Thanks for the insight dmvpiranha - I always learn something new. 

I guess all we know about Hunger is he was in a boot and had a foot injury.  Like Castro's, I guess that's all we get to know.  I know more about Ngongba's foot issue at Duke than our guys.

And thanks Insiders for always sprinkling in the humor with the wrap up.  But unless I missed it, not a word about Castro going 8 of 10 from the line? He deserves his props after being vilified since last year for blowing games.  I also think the turnover with 28 seconds to go and up 1 was not completely Autry's fault.  Dinkins threw a short hop pass at Autry's feet making him a first baseman to dig it out with his backhand.  A properly placed pass may have avoided the turnover at halfcourt. And this partially answers your question of why this team repeatedly blows 2nd half leads. Besides coming out flat and taking the foot off the gas pedal with a lead (yes it's normal to let up) we seem to follow the lackadaisical loose sloppy ball handling of our point guard.  Jones has a loose handle!  He sometimes loses control of his dribble even when not being pressured.  It causes everyone to go flat because all the energy expended on D results in easy points off t.o.s for the opposition.  He's at his best when he's aggressive and kicks it up a notch, which is why I feel he should be sixth man and Dinkins should start the second half.  Why not try it?

Aside from Castro's 80% free throws and Autry's timely 6 of 9 threes, Marshall's swiss army knife performance was the key.  You knew it was his night when he banked in the 3 from straight away.  His energy level and skill set took over and I feel better about him bringing the ball up than anyone else.  He made a bullet pass from the wing to the opposite corner twice "on the money" to Autry leading to the 3.  His blocks are also timely - remember his block on Avila? 

So what did we do differently in this 2nd half?  We made 3's, made foul shots, and clamped down on D when needed. Oh...and Autry noticeably abandoned the "birdy" celebration. Maybe that's all it took lol.

Best of luck to the Revs in the Pit (Lobos have some speedy guards,) and best to the Lady Revs today!!

Some notes:

1) Utah Valley University has approximately 47,000 undergraduate students.  WTF?  Did anyone here know this?  And only around 6,500 are fulltime online students.  This is one of the largest undergraduate on-campus student populations in the country.  I repeat, who knew this?

2) The young man who looked like he could have belonged to the Omega Theta Pi fraternity from Animal House nearly beat GW single-handedly.  He swished practically all of his 15 free throws, not bad for a 66% FT shooter.

3) Despite winning (GW + 1 1/2), this is no way to live.  I've learned my lesson..time to start betting GW in the first half only.

4) 7-13 from 3 in the first half; 4-12 in the second half.  Again, I will call into question why we are taking this many three point shots after halftime when protecting a large lead?  Plays right into the opponents' hands although at this point, this team isn't changing.   I'll add that 25 for the game is much better than what we've recently witnessed.  I'll also add that we shredded their 1-3-1 press, with I think 3 of the 4 second half makes coming on wide open shots from the corner (which even I will contend the team has to take).

5) Nice to see Slim become so much more of a focal point offensively.  It's such an important key to get him going and obviously, we needed every one of his made free throws as well.

6) Whoever made the point that playing Slim and Luke together may not have been ideal is onto something.  I understand why it was done but here's to hoping that Slim carries the weight from here on in and that Luke takes over next season.

7) With Woo in the starting lineup (and playing exceptionally well), this was truly one of the worst bench performances of the year.  Bubu looks lost at times and was consistently a step slower than whoever he was guarding.  Tre must have a clause in his contract regarding his shot attempts.  With little to any arc, the very long distance shots are now consistently bricking off the front rim.  And Garrett, whether due to health (in all likelihood) or otherwise, has been reduced to a supporting player.

8) I love most of Jean's game.  What I don't always love is his decision making.  Challenging a driver early in the second half and picking up his 4th foul is a prime example of what i am referring to.

9) I'll leave it to you decide whether I'm in the right or not on this one.  Trey can really get the team going with his three point shooting and last night was another example.  However, these "celebrations" running back down the court after making a three can come across as an attempt to show up the opponent (not to mention motivate an opponent).  I'd love to find a way to bottle the explosiveness while easing up on the showboating, whether that's his intent or not.

10) As I said before the game, having a gaudy record (or in UVU's case, a 27 home game winning streak) becomes less daunting when you see that the team hasn't really tested itself.  Congrats to GW on breaking this streak but winning at The Pit on Sunday will be a far more formidable accomplishment.
 

Long Suffering Fan wrote:

DC Native wrote:

BM wrote:

Took care of that one ourselves in 1993.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/1993-03-19-george-washington.html

I remember that game well, but UNM has been to the NCAA Tournament 17 times and has won 9 games. When I was a grad student there in the late 1990s, they had a player named Kenny Thomas, who had a long career in the NBA. In his 4 years there (how quaint these days!), UNM was 71-3 at The Pit, including a 41 game winning streak. They made the NCAA Tournament all 4 years (with seeds of 7, 3, 4, and 9), winning the first game and losing in the second round every time.

I will never forget a freshman Kwame Evans going 5-5 from the three vs. New Mexico

Omo, Kwame, Vaughn.... And Nimbo!