Monday, January 13, 2020

Aggie Basketball Journal January 1 to 9, 2020


1-2-19 WBB Aggies vs CBU Lancers
Didn’t I say I’d stop doing this?  Not today apparently.  Well, in this case, I watched most of the game over the WAC Digital Network, so I at least could say something about it.  If I told you that Aaliyah Prince didn’t play because she was out sick and Gia Pack only had two field goals in the game would ask how much the Aggies lost by?  That didn’t happen.  Heck, the Aggies were up by 9 at halftime.  The Lancers did have a slim lead near the end.  Down by a point with 7 seconds left, Adrianna Henderson drove the lane and lost the ball.  Gia got it and laid it in for the winning shot, 57-56 Aggies. 


So how did they do it?  Great defense (kept the Lancers well below their 79-point average) and rebounding (Gia 14 and Nana Sule 13).  Amanda Soderqvist started and led with 11 points.  The rest of the lineup and bench all contributed.  It was a great team win.  I’m sorry I wasn’t able to go to this game.  One, it was a really good Aggie win.  Two, those Lancer girls are pretty attractive, especially that Georgia Dale. 



1-4-20 MBB Aggies at CBU Lancers
This game was bad news for the Aggie Men right off the bat.  Previously injured Clayton Henry had broken his hand in a practice and would be out for the rest of the season.  He was going to be able to redshirt at least.  Things when well anyway at the start of the first half.  The Aggies built up a good lead with an 11-0 run at one point.  AJ Harris got a basket on a ricochet.  Jack Nixon reported that, “He didn’t call glass.”  He then directly into a commercial read, “Do you want a better banking experience?”  Groan.

However, some Aggie foul issues allowed the Lancers back into it with a 9-0 run.  CBU took a 37-36 lead going into halftime on a last second three.  Even worse, AJ came back out after the break with a shoe off from a turned ankle.  He didn’t play for the rest of the game.  No problem tonight though.  The Aggies came back and got their biggest lead of the night late.  Some players had four fouls, but that didn’t come into play, as the Aggies won 86-71.

Ivan Aurrecoechea led the team with 20 points and even had a rare three-pointer.  Johnny McCants had 17, including a couple of threes.  Terrell Brown was healthy and was looking good with 11 points.  The team was +7 in rebounds and were particularly good offensively.  They caused 17 turnovers and got 21 points off them, while keeping their own turnovers low at 9.  All that said, the team is nearly back where they started at the beginning of the season with both point guards injured.  Coach Jans didn’t seem hopeful about AJ.  Thank goodness they got Evan Gilyard in the interim.   


1-9-20 WBB at Chicago State Cougars
The Aggie Women looked good in their last game.  This time though they were playing a 16-0 team and would face a real test.  Wait.  I’m sorry.  I meant a 0-16 team.  Okay, it’s on the WAC Digital Network.  Let’s just watch some basketball waiting for the Men’s game to come on in an hour. 

Actually, I was kind of enjoying this game.  I liked CS announcer, whose name I did not catch even though I heard him say it at least three times.  He was very professional, except in promoting himself by clearly saying his own name.  It was single-camera coverage.  The game score shown in the corner of the picture was a shot of the actual arena scoreboard.  Chicago State’s Jones Convocation Center looks really nice.  I’d seen pictures of it before and also for a Chicago area High School All-star game.  However, there were only 108 in attendance officially for this game.  (The High School game filled the house.)

The Aggies got the scoring going early with Gia Pack, Aaliyah Prince, and even Didi Echols getting in on it.  The announcer was right on it when Gia scored and took over eighth place all-time in Aggie scoring.  He did have a problem with Adenike Aderinto’s name.  I don’t think he pronounced it the same way twice.  Just call her, “Nike.”  The Aggies had an 18-point lead at the half.   


The Cougars had a comeback in the second half.  Bethany Carstens from Alaska hit two 3’s in a row as part of a 10-2 CS run.  They got within 9 points, but it was back to 18 by end of the quarter.   The announcer dropped in a couple good lines: “I felt the breeze from that air ball,” and, “That bad pass was a fastball when an offspeed would have worked fine.”

The Aggies won 73-60.  Chicago State played hard and didn’t go away.  The Cougars went to midcourt after the game and thanked the fans there, a bit like a softball team.  Gia Pack led with 20 points and 11 rebounds.  Aaliyah Prince had 12.  Much of the rest of the team chipped in well.  The Cougars had four players in double figures.  Bethany had 11 and three three-pointers.  The Aggies only had two 3’s total.  The teams were almost even in turnovers (17 to 20), but it was 15 to 5 in steals for the Aggies.

The Chicago State coach stiffed the broadcaster for a postgame interview.  Why wouldn’t she talk to him?  He seemed like such a nice guy.  The guy did mention that there’s a new chancellor and athletic director at the college and that their teams are working on a rebuild.  I guess this means the school is out of financial trouble.  A couple of years ago, it sounded like they were about to shut the doors.   


1-9-20 MBB vs Chicago State Cougars
I picked up this game at halftime on the WAC Digital Network, as it overlapped with the Women’s away game.  Yes, this seems like a questionable choice, but the CS Men were 31-point underdogs for this game.  I figured the Women might be more competitive.  I didn’t realize I was missing seeing the lovely Emerson at the press table for the whole game.  There was only one camera for the game, like the Women at Chicago State.  She was in the shot for the much of the game.  (Actually, it was a long shot.  It was hard to tell it was her there.) 

I’d already heard the big news for this game the day before on the Aggies Coach’s Show.  AJ Harris did break his ankle in the previous game and was out for the season.  I’d talked to Ron earlier in the day about the Saturday game.  He was planning on going to this game, since he wanted the giveaway hat. 

Anyway, it was 46-24 when I started watching at the half.  I was mostly finding the little break conversations between Jack Nixon and Justin Hawkins interesting, as they were accidently broadcasting them instead of the commercials.  A fan made a halfcourt putt for a prize.  The guys were jazzed and amazed watching the ball go in.  Later, Jack had gotten the trivia question wrong for the second game in a row.  He got down on himself for it.  They had a little chat near the end to decide which player to interview after the game. 

With about three minutes left, local favorites Bryce Rewalt and Tennessee Owens came into the game to a big cheer from the crowd.  This was the first time I’d actually seen them on court.  The guys did look a bit undersized compared to everyone else on court.  That didn’t hurt their shooting though.  “Tennessee for three!” Jack coined that one tonight (maybe?), as he casually hit a three.  He hit another one and Bryce dropped one in before the end.  93-54 Aggies was the final.  CS didn’t cover the spread.  Trevelin Queen had 17 points.  Jabari Rice and Ivan Aurrecoechea both had 14.  Ivan even had a three. 

Ron emailed me this missive after the game: “Got a hat, was on other end from cheerleaders, the two short white guys came into the game with three minutes left & made some 3 pt shots.”  Good summary.  I told a co-worker about the game.  He said, “Yeah, I know Tennessee Owens.  I have all his albums.”

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