  Didi let out a cry and fell to the ground.  She tried to stay in, but the refs finally called time to take her out.  She got a round of applause as she went to the trainer’s table.  Didi stayed there for the rest of the game.  This might not be good.

The Aggies kept pouring it on.  Gia hit another three to make it 71-52.  She took another bow on court.  On the other side, Kamira was still playing her heart out.  She took a bad shot on a three and was taken out.  She didn’t go to the bench, but went behind the bleachers.  She came out and punched something and went back behind the bleachers.  Kamira walked around behind the bench, until she got put back in. 

By this point, Gia came out for a breather.  Tayelin hit a three to make 74-54.  Timeout.  While the rest of the Redhawks stood by the lane, Kamira stalked out to midcourt by herself.  She shook loose her incredible curls to pull back her hair.  Would it be dangerous to say Kamira is beautiful when she’s angry?  I did not mind her being the center of attention until play resumed.

Tayelin hit another three.  Kamira got of a better shot for an angry three.  Amanda was back in and hit a jumper and a three.  82-59 Aggies with two minutes left.  Even I saw a foul on Gia later.  She complained to a ref, but they wanted this one over with.  Shania came back in and was pushed into one of the goals.  She came up okay.  Then, Kamira ran over her on the other end and drew a foul.  That was basically it.  83-65 Aggies for the win.

How about that?  The Aggies were down 13 after the first quarter and won by 18.  Gia Pack scored 30 points!  As soon as she got it going, the Redhawks were in trouble.  She also got a double-double with 19 rebounds.  Amanda Soderqvist had 14 points with four three’s.  Adenike Aderinto had a great game with 12.  Tayelin Grays had 9 in limited time.  Poor Didi Echols.  She had 7 points, but got the worst of the injuries.  I think her first fall made that second fall worse.  Only Aaliyah Prince didn’t score of the players in the game.  I think there’s something wrong with her.  Lastly, Kamira Sanders had 25 points for SU.  What an effort and what a ferocious beauty! 

I’d just finished writing down the player scoring off the scoreboard (thanks for getting that fixed Pan-Am staff), when PA Ed told everyone to clear out.  They were cleaning up for a city cheerleading competition.  I’d seen the Aggie Cheerleaders bring in several boxes of trophies earlier.  They were setting up for the competition as I left.  Outside, there was a very long line of people waiting to come in. 

I’d had a craving for Raising Canes since yesterday.  I really shouldn’t have gone out for a food, but had to satisfy myself.  It was a tremendous meal.  I then went over to Freddy’s for a sundae, just to be more indulgent.  A pretty girl at the counter was very nice, which made the custard even better.  Driving back home, I considered why I wanted those chicken fingers so bad out of nowhere.  Oh yeah.  I remembered I’d watched an episode of Community yesterday featuring chicken fingers.  Talk about subliminal advertising. 

NM State Aggies vs UMKC Roos Men’s Basketball 1-11-20

It was a theoretically simple plan.  Aggie Men’s Basketball was offering $10 tickets in the Student Section for three games while the university was on break.  The catch was that you had to get the tickets before gameday.  I’d called Ron on Thursday and asked if he wanted to go to Saturday’s game.  I offered to go buy the tickets.  He told me he was going to the Thursday night game and he could get the tickets.  Swell. 

Come Saturday, Ron had not bought the tickets.  However, he’d asked about the $5 ticket section.  They’re only sold on gameday.  He’d went by the ticket office earlier, but it’d been closed.  Of course they were sold out at game time.  This meant having to buy full price tickets.  Luckily, they were only $15.  That said, I ended up paying 50% more than I meant to. 

I really shouldn’t gripe.  I’d spent all morning with my dad, as he finally decided to buy a new vehicle.  It was time to retire the old ’58 Studebaker.  He got a real peach of a new(er) car.  (It was three years old with low mileage.)  However, his hands were shaking as he wrote out that $11,000 check, as just about anyone would.  I’d only gotten back home about a half hour before Ron and I were supposed to leave and I barely had time to clean up.

Note Ivan Aurrecoechea’s clean cut new hairstyle.  Well done young man.  Sweatbands and long hair were not the way to go for you.  He must have gotten a girlfriend.  I also picked up a new glossy scorecard.  This format would kind of prove kind of impractical for actual scorekeeping. 

Since we’d gotten to the Pan-Am Center early, Ron and I took a walk around.  (This might have also been because Ron thought our seats were on the other side of the arena.)  I noticed that the concessions were selling Chik-fil-a sandwiches, along with Little Caesars Pizza.  That’s a nice upgrade.  Once again, I didn’t try the Aggie burger, since I’d just had lunch.  Maybe next time.  (If only they’d sell this stuff during Volleyball games and Women’s Basketball.)  If I hadn’t spent extra on the tickets, I probably would have picked up some cinnamon roasted nuts or kettle corn.   

