Welcome to the Bulldawg Illustrated Hoops Reports. It’s like dreaming of a National Championship in football while still watching some basketball. And our next two games in football and hoops are against the same opponent. So let’s start this weekend off on the right foot. Before we do that, let’s look at our last game.

 

The Hoop Dawgs convincingly beat Ole Miss Wednesday night at home. The Dawgs started slowly but closed the half on a nice run to take an eight-point lead to the locker room. That lead expanded to double digits a couple of minutes into the second half and I don’t remember it getting closer than seven or eight points. However, I was still in West Hollywood basking in the glow of victory and under the influence of oak-aged tequila. So I could be a little off there. But I digress… Juwan Parker led all scorers with a career-high 18 and a very odd box score. He was 0-7 on two-point buckets. However, he was 4-4 from three and 6-7 from the FT line. Parker also had 11 rebounds. So it was a coming out party for the fifth-year senior/grad student.

 

Yante Maten poured in 15 and Derek Ogbeide and Jordan Harris added 15 and 14 respectively. It was a solid victory but also one the Dawgs had to have. The Dawgs must keep winning at home and steal a few road games to make the tournament. I think we need to go 6-3 at home this year to get to 10 conference wins. That should be enough to get us in the Big Dance. And there’s usually no game more important than the next one, but that’s even more so they things stand currently.

 

The Crimson Tide is up next. They are led by a freshman from Mableton, GA. He’s averaging 20 points a game. We’ve got to slow him down to beat them. The rest of their team is really about average right now. I really think we’re a better team from top to bottom and I’ll take Maten over their number one guy any day. We’re a three-point favorite in Vegas and it’s a game a bubble team doesn’t need to lose. Just keep the turnovers around ten or fewer and I don’t think they’ll beat up. They’re considered one of the last four in and we’re one of the first eight out. So what kind of significance does this game hold? You already know! It’s one we can’t afford to lose.

 

So we’re at home on Saturday at noon vs the enemy we’ll see twice in two days. We need a two game sweep. While the Hoops game doesn’t hold the significance of the football game on Monday, it could definitely determine who gets in the tournament. If these two teams are 68 and 69 and the Selection Committee is sorting things out, head to head is almost always the deciding factor. So we need The Stegasaurus loud and we need it packed. Just look as this as a tune up for Monday night. Go Dawgs!!!

 

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