:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/51968493/usa_today_9686999.0.jpeg)
We were all wondering how our Boilers would respond after nearly getting beat by Georgia State late last week. Well, they answered.
The focus early on, like most games, was to get our two best players the ball down low as often as possible, referring to Biggie and Haas. It worked out well in both halves.
Early in the first half, there was a point where we were up 29-17 and seemed to be starting to go on cruise control. All of the sudden, Utah State made a push and cut the lead all the way down to 1. A late 11-0 run by our Boilers pushed the lead to 39-27 at halftime, it was smooth sailing from there on, as the lead ballooned in the 2nd half, where the big men and Mathias, dominated.
Haas finished with 26 points and 5 rebounds on a night where the big man played 26 minutes, a point per minute, we will take that any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Biggie finished with a casual double double, putting up 15 and 10.
The most enjoyable part of the night? Watching Dakota Mathias be en fuego in the first game in Cancun. He finished 6 for 7 from tres and ended up with a balanced stat sheet. 25 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
Basil and Vincent continued to struggle, Vincent finished with 10 points, but that does not show how uncomfortable he looked on then court at times, even lost in my opinion. There also wasn’t much fire power from the bench tonight either, as they only scored 6 points. 3 from Carsen Edwards and 3 from Mckeeman, a walk-on.
What is the most important thing about this win? Other than the obvious, a dominating performance and win. We get a match-up with Mr. Saucy himself, Ronnie Johnson. Who does most of his damage from the bench cheering his team on. It will be interesting to see if he will come out fired up tomorrow against his old team. I hope so, because if I remember correctly whenever he was fired up for us, he turned the ball over a million times a game.
We get to face Bruce Pearl, Ronnie Johnson and the rest of the War Eagles tomorrow. 8:30 PM. Get ready for some sauce.