Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Kyle Smithpeters MVC Tournament Journal
03/06/2005 | 12:00:00 | Men's Basketball
Saturday, March 5
Today we got up at 7:45 to go to walk-through and eat breakfast. Playing a game in the middle of the day can really mess with how you may perform. We are so used to having all day to prepare for a game and cutting that down to just a few hours can really affect your rhythm sometimes.
We arrived at the game and were so surprised and happy to see such a large turnout of fans at the game. My roommate D. B. and I both thought that the crowd gave us a good advantage and helped with the outcome of the game.
We struggled a little the first half but got up in the second half by as much as 20. The lead slowly dwindled all the way to 3 with about five minutes to go in the game. There never was a scare of them beating us, but was a little close for our comfort. We won by 10 or so, but know we must play better in order to beat SMS tomorrow.
We were happy to see that SMS beat UNI. We really want to get a piece of them after the beating they put on us at their place. This was really the only team that broke our defense during a game. We have been trying to get as much rest as we can on our down time. Coach Lowery also spoke about how important it was to get rest when we could.
The team really seems to have the right focus on the game for tomorrow. Everybody really wants to play well and have a good game.
The serious attitudes can almost always be broken by J.T. and his two accomplices T.Y. and Mike Dale. Their constant nagging about C.J.'s supposed box like head always brings the group into laughs. C.J. will come right back about J.T.'s hair, T.Y.'s vein that always pops out the side of his head, and Mike Dale's large chin. This constant (jon-ning) as they call it, can last all day in some cases, but is all in good fun. Just don't let them see you laugh about the jokes, because that means you are open for the jon-ning, and it can get ugly.
We all realize that tomorrow's game will be physical and fought very hard. This will be a very good test of our character and court discipline for the post-season tournament that, hopefully, is in our future.