Our seats were right off the main concourse on the north end.  We were not behind the goal, as I was at a Men’s game a couple of years ago (1-21-17).  (I misidentified that as the student section.)  These seats were off to the side, so we had no trouble seeing all the court.  When Ron went on Thursday, he’d been able to move to a better seat.  There was no need for that.  Not to mention, there was a much bigger crowd, so we couldn’t have moved.  Ironically, that $10 Student section was the only one that wasn’t mostly filled. 

I saw a couple co-workers (officers) there.  They were sitting at the courtside seats.  I nudged Ron.  There was an incredible Pan-Am staff member taking care of them.  The young woman was sashaying down the row in a tight red miniskirt.  We were both enraptured.  Around the crowd, I saw the Thursday giveaway hat on several people.  It looked pretty good.  No wonder Ron went to the game.      

Hey!  There’s Chico, mascot of the El Paso Chihuahuas.  He was down on the court with his own squad of Cheerleaders.  I remembered that there was supposed to be a game of Mascot Basketball at halftime.  Chico posed at midcourt for some social media pictures before going to work the crowd.  His Cheerleaders handed out some coupons to fans.   

I found out over the radio that this game was almost canceled.  Bad weather in the Midwest had delayed UMKC’s flight.  They got the last plane out of Dallas and arrived in El Paso at 1:00am.  The Aggie Women’s game in Kansas City was delayed until Sunday for weather.  During warmups, it was hard not to notice one of the Roo players, Josiah Allick.  He was a tall white guy with a huge afro. 

For the Aggies, at least there were no new injuries to report.  However, when I glanced at the paper this morning, I saw that Assistant Coach Corey Barker had been implicated in a scandal from his previous job at TCU.  We’ll see what happens about this.  Even though NM State didn’t do anything, expect the NCAA to drop the hammer on them and for TCU to get off without any penalty.  On court, a Caliches Kids Captain and the ball kids were introduced on camera.  The Aggies’ intro video featured lots of three’s and dunks.  Johnny McCants’ halfcourt winner was the featured play.   

I messed this scorecard up but good.  It was printed on nice slick paper, which didn’t erase well.  (It was on the back of the flyer image at the top of the post.)  Yes, I’m blaming the scorecard.  Then I dropped my pencil at half time under the seats in front of me and had to use my pen.  Irrevocable mistakes were made.  I thought I was doing such a good job too.  I had the radio game call on.  I was paying attention.  They weren’t showing player stats until later in the game.  The Pan-Am staff really needs to get their act together.  I actually saw a Women’s game on Sunday where the home team got a technical foul called on them before tipoff because they couldn’t get their scoreboard right.     

First Half

The Aggies got it going with a Johnny McCants’ three and a Trevelin Queen dunk.  That’s how to get the crowd into it.  The Aggies were also rebounding well at the start.  The Roos hit a three and their coach immediately called a timeout.  He was furious at them for some reason.  Back in play, Jabari Rice made a steal and got it to Trev for a dunk.  UMKC hit another three to keep them in it.  12-8 Aggies at the next break. 

Evan Gilyard (whose number is wrong on the scorecard) got an assist to Johnny for a slam to make it 17-10.  The Aggies though were getting out-rebounded now.  At the next timeout, it was 19-12 Aggies (along with a bunch of indecipherable notes).  Members of the ’79 Aggie team were honored out on court.  A new banner for their NCAA appearance was unveiled.  The video screens showed footage of them playing Larry Bird and Indiana State here that year.  (I remember that as a kid.  The Aggies almost beat them.)  The guys got a standing ovation. 

The game got a bit physical back in play, as Terrell Brown was hammered driving the lane.  The Roos were fouling a lot early, though not as much as I was marking down.  It was 25-15 Aggies after ten minutes.  The Roos hit a couple of three’s to close in.  Terrell was on a mission and hit a three and then a layup.  30-22 Aggies at the next timeout. 

The halfcourt putting contest looked really tough.  It was a small cutout hole in a standee.  The shot wasn’t even close, which made the winning shot on Thursday even more impressive in retrospect.  The girl in the red skirt came out to assist with the $5k halfcourt basketball shot challenge.  It was another wide miss. 

Ivan got a jam to make it 32-24, but the Roos came back.  With another three, they got it to 32-30 with three minutes left.  In another break, PA Ed announced it was Tony Randazzo’s birthday.  He’s a Las Cruces native and an MLB umpire.  Trev came back with a steal and a jam on an Aggie run, 40-32.  This got the crowd up and cheering for the final minute.  42-33 Aggies at the half.

Halftime

Mascot Basketball!  Over a dozen costumed mascots were introduced out on court.  The hawk costume was the most impressive, but I didn’t catch who it was.  Pistol Pete, the only one not wearing a large foam outfit, had a decided advantage.  Pete mostly passed the ball, because it was funnier watching the other characters shoot.  He did make a couple a baskets.  Chico ran off with the ball at one point.  The Caliches Scoop lost his head.  The Sonic Tot played possum and popped up on Chico.  It was all good fun, until I dropped my pencil under the seat in the row in front of us. 

Second Half

There were two things I noticed at the start.  Trevelin was wearing mismatched shoes.  One was red and one was black.  It was a bold fashion statement.  PA Ed made an announcement thanking the band in attendance.  They weren’t the Roadrunner Revue, though they were wearing their hockey sweaters.  It was an All-City high school band.  They did a good job.  Ron said there wasn’t a band at all on Thursday.

