After finishing the regular season with a win against UCF we somehow managed to secure the 7th seed in the Big 12 Tournament. I’m not sure how, exactly; I’m sure it has something to do with tiebreakers and margin of victory, but for us to be the “home” team against BYU is not something I expected.
Now, mind you, that doesn’t mean that this is going to be a walk in the park or that we’ll have a “home court advantage.” No, no, no. AJ Dybantsa is way too good to allow that. This team has gotten worse after the loss of Richie Saunders earlier in the year, but AJ has taken his game to an entirely new level. He’s scored 20 or more in 11 straight games including three 30+ point outings, AND a 40 ball in his last game against Kansas State. He also just got named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, so suffice it to say we have our work cut out for us.
The first half was relatively competitive, but yet again a cold streak was the beginning of our downfall. Went on a nearly 8 minute scoring drought which allowed BYU to gain a bit of a lead. To our credit our defense was able to stifle them to the point where they never ran away with the game, but yet again our inability to score when we need it the most showed it’s ugly face.
We finished the half down 31-23, which is more than manageable, but it felt insurmountable. AJ Dybantsa did AJ Dybantsa things and Kennard Davis chipped in as well. We had stints where it seemed like we were able to do something but they ultimately turned into nothing.
Unfortunately, but expectedly, for us the second half was just a continuation of the first. AJ put this BYU team on his back and was able to take them home. He finished the game with 27 points and there wasn’t a soul on our team that was able to stop him.
Theoretically, we could have fought fire with fire but when our two leading scorers combing for as 28 points the odds are very slim. Due to a series of self inflicted wounds during the last 10 games of our season we are without a doubt not making the NCAA Tournament. I follow every Bracketology page there is and NONE of them have us on the bubble. Our dreams of going dancing with this team are effectively over; the commentators even said the loud part out loud. This is a team full of mid-major guys and we’re trying to compete in the best basketball conference in the country. I would make the argument that this season is still a success, and that we actually overachieved in some areas, but it is still incredibly disappointing that we were unable to secure a Chance at the Dance in Coach Hodge’s first year. We do have a shot at redemption, though.
I’ve spoken many times before about a potential invite to the NIT, but recently our name has been floated around in consideration for a new postseason tournament called “The College Basketball Crown.” It’s only in it’s second year, so if we were able to play in that tournament, show out, and win the second ever Crown, not only would I call this season a success but I would also relish in the opportunity to be part of history. You can also bet your bottom dollar that I’d be getting ALL the championship merch too.
I feel like I’ve been disappointed a little too much for my liking after games this year. I didn’t think he had a chance at winning the Big 12 or anything, but I am disappointed by the effort I’ve seen in winnable games like this one. I’m still holding out hope for either a Crown or NIT invite, but if this is the end maybe it’s for the best. I’ll always appreciate the guys for what they did for us this year, but I’ll be looking forward to what we can build next year. If this is the end I wish I could have ended this series of our chats on a W, but that wouldn’t be Mountaineer basketball would it?
I love you, Pops. I miss you. I also appreciate anyone who clicked on this piece. It means a lot that you’d be willing to check out a guy’s work who’s clearly just yelling at the clouds, but do me a favor: Tell your people you love them, and if your dad is still around give them a hug for me. This year has been really difficult, and while I think to some extent that these “talks” with my dad have been helpful, I’d trade it all for a chance to tell him I love him again. So do that, for me.
Round The Game 
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