Random thoughts -
First off, speechless at how they just put the foot down on a team that wasn't mentally ready for us. Not sure what combination of us playing well and them playing poorly led to that, but you couldn't ask for a more thorough beatdown. Heartening to see them try to put together a complete game and have such success. Just wow.
We hit a lot of shots around the rim that were 50-50, and hit most of them. Shooting was terrific in every aspect --tough shots falling, 50% from 3, and 87% from the FT line.
We rebounded very well against a big team, +13
Looking at the box score, we had roughly the same number of turnovers, but I have to believe we got the better run-outs. The T/Os we got seemed to lead to points.
We did manage to out-foul them, but I think we were smarter about it.
Our defense was noticeably better. I think they had a poor shooting night, but I could see us hustling more, picking up rotations, and forcing them to take tougher shots.
The energy was so much better. Don't know what that was all about, but man did they seem like a team that was having fun winning.
Ayo looking good. Really good.
As good as that game was, it was one game, and I'm not going to adjust my expectations upwards. I think we'll still be a young team on the road in a brutal conference, but I saw some signs of life that I hadn't previously, and I think we'll build on that. I'm just happy for these guys right now. Kofi committing and a great effort at home feel like a drink after walking through the desert. Hope this gives them the confidence to survive the conference schedule and believe they can compete with any of these teams on a given night.