In our 73-61 victory over Auburn, we finished 24-of-30 from the line (80%). We were 10-of-12 in the first half and 14-of-18 in the second half. Kyle Fuller, who finished with 14 points, five boards and three assists, called it a “relief.” This team has the potential to be a good free throw shooting team. We have good shooters and that’s going to start translating to the line. Kede was 8-of-10, Rod was 6-of-6, Kyle was 6-of-7 and Dai-Jon was 4-of-5. We also outboarded AU, 37-20. Kede led the way with seven, Rod had six and Kyle five. Kevin has told his guards they’ve got to hit the boards. Our rebounding has to be by committee because we don’t have a lot of size in the middle and the opposing guards, after they shoot the ball, are going back in a safety position for defense, giving our guards an opportunity to hit the glass. They’ve been doing a very good job of that lately. Kede had eight boards against South Carolina on Saturday. We shot 36% from the field in the first half and 48% in the second half. We were 4-of-14 from three in the first period, and 5-of-10 in the second. Kevin Bright was four-of-seven from trifecta. Kevin is a fine shooter, nice defender and hits the boards very well. He is a really productive player for us as a freshman. Kevin is going to be outstanding. He already is. Sheldon Jeter, another frosh, added 10 points on four-of-eight from the field and 2-of-4 from triple. We’ve got a young group that is growing and growing every game. Auburn shot 50% from the field in the first half, but we held them to 35.5% in the second half. They were 9-of-24 from three (37.5%).
So all in all, a nice night. We’re getting better and better. Still need to keep the consistent effort up for 40 minutes. Against the upper echelon teams in the conference, we will have to do that. And we’ve got one of those teams on Saturday in Missouri. Missouri is 14-4 overall and 3-2 in the SEC. Out game at Mizzou Arena is at 5 PM ET/4 CT on ESPNU. Missouri lost handily to Florida and Ole Miss on the road, so they’re beatable, but they’re also pretty talented. So we’ll be tested.Mizzou defeated South Carolina 71-65 at home on Tuesday Night. They’ve got seven transfers on their team. Five guys are averaging double figure points led by Laurence Bowers, who is at 16.8 per game. Jabari Brown comes in at 14.4 and point guard Phil Pressey, who will be a key matchup for us with maybe Dai-Jon on him, is at 12 points and 5.5 assists. Alex Oriakhi, a transfer from Syracuse, is averaging 10.4 and 8.4 boards a game. And the guy who may concern us the most is Earnest Ross, a transfer from Auburn, who is averaging 10.3 points and 5.4 rebounds. Ross pretty much won the game for the Tigers over SC on Tuesday Night with a clutch three and a key assist that led to the game clinching three. Mizzou shoots 44 percent from the field, 33 percent from trifecta and 73 percent from the line. They are averaging 42.8 rebounds per game, so the boards will be a major challenge for us. We’ve been really good on the boards the last couple of games. We’re going to have to wear our hard hats and bring our lunch pales Saturday. Mizzou is also averaging almost seven steals per game, so we’ve got to secure the ball. They’ll press us a lot, so Kede, Kyle, Dai-Jon and Kevin Bright will have to be strong and smart with the ball and not turn it over much. This will be challenging. After Missouri, we play Tennesseeat @UT on Tuesday Night at 7 ET/6 CT on the U. Then we’re back home Saturday, Feb. 2, against Alabama at 4 PM ET/3 CT on the SEC Network (Channel 21 in B’ham). I’ll be going to the game with my daughters, so I’ll give a recap on Sunday. We have our work cut out for us, but the free throw shooting, the shooting and the boards are very much improving. This team can play defense; there is no doubt about that. If we can do those other things, we’ll be a pretty good basketball team as the season keeps progressing. By the way, commit Darius Thompson had 38 points two nights ago with 11 assists. Darius was an excellent pickup. Had seven or eight threes. Extremely good range from trifecta.
These are my thoughts on recruiting. To me, our key targets left are running back Matt Dayes, wide receiver Jordan Cunningham, and now a new one, safety Jeremy Tyler out of Lithonia, Georgia. Jeremy is a 6’1″, 200 pound safety who is rated a 5.7, three-star by rivals and gets an 80 by 247 sports. I watched film on Jeremy and really liked his game. He’s a ball hawk who makes a lot of interceptions, he’s a good tackler and an excllent athlete as well. Awesome kid too. Saw an interview with him by Rivals and was impressed with his intelligence and his very respectful nature. He’d be a good addition to the class and a good fit in our program. So those are the three I’d like to see us add along with linebacker Skai Moore if we can take all four. It is assumed by some that we can only take three more, but with early enrollees, qb McCrary and OL Dowling, on the roster, and counting towards last year, maybe we can get all four of these guys. Rudy’s commitment is still tenuous. Barton Simmons of 247 Sports still feels like Rudy will be a Dore, but it looks like it will come down to the wire. We may pop up with somebody else. Four-star running back Jordan Wilkins has not been that receptive. Neither has four-star dback Corn Elder, but they may still be in the picture. But I like these first four guys I mentioned. If Jordan Cunningham commits, I think we can get Moore because they’re good friends. Jeremy Tyler will be visiting this weekend. 247 feels pretty good about Dayes too. Will keep you posted.
