Here at the Troy-Western Kentucky game…
December 29, 2007
29 minutes until tipoff and there are PLENTY, I mean PLENTY of good seats to be found. I guess that’s a little depressing, since it is Saturday night and there isn’t much else going on except the Patriots run to perfection the Alamo Bowl. It was a nasty drive up here from Dothan, so that might be deterring some folks. That, or it’s a late-arriving crowd. I’ll keep you posted with a few game observations here and there.
15:49 left in first half: The first thing I hear from Troy color announcer Jerry Miller after the first media timeout: “We’re already getting outrebounded 8 to 1.” Made me laugh. WKU went up 8-0 just like that. Now it’s 13-6
7:59 left in half: Two teams have combined for 14 3s, WKU with 8 and Troy with 6. Trojans up 34-32.
3:57 left in half: After Troy was up 34-29, WKU went on a hot 14-0 run. Hilltoppers are an astonishing 12-of-20 from 3-point land. Thing is, they’re the one team that can kill Troy at its own game, and right now there’s no stopping them. 46-36 Hilltoppers.
HALFTIME - Troy cut it to 4, but Tyrone Brazelton of WKU hit back-to-back 3s. Oh, he’s hit EIGHT of them so far. EIGHT-of-NINE for 24 points. WKU has hit FOURTEEN threes. I know, AP style says I need to say 14. Usually, when a team hits FOURTEEN threes on you in the first half, it’s over, but to Troy’s credit, it’s not. WKU leads 56-48. Rebound advantage is 22-16, and WKU’s 6-foot-9, 260-pounder has three fouls (Courtney Lee, the NBA prospect, has 2). With the big guy on the bench, WKU doesn’t have a size advantage, but with the open threes they’re getting because of crisp passing and the zone defense, they’ve got the skill advantage.
Can it last? Troy is playing pretty decent, but have to up the tempo and hope WKU isn’t hitting as many shots.
15:55 left in game - Troy is getting absolutely nothing from the 5-position (center). Tom Jervis and Jarvis Acker are playing soft and making dumb decisions. Everyone else is fine. My question is where’s Bernard Toombs? Redshirt’s already burned. He’s a better rebounder than both and tougher.
WKU 65, Troy 58
