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Southern Miss 56, UC San Diego 55

grizzlyjournal

Well-known member
I was one of about 150 fans at the second-night game of the Zootown Invite & watched a see-saw, ragged slugfest won 56-55 by Southern Miss. San Diego State jumped to an early 15-6 lead on the strength of 4 treys while either holding Southern Miss scoreless for the first 5 minutes OR while Southern Miss just flat-out missed 5 point-blank-in-the-paint shots and 5 treys. But things swung quickly. At the 15:07 mark, USCD shooters missed the first of 6-straight treys (mostly open looks) and the Hawks scraped & clawed back to a 2-pt 17-15 deficit. It was a battle from there, literally NOT separated by more than 3 points until USCD scratched to a 5-point 53-48 lead with 3:42 left in the game... and again at 55-50 with 2:59 remaining. They wouldn't score another point. Through the ensuing final 3-minute melee of missed shots and turnovers is was the Hawks which which took control... scoring the game's fina two jumpers and four free throws. The last Hawk point, a free throw, came with 1:43 left, but it was enough for the 1-point win. In total, UCSD led for 35 minutes, while S. Miss led for only 2:23.

For awhile I thought USCD lost because of missed treys (7-for-28-- 28%), but the Hawks made only one of 10 treys. Both teams shot poorly from the field (I couldn't believe the missed layups by both teams), UCSD at 37% and S. Miss at 39%. Both teams handled the ball well (10 & 11 turnovers total), were equal on assists (13/12) and the Hawks grabbed a slim 4-rebound lead (32-28).

I believe the game was a loss by UCSD and not a win by S. Miss, simply because UCSD made a horrible 53% of its free throws (7-15) while the Hawks only took 7, but made five, including its last four. Also of impact: S. Miss had a commanding 38-26 margin of points in the paint.

So... lousy, ragged game, right? Wrong. It was a fierce battle between two very solid defensive teams. San Diego played fundamentally sound, in-your-face man-on defense while S Miss alternated between a scrambling, clawing matchup zone, which often looked like man D, to straight-up man D. It was a very fun game to watch. The refs pretty much let the teams duke it out. Not many fouls (13 by UCSD and 15 by S. Miss). Some full-court trapping D by the Hawks, usually broken easily by UCSD. Very tight and tense for 35 minutes.

The Hawks are going to present a very tough challenge for the Griz. Southern Miss is a team of lanky, scrambling, scrappy players... except for its soph point guard Walyn Napper. He scored most of his points on right side drives to the bucket and ran the team well. Napper plays with good balance, has a quick jumper as well. Four Hawk players scored in double digits (10-12 points). The Hawks have several set plays that result in a lob and a slam dunk. They're an athletic team and use the baseline well for drives to the bucket. I'm not certain how Montana will attack the Hawks D, but I think the Griz will need perimeter shooting success from several players. It will be a battle. Go Griz.
 
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