For once, we have the best of both worlds, and oh what a glorious time it is!!!
If anyone had suspected the success and excitement around football might suck away some of the hype for basketball, it didn't take long to be proved wrong Friday night. The Spectrum was rocking to start off the game with a student section that was easily at least 75 percent full.
The team didn't let down either, lending plenty of credibility to the excitement surrounding them going into this season.
FIRST HALF
Things started off a bit sloppy, at least offensively. But really, when playing an actual game for the first time in months, or ever at USU for the majority of these guys, you can't expect perfection from the start.
It seemed that USU wanted to make clear that they were going to pound the ball inside, and they did just that, giving both Jarred Shaw and Ben Clifford plenty of looks down low early on. And while they didn't exactly light it up from the start, they were creating opportunities. At the very least, situations to review on film and work on correcting.
It also was very clear just how effing good Preston Medlin is going to be this season. Simply put, Pre-Med did whatever the hell he felt like to Grand Canyon's defense! Early on he had a pair of BEAUTIFUL drives to the basket, including one on a fast break where he managed to fake out both defenders to sell out on a would-be pass that he didn't make to an open man in the corner. If they hadn't been making it a point to get the bigs a lot of looks, Medlin would have easily scored 25+. Instead he was looking to be a distributor and still came out with 16 points and three assists.
Ok ok, enough gushing. But really can you blame me? That kid is fun to watch.
The first half started really sloppy offensively, but picked up alright as things went on. The defense was pretty outstanding though, holding GC to just 31.8 percent shooting from the field. The Aggies' offense wasn't as impressive though, shooting only 37.9 percent.
SECOND HALF
Better across the board, which is impressive seeing as how that Medlin kid only played some five minutes or so. Things got even more tricky because three of the four big men decided it'd be cool to dig themselves into serious foul trouble. Alas, Shaw kept on killing down low on both ends of the floor AND the free throw line while Kyisean Reed was picking off every pass that came his way (seriously, every one). Eventually both Clifford and Jordan Stone got a little more action and kept from fouling guys. Solid turnaround for them there.
Everyone else seemed to get their own pieces of the fun too, which was fun to see, especially since two or three of them could potentially end up redshirting this year, making this one of the only glimpses we'll see of them for a year. USU ended up shooting 52 percent from the field in the second half, and 44.4 percent on the game. Not good, for a first exhibition with so many new faces, can you expect a ton more?
Defensively, the Aggies held GC to 26.7 percent shooting in the second half and 28.8 on the game! THAT is impressive. If the defense can be a force while the offense comes along, this team will be just fine, and with the size down low and Reed's apparent obsession with stealing the ball, the defense will be just fine.
All in all, Stew Morrill said in the post game that the team played hard, and I think that's an understatement. They had some serious fire out there, even long after they had pulled away from the Lopes. Sure, they made some mistakes, but when you play as hard as that, mistakes will happen. At the end of the day though, they forced a lot more mistakes by GC from playing their @$$es off, and if that mentality is already present to start the season, just imagine how they'll be once this is a bit more of an experienced, fine-tuned, aggression-filled, killing machine?
No need to thank me for those goosebumps you just got. That one's on the house.
Final score: Aggies win 76-44 to improve their record to still 0-0
NOTES
- Two years ago, USU beat Grand Canyon by a score of 76-46 in the second exhibition. That team won 30 games. I'm not sayin, I'm just sayin...
- "FREE THROW SHOOTING!!!!" Shout that from your rooftops folks!! USU made 23-25 attempts from the charity stripe, including 14-15 combined from the big men. THAT kind of free throw shooting will win two or more games for the Aggies this year if it keeps up. In my eyes, that's easily the sexiest statistic of the game.
- 43-to-26 was the rebounding margin. That'll do Aggies... That'll freaking do!
- 3-point shooting was alright with 35.7 percent made. Not counting Danny Berger's one desperation heave that he chucked from deep on an inbound play and the shot clock expiring, he and Medlin were 4-of-5. And ya, Berger had one desperation heave that did go in, but it seemed much better positioned/less desperate than the other. (In other words, I'll skew my stats however I want, especially in the spirit of election season). Since Medlin and Berger will take the bulk of the 3-point attempts, 4-of-5 is fine by me.
- 13 turnovers is neither good, nor terrible. Said it a bunch already by now, but it was the first exhibition.
- Only 10 assists is a bit more discouraging. I'm want to downplay this because of the emphasis on pounding the paint, and the fact that a few nice passes to the paint didn't cash in on assists. Still, I was hoping for at least an even A/TO ratio.
- ZERO turnovers by Tenale Roland was great to see.
For the sake of keeping this post game from going insanely long (as if it isn't already), gonna give separate thoughts about each player come Sunday. But that won't stop me from giving some quick player of the game honors, so....
Player of the Game: Jarred Shaw
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