Johnny nearly brought down the house with a jam to start the second half.  The goal shook as he put it down.  Josiah Allick picked up two quick fouls trying to play against Ivan.  McCants got a steal to stop a Roo fast break.  It was all coming up Aggies.  Ivan then got a foul off the ball.  The crowd gave the refs a loud boo.  Then Gilyard picked up his third foul while taking a charge.  The crowd got downright angry.  William McNair and CJ Bobbitt came in.  CJ had some cool dark blue and orange shoes.  (Not sure why he’s wearing UTEP shoes.)  It was 48-40 Aggies.

I think over the air, the announcers called McNair “Baby Bear.”  He is big.  McNair got two blocks and showed some great hustle saving a ball going out.  The guys wanted to get him a basket, but caused a turnover trying to pass it to him.  McCants and Trev came back in.  The Aggies had another bad pass leading to a Roo score.  50-45 Aggies with 11 minutes left.  Timeout.  Right out of that, Jabari lobbed the inbounds to a jumping Terrell for an instant basket.  That was the second time the Aggies had run that play in this game, but with different players.  Jabari then got a steal and fed Johnny for an alley oop.  This set the crowd off cheering.

The Roos weren’t going away.  They hit a three and got a turnover and suddenly we were tied at 54.  Ivan came in and put in a couple of layups.  58-54 Aggies with five minutes left.  Gilyard dropped in two free throws and Terrell hit a three.  The crowd was on its feet with that 9-point run.  63-54 Aggies with four-and-a-half minutes left.  The Aggie Cheerleaders did a Pete pyramid with the icon on top during the timeout. 

The Roos had some foul issues with their two best players with four fouls each.  Trev and Terrell hit a pair of threes as the Roos hit a couple of threes as well.  69-60 Aggies with two minutes left.  Gilyard was called for this fourth foul.  The crowd was up in arms again.  Jabari popped in a three to make it 72-61.  He got a block as well afterward. 

Again, the Roos hit a three.  It was becoming a long distance shooting contest.  72-61 Aggies with one minute left.  The Aggies tried to dribble it out.  Gilyard fouled out.  Coach Jans let out an explicative near the microphone.  Jack Nixon quickly apologized.  Jordan Giles, high-scorer on the Roos, fouled out right after.  During the break, the camera showed a kid dancing with his shirt pulled over his head.  The crowd got a good laugh. 

Roo Rob Whitfield popped in a three to make it 73-69 with 17 seconds left.  The Aggies turned it right over on another bad pass.  During the review for possession, the mop boy danced on court.  Trev got a big block with 7 seconds left.  Shunn Buchanan made one of two free throws after a quick foul.  The Roos immediately got a layup.  An Aggie turnover gave the Roos one more shot, but it missed.  Whew!  Our frighteningly close score was 74-71 Aggies.

I was almost afraid to listen to the Coach on the postgame show, but he actually sounded quite depressed.  He blamed himself for the way the team finished the game.  If they’d lost this one, Coach Jans might have been more animated than depressed.  The team had been making mistakes during the game, but really didn’t seem to be paying attention at the end.             

Terrell Brown led all scorers with 18 points.  I’d say he’s feeling okay.  Trevelin Queen had 16, though most of that was in the first half.  Jabari Rice had 13 points and a double-double.  Ivan Aurrecoechea and Johnny McCants had some critical buckets.  I thought I saw Johnny limping a bit at the end of the game.  Hopefully I’m wrong.  Four Roos players were in double figures.  

The coach couldn’t believe the score was so close with the team shooting 62%.  He was happy with the rebounds as they were +7.  The Aggies also had 21 points off 18 turnovers.  The team just needs to play smarter.  Perhaps that’s one of the big things they’re missing with AJ Harris and Clayton Henry injured.

With the crowd clearing out, I went down to retrieve my pencil.  I found a half bag of kettle corn under the seat too, which I immediately grabbed.  Ron gave me a look.  Don’t judge me!  Hey, it’s kettle corn.  It’s not like they give that stuff away either.  I don’t know why on earth those people left it.  On the way out, we were handed Whataburger coupons, which Ron and I used immediately along with a bunch of other fans.  The manager there was super nice after a long wait to get to the register. 

For dessert, I used a coupon at PQ Treats.  I tried the Peanut Butter Bomb sundae that I’d seen someone else order.  It was great, until I got to the bottom where it was just peanut butter.  Even if I’d had something to drink with me, it was still too much.  I got grossed out and ended up spitting it out in the bathroom.  Ron was at least amused. 

Epilogue

I’m sure I didn’t feel quite as sick as the Las Cruces Sun-News “editors” when somebody pointed out to them the small misprint in their top of the fold headline about the game.  (If you can’t spot it yourself, I can’t help you.)  This reminds me of a previous headline where Brian Green was highlighted as the baseball coach of the Lobos (4-16-18).  That one required a full page reprint the next day.