The big question about this team going into Saturday night’s game was their state of mind. We had had two HORRIBLE games in a row on the road. Was there something fundamentally wrong, like a clubhouse issue? Well, that seems to have been answered resoundingly. Saturday night was one of the best team efforts I have seen in a while. The intensity from the Trojans was outstanding. If they can maintain that sort of effort, they will win several more games this year, and likely finish in first in the West.
There were several surprises in the game. First was the fact that LaMarvon Jackson started. He had logged only about 130 minutes all season. He absolutely will not be an offensive force, but he is a high-energy type guy who plays tough defense and works hard at rebounding. Neither of our big guys in the middle (Bails and Smith) started. Second surprise was that walk-on freshman Matt Mouzy got 21 minutes of playing time, and he responded in a big way. He was 6 of 9 from the field and 3 of 5 from 3-point range, and made some nice plays on fast breaks. The third surprise was that Terrance Akins and Key-Key Malone got only 10 and 2 minutes, respectively, and Rashad Moss did not play at all. Those are our only two seniors and a red-shirt junior. Akins has been ice cold lately, which you cannot afford from a shooting guard. Actually in this game he was the back-up point guard, since Brandon Patterson was hurt, and he did a very solid job, with two assists and no turnovers.
The perimeter defense is BACK with a vengeance. We held NTU to 19% from the arc, which is 20 points below their season average.
One more question remains to be answered. The last two road games we have totally imploded in the second half. What will happen Wednesday at FIU? Stay tuned.
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